Does white privilege exist?

White privilege is a political construct of the left

Question: Does white privilege exist?
Position1 of 2›: No, white privilege doesn't exist
Argument‹4 of 6›: White privilege is a political construct of the left

The political left relies on a narrative of white privilege for its support.

The argument

Proponents of this position treat white privilege less as a description of society than as an idea that serves a political function, and they argue that the function explains the idea. The account they give runs through the requirements of building an electoral coalition. A political movement needs a diagnosis of why people's circumstances are as they are, because the diagnosis determines who is positioned to supply the remedy. If the root cause of inequality is held to be individual — a want of conviction, determination or effort — then the remedy is individual too, and there is little for a party to offer. If the cause is held to be systemic, the remedy must be collective, and a party that promises to act on the system becomes the natural vehicle for it. On that reasoning the political left depends on the public believing that inequality stems from structural racism rather than from personal factors, and proponents argue it built its platform on precisely that premise. The dependence is then said to run deepest among minority voters. Were minority communities to conclude that their problems are not the product of inherent structural racism, the left would lose its philosophical attraction among them, because the explanation that makes its programme necessary would have been withdrawn. The electoral consequence is what the argument treats as decisive. Without widespread acknowledgement of institutional racism, proponents contend, the left has no route to the power it needs to enter government and 'change' it. The concept therefore persists, on this view, because it is politically load-bearing rather than because the evidence compels it. Proponents conclude that white privilege is a political construct of the left, and on that basis that white privilege does not exist.

Context

The political left needs to convince black people that white privilege exists. Therefore, white privilege is a political construct.

Premises

[P1]Proponents argue the political left depends on the public believing inequality stems from systemic racism rather than individual factors, and built its platform on that premise. [P2] Without acknowledgement of institutional racism, they contend, the left would lose its philosophical appeal among minorities and its electoral power to enter and 'change' government. [C] On this view white privilege is a political construct of the left, so white privilege does not exist.

Counter-arguments

The fact that one political party benefits more form a narrative of white privilege than another party, doesn't mean that white privilege is a myth. It might mean that it is exaggerated, but no part of the argument indicates that the concept of white privilege is a myth.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P3] The third premise is not a logical conclusion even if the other premises are true.