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Does white privilege exist? Does white privilege exist?
No, white privilege doesn't exist No, white privilege doesn't exist
Yes, white privilege exists Yes, white privilege exists
White privilege conflates individual circumstance with structural inequality White privilege conflates individual circumstance with structural inequality
White people commit suicide more frequently White people commit suicide more frequently
White privilege is just another name for racism White privilege is just another name for racism
There are no policies that deliberately benefit white people There are no policies that deliberately benefit white people
Other factors offer far more privileges Other factors offer far more privileges
White privilege is a political construct of the left White privilege is a political construct of the left
White privilege gives whites a financial boost White privilege gives whites a financial boost
White privilege is present in the justice system White privilege is present in the justice system
White privilege is present in the health system White privilege is present in the health system
White privilege is present in our education systems White privilege is present in our education systems
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Does white privilege exist?
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Yes, white privilege exists

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White privilege is present in the justice system

The U.S. Justice System favors white people over people of color. This bias means that white people are less likely to be unfairly arrested and imprisoned.
Bernie Sanders Ijeoma Oluo Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Kamala Harris
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Context

People of color have worse outcomes within the justice system than white people. This inequality is indicative of white privilege in the justice system.

The Argument

The US justice system has a historical legacy of institutional racism which benefits white people and discriminates against people of color. White privilege in the justice system begins with the way they are treated by the police compared to other races. Black people in Minneapolis are 8.7 times more likely than white people to be arrested for low-level offenses.[1] White people are also less likely to be wrongly convicted than other races. For example, white people are about 7 times less likely to be wrongly convicted of murder than black people, white prisoners serving time for sexual assault are 3.5 times less likely to be innocent than a black sexual assault convict, and white people are about 12 times less likely to be wrongfully convicted of drug crimes than black people (despite evidence that white people and black people use illegal drugs at about the same rate).[2] According to the Death Penalty Information Center,[3] murders with white victims are much more likely to result in execution than murders with black victims. These statistics show that the US justice system prioritizes white people as victims and give white people better justice than other races.

Counter arguments

White privilege in the Justice System varies between countries. It is Americancentrism to assume that all white people have privilege over people of color. Some white people believe that political and cultural developments in recent years are giving rise to anti-White bias.[4] This anti-White bias extends to the justice system.

Proponents

Premises

[P1] People of color are discriminated against by all levels of the justice system

Rejecting the premises

References

  1. https://www.aclu.org/issues/racial-justice/race-and-criminal-justice/picking-pieces?redirect=feature/picking-pieces
  2. https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Documents/Race_and_Wrongful_Convictions.pdf
  3. https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/executions/executions-overview/executions-by-race-and-race-of-victim
  4. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1745691611406922?journalCode=ppsa&

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This page was last edited on Wednesday, 9 Sep 2020 at 00:50 UTC

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