Misconceptions

One of the biggest misconceptions I think Whites have about 'White Privilege' is the whole idea of what is meant by 'privilege'. I gather this in that one of the most common responses I have to the idea is "But, we didn't have a lot of money!" or something to that tune. This is a response to a charge of class privilege that has been thrown into a different discussion as a red herring, whether intentional or not.

Of course not all whites are wealthy. Such a statement is indeed ludicrous. So then, if not all Whites are wealthy, and there are of course wealthy minorities, how can one say Whites have racial privilege over minorities in America?

Simple: People tend to compete in society amongst those in their own wealth class. 

If there is a poor white man and a rich black man, chances are the latter of the two is looking for a job in a different part of the city (or state/country) than the former. So here, class differences do not matter. It's a question of whether or not a rich white man coming into play with the rich black man has any bearing on the outcome of competition.

Another misconception is that after confronting an owning up to Whiteness/White Privilege, whites seek to absolve themselves of their bad feelings by saying "I renounce my privilege!"

You see, just because one isn't a signatory doesn't mean one isn't a beneficiary. Whites can't wish away their privileges by acting nice, "going ethnic" (whatever that means), or some other seemingly altruistic act of multiculturalist goodness. 

Scratch that. There is ONE privilege Whites can give up, but seldom do: the privilege to remain silent about racism and let minorities handle it. 

Whites have the ability to ignore racism and those who fight it. This is a rather large privilege that they can throw off. Simply? No. Gradually? Of course.