White Privilege: Essential Readings on the Other Side of Racism, Book Review Example

Introduction

Paula Rothenberg wrote White Privilege: Essential Readings on the Other Side of Racism in order to examine the stake of ignoring white privilege imagery. The book is a series of contributory essays from different philosophers put into one book for interpretation and analogy.  The theory behind the essays of contribution is that the white race is invisible to racial discrimination.

White supremacy is granted at birth without having to earn this gift.  This supremacy poses severe threat to other races in the form of discrimination. Whites hiding behind their lack of colour distinction are comprehended as an invisible race with supreme power. Particularly in the West there is an absence of the mention of white as a racial imagery. “Further it is genuinely accepted as a norm that other races such as Chinese or blacks are referred to as a race but not white people.” (Rothenberg 10). Particular references in this book give rise to racial assimilation of blacks in the hood or Asians lovers set up a laundrette but there is no mention of whiteness with reference to a story. Rothenberg states, “It would be an accurate statement to say that everyone in our society is conceptualized as being from a particular race “or social order constructed from a political imagination of someone (11). “There is reference to the study of whiteness but it is referred to as being British, Irish-American, Catholic-American or so on.” (Rothenberg 12).

It is very important for the world to be able to see whiteness as a colour because whiteness is dominant in society today and further secures a position of power. White people create a façade of the world in their own imagery. It is not to say that the white class does this with any malicious intent but the idea that the white colour is invisible allows this infringement to occur. The white race actually benefits from being born to this colour. The purpose of these essays by Rothenberg is to put the colour of whiteness before society as a visible colour and allow the people to see how their colour allows them certain privileges whether intentional or not.

White privilege is an unearned privilege therefore there can never be a level playing field with other races especially in territories where racial discrimination is dominant such as the South. The only chance of levelling the playing field is through knowledge and attribution of the white race to help other races to achieve equality.  When making applications to a university or simply voicing an opinion in public white supremacy is automatically accepted over other cultures. It takes a white person to understand and relate to the discrimination that is inbred with being born white. Whites are automatically respected and accepted into society without having to discern any type of commitment or loyalty to a person or situation. Other races and cultures have to work diligently to earn the same privilege and often do never reach that same level as the white people of society.

Conclusion

The key to ending the invisible white race and breaking the discrimination is breaking the silence barrier that evades the introduction of whiteness as a superior race without avail. White supremacy can be used as a resourceful advantage to end discrimination if the white people accept their supremacy and accept that this inborn right is discriminatory to other races. The whites can help to develop allied relationships with the other cultures and races to give rise to an equal playing field so that all cultures and races have the same advantage as the whites do. Hiding behind an invisible barrier and pretending whiteness is not supreme does nothing to support ending discrimination in our world.

Works Cited

Rothenberg, P. White Privilege: Essential Readings on the Other Side of Racism. New York, NY: McMillan Publishing, 2004