Essay: Chapter 4 of Poverty/Privilege – DNLee

Some people are more privileged than others. Throughout Chapter 4 of Poverty/Privilege we see that throughout the articles. For example, being a certain race, gender, or class can make you more or less privileged than others. If you are a white middle class male in the United States you are tended to have more privilege in wages, power/government, and leadership compared to females or any other race. While women who work more or just as hard as men get less or an unfair pay. Women may work more days just the get the same pay as men or might have to have a certain appearance to even get the job. White men are also less likely to be incarcerated than other men who committed the same crime. Privilege can also help you dominate power or influence people, for example most of “the social norms and social mobility is continued to be dominated by white men.” (Mick 244). The United States Congress and Senate is mostly composed of white men, they are more likely to dominate government and politics. Overall, you can be more privileged than others due your race, class, and gender. Throughout the articles, DNLee, McMillan Cottom, and Cole criticized people with privilegethatr tried to help people in poverty by telling them what to do to make themselves better and be successful. To analyze the problems or unintended consequences of privilege syndrome or while/middle class savior complex we must understand what the problem is, where it happened, and why it is a problem.
You can define white savior complex or privilege syndrome to be the urge to help someone in need or help solve a problem. Those who usually the ones having the urge to help people are the ones who have white privilege. Martin mentions anyone with white privilege has an easier life than others. Marks also mentions that “life was easier for” him in his article when he was describing himself as a middle class white man (Marks 258). He also says that doesn’t mean there isn’t an chance for anyone else from the inner city to be successful, he basically argues that they just need to work harder. Anyone who isn’t a white male is going to have to work a little more in life because they don’t have the same privilege as them so they don’t get looked at with the same respect. For example, “women and people of color are judged by appearances differently and more harshly than white men” (Cottom 270). Women of color may have to wear something high class to a job interview just to get a higher paying due to the fact that they don’t have the same privilege. Overall, white savior complex or privilege syndrome is the urge to help people who are not privileged and in need of help.
The problem with white/middle class privilege or privilege syndrome is that rather privileged people making a change to help the unfortunate, they end up making the problem worse by doing more harm than help. Someone who exemplifies this problem is Gene Marks (a middle class white male). He tried to help black suburbans by telling what was wrong with them and what to do to make themselves better. Marks assumed if you were poor and black your chance for success was automatically low, so he tried to tell them what they were doing wrong and offered things he would do if he was a “poor black kid”. He also automatically assumed no one told them that education should be prioritized or that they didn’t have parents that wanted them to be successful in life. He mentions how if he was a poor black kid he would take make sure to get good grades, take advantage of technology to do his homework and “study sites like SparkNotes and CliffsNotes”, find better schools that are more likely to get you into college, get close with top administrators to get better connections to jobs and colleges, take programming classes and classes to make you smart in technology, and have good writing and communication skills (Marks 259). However, Marks isn’t making the problem better by telling poor black kids what they should be doing to be in a better place because their parents probably told them to do the same thing. He doesn’t take consideration of other factors that might be preventing these kids from doing what he mentions. What about transportation to those great charter schools? How these kids going to get there if their parents work two jobs? What if the library from their house isn’t an easy access? Overall, the problem with a privileged white/middle class person who already has privilege trying to help one who is less fortunate or priviledged is that they are not really helping them solve the problem, they just making it worse like Marks criticizing instead of starting programs to help promote better education at the school they are already at or programs to access technology and tutoring at home.
DNLee analyzes the problem with white/middle class privilege or privilege syndrome in her article by explaining why Marks’s ideas may cause more problems than help. For example, DNLee says that Marks words and white privilege may be insulting to the black community because of some the things he says. Marks conveys that if you work hard you might get something good in return but DNLee counters his claim giving the example of the Cinderella story. She mentions how Cinderella worked hard to go to the ball but ended up not growing even though she did everything her stepmother asked her. Sometimes no matter how hard you try sometimes you’ll just never have the right to be accepted by society which is why Marks point is a false statement and not always correct. Another thing Gene Marks fails to mention is “the road ahead it will be for this kids like – access to a full range of technology, transportation to these fancy-pants magnet schools” or even the supplies they would need to go to a school that superior (DNLee 265). Mark doesn’t help the problem by saying to go out of your way to find a top school so you can get in a good college. Instead think of how to motivate kids on how to do better at the school they are at right now not tell them your school is not good enough find another. The problem is Marks can never understand the struggle due to his white privilege. He doesn’t understand that not every parent can afford to drive to a different location just to put their kids in school, they rather have their kids get good grades at the school they at right now. Also, top-notch schools require a lot of school supply and technology so it might be pricey for those in poverty. Overall, the problem with white/middle class privilege or privilege syndrome is that instead of helping people with your privileges you actually not helping but more insulting and making things worse mostly because you haven’t been in their shoes so they don’t know the struggle of being another race.
In conclusion, DNLee mentions that some ways to help people with white/middle class privilege or privilege syndrome is to start programs to help those in need and host clothing drives children in need, sponsor transportation to school, make programs in school to advance their education, programs for students to have more knowledge of online sources that can help with school, programs or loans to help kids have access to technology at home, or having after school tutoring options. However, insulting and telling people what they should be doing is not the right way to fix this problem like Marks. “If he (and others like him) wanted to make a real difference in the lives of these communities, then I recommend working with folks and organizations already in place and leavering that privilege to get more resources to those poorer parts of town” (DNLee 266). These solutions would actually help fix the problem of white/middle class privilege or privilege syndrome, not make more problems.