White privilege and racism are systems that are undeniably still operating in American society today, within the educational sphere more specifically. Racism is oppressive structures of inequality and power that arise when certain groups are afforded greater legitimacy or value than others and can be overt or embedded (Robbins, Cummings and McGarry 2016, page 92). Hence, white privilege is a form of embedded racism wherein white people are granted greater power, prestige and/or access to resources (McIntosh 1998, page 2). Rashawn Ray and Jason A. Rosow’s “The Two Different Worlds of Black and White Fraternity Men: Visibility and Accountability as Mechanisms of Privilege” and Robert Jensen’s “The Heart of Whiteness: Confronting Race, Racism and White Privilege” are the two anthropological/sociological sources that will be used to discuss how white privilege operates within different aspects of postsecondary education.
Many U.S. colleges and universities are white-supremacist institutions and this is also the case with social organizations such as fraternities within these higher educational systems as well. Fraternity houses are houses that reside a group of people sharing common interests. A lot of the time, these common interests can also be distinguished by “race”. Race is a fiction as a biological concept, as there is only one human race where the people who are a part of it simply have various kinds of physical differences (Jensen 2005, page 14). In this paper, we are looking at race in a social sense on college and university campuses, which is in fact very real. The Greek system in many U.S. universities results in most fraternities being segregated by race, such as “whites-only” fraternities for instance as the Greek system perpetuates white supremacy (Jensen 2005, page 20). Non-white students would therefore feel marginalized and un-welcomed on campus because of these exclusive “whites-only” fraternities, who also tend to host overtly racist
parties where many other cultures are mocked that result in non-whites to stay away. Most non- white students therefore tend to form their own groups and be a part of separate fraternities, yet still do not even come near to the amount of “whites-only” fraternities there are on campus because most do not even end up joining fraternities as a result of the feeling of exclusion. Fraternities, as well as sororities, are not only clubs for students but rather they create social networks that aid students after graduation by providing entry level jobs in business and politics (Jensen 2005, page 21). Because most fraternities are made up of white students, it is those students who are then able to easily find a job of their choice after graduation. Hence, white students are afforded a hyper level of invisibility and unaccountability, while black students receive a hyper level of visibility within the communities on college campuses.
White privilege has resulted in education to not being equal from the standpoint of resource allocation. It is evident that non-white children will, when compared to white children, attend schools with fewer financial resources (Jensen 2005, page 19). This is evident through the fact that many large U.S. colleges have predominantly white students who attend and not many black students. Instead, black students may attend smaller or community colleges with less experienced teachers, fewer technological resources, older textbooks, and less well-funded enrichment programs and therefore not have access to an education equal to white children (Jensen 2005, page 19). Non-white children, such as blacks, are not awarded the normative benefits of whiteness because of the racialized social system theory, which is when race alters normative institutional arrangements to the point where the entire institution becomes racialized (Ray and Rosow 2012, page 69). In addition, the concept of social stratification is also very relevant here as it is society’s organization of people based on race, gender, class, or national
affiliation and those at the top of the hierarchy are afforded more power, wealth, prestige or privileges (Robbins, Cummings and McGarry 2016, page 71). Those at the top of the hierarchy are usually white and them and their families are afforded these things even when it comes to the educational system.
Enrolment in American colleges and universities is another aspect of higher education that is affected by the systems of racism and white privilege. Institutionalized racism within the postsecondary education system hinders or aids certain racial groups in the process of enrolment, as decisions about who is worthy to be admitted into the college or university to pursue a degree often times falls along racial lines. The inequality embedded within the U.S. educational system results into the underrepresentation of students of colour in university (Ray and Rosow 2012, page 69). Most American colleges and universities are predominantly white institutions, which usually means more white students attend the institution and less blacks and these decisions are made in the enrolment process. Education is one of the most fundamental aspects of our society and if there is no equality in education, there is no equality in society and the sad reality is that wealth correlates with race (Jensen 2005, page 18). Wealthy people are the ones who can afford more expensive institutions for their children and most of these people are white, another way white privilege operates within educational systems. This proves that meritocracy, a social system in which individuals are rewarded and resources are distributed according to achievement, effort, and ability, is simply a myth because resources are in fact not distributed according to achievement and effort (Robbins, Cummings and McGarry 2016, page 74). This is clearly seen in society’s social hierarchy because most black people have to work
more harder than white people to even achieve some of what they do and to earn the money to send their children into high quality educational institutions.
In addition, criminal stereotypes and excessive monitoring of black students is an aspect of white privilege and racism that is unfortunately visible on many university campuses. In our society, African American people and many other ethnic groups are seen to be more “dangerous” and are blamed for committing the majority of violent crime, while white people are not seen as a threat, but rather quite the opposite as these are the racist ideas and standards the white supremacist society we live in has conditioned people to think. This is related to the idea of prejudice and prejudice becomes racism when one group has the power to systematically deprive the members of another group of rights and privileges that should come with being a human being (Jensen 2005, page 16). Furthermore, on college and university campuses, black people experience stereotypes about gang involvement and criminality among many other stereotypes which makes them more self-conscious and exceptionally aware of their actions and behaviour in social settings, such as that of college campuses (Ray and Rosow 2012, page 70). African Americans are seen by society to have ascribed statuses, or an identity a person is born with and is unchanging instead of an identity that is dependent upon their actions and achievements (Robbins, Cummings and McGarry 2016, page 74). Society already has its misconceptions and pre-determined ideas of black people and their ascribed statuses made up by society is a result of that.
African American students are also one of the sole representatives of their marked race in group settings on campus, such as in classes and lectures, clubs, extracurriculars, etc because there are so few of them compared to other races that attend the college or university. Excessive
monitoring by university officials on black students in the few places on campus they feel safe usually leads them to reporting higher levels of social isolation and less rewarding college experiences (Ray and Rosow 2012, page 70). On the other hand, as most U.S. colleges are majority white, white students are at an advantage because they can blend into the crowd and take full advantage of all aspects of the college experience (Ray and Rosow 2012, page 69). These are the benefits associated with white privilege that white students are able to enjoy at predominantly white institutions such as colleges and universities, while black students must be consciously avoiding getting into trouble so as to not destroy their reputations and statuses as well as the reputations of their fellow black peers.
In conclusion, it is undeniable that the systems of white privilege and racism are still operating within many aspects of the educational system across the United States. Aspects such as social organizations such as fraternities in higher education, unequal education access, the unfair enrolment processes for colleges and universities, and stereotypes and excessive monitoring of non-white students that is present on campuses are all examples of white privilege and racism that exist in the educational system. Society must begin to destroy these harmful systems that only create unfairness and inequality between individuals and groups such as race. White supremacist ways need to be left in the past and we can only move forward as a society when race is not the deciding factor as to who is benefitted how, especially in the educational system. If there is no equality in education, there is no equality in society.
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References Cited
1. Jensen, Robert. The Heart of Whiteness: Confronting Race, Racism, and White Privilege. San Francisco, CA: City Lights, 2005. Accessed March 29, 2017.
2. McIntosh, Peggy. "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack." 1998. Accessed March `30, 2017.
3. Ray, Rashawn, and Jason A. Rosow. "The Two Different Worlds of Black and White Fraternity Men: Visibility and Accountability as Mechanisms of Privilege." Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 41, no. 1 (2012): 67-94. Accessed March 29, 2017.
4. Robbins, Richard, Maggie Cummings, and Karen McGarry. Anthropology 1AB3: Religion, Race and Conflict – Custom Text. Toronto: Nelson, 2016.