White America

Being white in America is already the greatest start in a race that anyone can have. Being white in America gives you opportunities that others are not given. Being white in America means having the ability to walk around freely without a worry in the world.

In Claudia Rankine's, Citizen, she states, "And you are not the guy and still you fit the description because there is only one guy who is always the guy fitting the description"(105).

Having the ability to walk down the street casually has always just been a given for me. Rankine taught me that this was a privilege. Having privilege has always had the negative connotation when being white. My ability to come to terms with white privilege has been enhanced by reading this quotation and this novel. Being told that you have white privilege is apart of living in Oak Park. Many, including myself, have a hard time understanding white privilege. I used to believe that it was a term for someone who has been spoon fed everything in their life, and that their family's hard work to come up from having nothing meant nothing.

This quotation helps me understand the fact that I am privileged enough to not be subject to discrimination by law enforcement, and have little worries when comparing those to others. I don't have to worry about being pulled over, merely on the fact of what I look like.

After reading Rankine's novel, I truly realized that America is made for white people, and everyone else is forced to fight their way to the top, when having a disadvantage from the beginning.