People in today’s world frequently compete with each other for resources, attention, and power. The starting conditions vary significantly: birthplace, racial background, social status, and family wealth levels may affect the challenges that one faces later in life. People make a choice to either embrace different characteristics of each other or consider them factors that influence the privileges offered by society. White citizens of the US may gain and use advantage over the people of color in education, work, and hospitality spheres due to their racial background.
White Privilege
White privilege is the unfair advantage that Caucasian people have regarding social and professional institutions in their countries. They could be supported by federal laws as outdated remainders from the past regulations or unofficially propagated and supported by white members of the society. For example, police might assume that an African American person is more dangerous than the white one under similar circumstances. Human Resource managers sometimes prefer the applications with typical Caucasian names to others even if the described qualifications are the same.
Conflict Theorist View
Conflict theory states that society is continually in a state of confrontation because its members compete for limited resources. The order, in this case, is maintained by domination and power. The conflict theory follower would probably consider the white privilege a natural state. The Caucasian citizens gained the advantage in the economic and social spheres of the US during the several centuries of dominance over the people of color. Thus, it would be their right to hold and use the power for as long as they are capable of doing so. Conflict theory denies the possibility of civilized co-existence of the diverse society members with mutual support and respect.
Feminist View
The feminist approach generally implies that the current position of women in society is suppressed by masculine power. People may agree with this statement or not, but the influence of the movement on work requirements and the entertainment sphere is significant. Feminists will probably regard the problem of white privilege as the one connected to their primary aim. In addition, women of color may experience both sexism and white privilege pressure directed at them, so the cooperation of all groups supporting general equality and human rights could be an effective strategy for their goals.
Real-Life Situations
I have witnessed a situation in which, under similar circumstances, a white client at the bank was immediately escorted to a vacant service window, and an African American was asked to wait at the entrance. The act of separating two people is expected as only one clerk was free at that time, but the Caucasian manager did not ask who had come first. She assumed that the white client should be serviced before the other one, without clarifying any details.
Another example of white privilege illustration is my daily awareness of possible racist actions toward me. It may be an unpleasant comment regarding my skin color or the manner of speaking of a stranger in the street. A local police officer could look at me suspiciously, or a teacher might roll their eyes if I explained the valid reasons for not understanding the assignment. There are also the days when nothing racist happens, but I am always prepared for unpleasant reactions and comments. The white privilege is not to think about such scenarios daily.