Public outrage was at a fever pitch earlier this year over a fairly unobtrusive comic who touched on a controversial subject. According to several articles covering the issue, including one from Buzzfeed, the artist — 19-year-old Jamie Kapp and received a slew of negative comments, including death threats, after posting her original art on Tumblr. This is the second time in my recent memory that a comic has drawn such negative — possibly lethal attention. The first incident was the infamous Danish comic strip depicting Muhammad, invoking great ire from certain sects of the world Muslim community. Kapp’s comic touched on the apparently sore issue of white privilege.
The comic was meant to serve as a friendly, unassuming explanation of white privilege to its primary beneficiaries. For those unaware, white privilege is a simple concept to grasp. Despite all effort by legislative bodies during the civil rights movement to bring about racial equality, institutionalized discrimination still occurs in which “white people” are the recipients of its benefits and “people of color” are not. Racism, while legally abolished by the United States government, is still pervasive today.
For those of you ready to curse me as a “racist,” or my favorite epithet “reverse-racist,” allow me to clarify the situation. I will never make an assumption on someone’s ideology based on the (arbitrary) designation of “race.” The amount of melanin in your skin in no way reflects what you believe. But I, and many in this country, are declared white and therefore receive white privilege, whether we want to or not.
Some examples might be necessary. After all, the privileged are usually the most blind to their elevated place in society. A study released in our own university in 2013 reported the unfair treatment of “people of color” in Salt Lake County. According to the study, white people were disproportionately approved for home loans — with a 70 percent approval rating across the economic spectrum — whereas Latino approval ratings never topped 60 percent, even at the highest income levels.
That is just one example, but there are many more to draw from. Whites are significantly less likely to be jailed for a drug-related offense, even though studies show drug usage is equal across racial boundaries. But even more than that, white privilege can extend to seemingly innocuous activities like shopping. There is a famous case where Barney’s, a high-end clothing store chain in New York, was caught disproportionately accosting black customers after leaving the store, including having police ask them for their receipts. Some would call this racial profiling. Well, so would I. But as a beneficiary of white privilege, I generally don’t have to worry about such things. I’m able to go about ordinary business without fear of such prejudices.
Furthermore, I have never had to worry about my race when it comes to getting a job. Another report released in 2003 showed that as a white individual, even with a criminal record, I am more likely to receive a job over a black candidate without a criminal record who has the same qualifications.
Is this article spurring you to rain death threats and curses upon me? If so, then congratulations, you are part of the ignorant masses who attacked a 19-year-old girl whose crime was to put these sentiments into the visual medium. However, I hope that this rather spurs you to discussion, to examine your life and the lives of those you know. If you are white, then hopefully it will cause you to become more critical and sensitive when dealing with matters of race. If you are a person of color, hopefully it will give you insight into an unwitting participant in a system outside of our control. I think white privilege is wrong and terrible, but the only way to end it is through discussion and education.
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