Why I Don't Like the Term "White Privilege"

I'm going to come off sounding like a typical white hick, but I don't like the term "white privilege."

Created back in the 80's by Women's Studies' expert, Peggy McIntosh, white privilege is a way of explaining how the majority of people in our country have these unseen advantages that many of the minorities lack. An example could be seeing your race on the front of the newspaper or having bandages that match your skin tone.

I've personally gone over the white privilege list and have found that I have a fairly high score. (96 to be exact.) Now, in my opinion, my score is more of a reflection of my surroundings than it is a reflection of society itself.

For all of my life I have lived in good ol' Wright County where it's white people for as far as you can see. The most I've ever had to worry about was the gopher digging holes in my yard. There are no gangs here. There might be homeless people here occasionally, but they're usually gone within the week.

There's nothing that can be done about there being an over abundance of white people here in Amurica. I can't help that my ancestors thought that white skin was the best and were lucky enough to have conquered this hunk of North America. It's not my fault they enslaved other races and gave the rest deadly diseases. Yeah, they took advantage of all of the other races, but that was out of my hands.

When most people bring up "white privilege", they're basically going to "white shame" me. Look, I get that I have advantages and opportunities that most minorities will never get. It's not my fault though. I can't help that I was lucky when I was born to a white family.

What I will recognize about "white privilege" is that as a white person, I have these advantages. I will never be followed around a store because it looks like I might be a shoplifter. I don't have to worry about counting on most of my peers being my race, because most of them are. Hell, I don't have to worry about my bandages blending in to my skin. I will acknowledge that I am lucky.