Student Union
- By Ariel Hall
What Is 'White Privilege' and Whom Does It Help?
Following the death in May of black American George Floyd after he was restrained by police in Minneapolis, the national conversation in the United States has turned from the global coronavirus pandemic to racial and social justice.
Those discussions are often punctuated by complaints about "white privilege," which are controversial for some people. But the words do not always have the same meaning to all users.
"White privilege doesn't mean white people (aren't) murdered, doesn't mean white people (don't) live in poverty or suffer from bullying/mental illness. White privilege means we don't suffer these things as a direct result of the color of our skin," Twitter user @mullificent89 tweeted on June 9.
White privilege doesn’t mean white people arent murdered, doesn’t mean white people dont live in poverty or suffer from bullying/mental illness. White privilege means we don’t suffer these things as a direct result of the colour of our skin. LISTEN #BlakeLivesMatter #ThisMorning
— 𝔄𝔦𝔰𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔤 🦙 (@mullificent89) June 9, 2020
"White privilege doesn't mean white people are *never* punished, just that they're regularly punished less harshly for the same crimes," said another tweet from @thermopanda_xl.
Your don't appear to understand what is being discussed. White privilege doesn't mean white people are *never* punished, just that they're regularly punished less harshly for the same crimes.
— Brad (@thermopanda_xl) June 16, 2020
Origins
Today's understanding of white privilege builds on concepts published in the 1930s by civil rights activist W. E. B. Du Bois, the first African American to graduate with a Ph.D. from Harvard University, and one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Du Bois argued that the poverty shared by poor whites and blacks should have united them. But whites had freedom of movement "to public functions, public parks, and the best schools" that blacks did not. Legal obstacles made it harder for blacks to vote, leaving politicians with more incentive to address white people's concerns.
"White schoolhouses were the best in the community, and conspicuously placed, and they cost anywhere from twice to ten times as much per capita as the colored schools," Du Bois said in his 1935 book "Black Reconstruction in America."
White voters — rich or poor — put public officials in office, Du Bois wrote, "and while this had small effect upon the economic situation, it had great effect upon their personal treatment and the deference shown them."
Voting rights and equal access to public facilities would only be afforded to blacks in stages — when the Supreme Court desegregated schools in Brown v. the Board of Education in 1954; when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed to make discrimination illegal; and when the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed to end racial discrimination in voting.
Cliff von Howell, professor of African American history at Delaware State University, says Du Bois was making a class or economic point.
"He's saying how systemically the working-class white man and the working-class black man have more in common than they do with the elite class," Howell told VOA.
But "when power brokering is happening, the whites have a higher standing," Howell said, "because though they have little in common with the elite whites, they psychologically have nothing in common with the powerless Negroes. Thus, a constant fight for wages among what could have been natural allies fuels the racist system of oppression in America."
The term "white privilege" was used in 1988 by Peggy McIntosh, an activist and associate director of the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women, when she published "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack."
"As a white person, I realized I had been taught about racism as something that puts others at a disadvantage," she wrote. But she hadn't been taught the flip side, she said, that white privilege "puts me at an advantage."
Today, the phrase is used passionately and widely in the context of racial profiling — police treatment of people as criminal suspects based on their race.
"White privilege means that essentially you don't have to go through any obstacles if at all, that other races have to experience consistently," said Thomas Brown, 18, a sophomore at the College of Southern Maryland. "That privilege is expanded across literally anything in life. That's what white privilege is to me," he told VOA.
Lyndsay Rivers, 19, a biotechnology student at the University of Maryland, said white privilege to her "means having a system of advantages at your disposal that no other race has, simply because you are white, and that said system puts black people and other POC (people of color) at a disadvantage in life."
Both Brown and Rivers are black.
White privilege and police brutality
The use of excessive force by police in recent incidents against people of color has brought the term to the forefront as a protest chant.
Observers point to the deaths of Freddie Gray, Eric Garner, Philandro Castile, Breonna Taylor and Floyd as examples of blacks being treated more aggressively in confrontations with police.
Gray, Garner and Floyd died in custody after being restrained. Castile was shot in his car while explaining to an officer he had a legal permit to carry his gun. Taylor was asleep in bed when she was shot by officers who forced their way inside her home. All but Taylor's encounter with police were recorded on phone video and went viral on social media.
Taylor's death prompted the passage in June of "Breona's Law," which bans no-knock search warrants used by Louisville, Kentucky, police.
"White privilege is knowing police officers aren't going to racially profile you. White privilege is never being told to go back to your country. White privilege is never having to hyphenate your American-ness (ex. African-American, Asian-American, etc.)" Twitter user @j13ohara tweeted on June 9.
White Privilege is knowing police officers aren't going to racially profile you.
— jan (@j13ohara) June 10, 2020
White Privilege is never being told to go back to your country.
White Privilege is never having to hyphenate your American-ness (ex. African-American, Asian-American, etc.)
Lessons learned
Many celebrities have also used social media and their late-night television programs to display comments and perspectives about white privilege.
"I know that a lot of white people bristle when they hear the word privilege, as in white privilege, because there are millions of white people who did not grow up with money or a good education or a solid family background or maybe even a family at all," "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" host Jimmy Kimmel said in a June 2 monologue.
But he said that picture changed for him when he pondered how often excessive force is used against people of color that is not captured on video.
"How often does this happen without a camera recording the whole thing? … And then we're shocked, and black people are like, 'Why are you shocked? We've been telling you this has been happening over and over again.' So, if you're wondering why people are angry and why they can't just march nicely in the street holding up their signs in a single file line, maybe that's why," Kimmel said.
"White privilege is a complex yet critically important concept," Erin Cooley, an assistant professor of psychology at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, explained in written remarks to VOA.
"That said, more research is needed to clarify how to harness white privilege lessons to combat hierarchy. Further, continual education about all of the ways white privilege may shape different aspects of our society (e.g., wealth redistribution, police use of force, hiring/promotion decisions) is imperative to begin to address persistent systemic racism."
Ruby Rosenthal and Sarmat Misikov contributed to this report.
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College athletes push for voter turnout while largely avoiding controversy as election nears
Lily Meskers faced an unexpected choice in the lead-up to the first major election she can vote in.
The 19-year-old University of Montana sprinter was among college athletes in the state who received an inquiry from Montana Together asking if she was interested in a name, image and likeness deal to support Sen. Jon Tester, a three-term Democrat seeking re-election. The group, which is not affiliated with the Tester campaign, offered from $400 to $2,400 to athletes willing to produce video endorsements.
Meskers, who is from Colorado but registered to vote in Montana, decided against the deal because she disagrees with Tester's votes on legislation involving transgender athletes in sports.
"I was like, OK, I believe that this is a political move to try to gain back some voters that he might have lost," Meskers said. "And me being a female student-athlete myself, I was not going to give my endorsement to someone who I felt didn't have the same support for me."
Professional athletes such as LeBron James, Colin Kaepernick and Stephen Curry have taken high-profile stances on hot-button topics and political campaigns in recent years, but college athletes are far less outspoken — even if money is available, according to experts in the NIL field. Being outwardly political can reflect on their school or endanger potential endorsement deals from brands that don't want controversy. It can certainly establish a public image for an athlete — for better or for worse — or lead to tensions with teammates and coaches who might not feel the same way.
There are examples of political activism by college athletes: A Texas Tech kicker revealed his support for former President Donald Trump on a shirt under his uniform at a game last week and a handful of Nebraska athletes a few days ago teamed up in a campaign ad against an abortion measure on the Tuesday's ballot.
Still, such steps are considered rare.
"It can be viewed as risky and there may be people telling them just don't even take that chance because they haven't made it yet," said Lauren Walsh, who started a sports branding agency 15 years ago. She said there is often too much to lose for themselves, their handlers and in some cases, their families.
"And these individuals still have to figure out what they're going to do with the rest of their lives, even those that do end up getting drafted," she added.
College coaches are not always as reticent. Auburn men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl has used social media to make it clear he does not support Kamala Harris, Trump's Democratic opponent in next week's presidential election. Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy once caused a stir with a star player for wearing a shirt promoting a far-right news outlet.
Blake Lawrence, co-founder of the NIL platform Opendorse, noted that this is the first presidential election in the NIL era, which began in July 2021. He said athletes are flocking to opportunities to help increase voter turnout in the 18-to-24 age demographic, adding that one of his company's partners has had 86 athletes post social media messages encouraging turnout through the first half of the week.
He said athletes are shying away from endorsing specific candidates or causes that are considered partisan.
"Student-athletes are, for the most part, still developing their confidence in endorsing any type of product or service," he said. "So if they are hesitant to put their weight behind supporting a local restaurant or an e-commerce product, then they are certainly going to be hesitant to use their social channels in a political way."
Giving athletes a voice
Many college athletes have opted to focus on drumming up turnout in a non-partisan manner or simply using their platforms to take stands that are not directly political in nature. Some of those efforts can be found in battleground states.
A progressive group called NextGen America said it had signed players in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Virginia to encourage voting among young people. Another organization, The Team, said it prepped 27 college athletes in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Arizona and Michigan to lead volunteer voter participation opportunities for students. The organization also said it got more than 625 coaches to sign a nonpartisan pledge to get their athletes registered to vote.
The Team's executive director is Joe Kennedy, a former coach who coordinated championship visits and other sporting events at the White House during President Barack Obama's administration. In early October, it hosted a Zoom event during which panelists such as NCAA President Charlie Baker and WNBA players Nneka Ogwumike and Natasha Cloud gave college athletes advice about using their platforms on campus.
In its early days, The Team seized upon momentum from the record turnout seen in the 2020 election. The NCAA that year said Division I athletes could have Election Day off from practice and play to vote. Lisa Kay Solomon, founder of the All Vote No Play campaign, said even if the athletes don't immediately take stands on controversial issues, it's important for them to learn how.
"It is a lot to ask our young people to feel capable and confident on skills they've never had a chance to practice," Solomon said. "We have to model what it means to practice taking risks, practice standing up for yourself, practice pausing to think about what are the values that you care about — not what social media is feeding into your brain, but what do you care about and how do you express that? And how do you do it in a way that honors the kind of future that you want to be a part of?"
Shut up and play?
Two years ago, Tennessee-Martin quarterback Dresser Winn said he would support a candidate in a local district attorney general race in what experts said was very likely the first political NIL deal by a college athlete.
There have been very few since.
The public criticism and fallout for athletes who speak out on politics or social issue can be sharp. Kaepernick, the Super Bowl-winning quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, hasn't played in an NFL game since January 2017, not long after he began kneeling during the national anthem at games.
Meskers, the Montana sprinter, said political endorsements through NIL deals could create problems for athletes and their schools.
"I just think that NIL is going to run into a lot of trouble and a lot of struggles if they continue to let athletes do political endorsements," she said. "I just think it's messy. But I stand by NIL as a whole. I think it's really hard as a student athlete to create a financial income and support yourself."
Walsh said it's easier for wealthy and veteran stars like James and Ogwumike to take stands. James, the Los Angeles Lakers star, started More Than a Vote — an organization with a mission to "educate, energize and protect Black voters" — in 2020. He has passed the leadership to Ogwumike, who just finished her 13th year in the WNBA and also is the president of the Women's National Basketball Players Association. More than a Vote is focused on women's rights and reproductive freedom this year.
"They have very established brands," Walsh said. "They know who they are and they know what their political stance is. They know that they have a really strong following that -- there's always going to be haters, but they're also always going to have that strong following of people who listen to everything that they have to say."
Andra Gillespie, an associate professor at Emory University who teaches African American politics, also said it is rare that a college athlete would make a significant impact with a political stand simply because they tend to have a more regional platform than national. Even celebrities like Taylor Swift and Eminem are better at increasing turnout than championing candidates.
"They are certainly very beneficial in helping to drive up turnout among their fans," Gillespie said. "The data is less conclusive about whether or not they're persuasive – are they the ones who are going to persuade you to vote for a particular candidate?"
Athletes as influencers
Still, campaigns know young voters are critical this election cycle, and athletes offer an effective and familiar voice to reach them.
Political and social topics are not often broached, but this week six Nebraska athletes — five softball players and a volleyball player — appeared in an ad paid for by the group Protect Women and Children involving two initiatives about abortion laws on Tuesday's ballot.
The female athletes backed Initiative 434, which would amend the state constitution to prohibit abortions after the first trimester, with exceptions. Star softball player Jordy Bahl said on social media that the athletes were not paid.
A University of Montana spokesperson said two athletes initially agreed to take part in the NIL deal backing Tester. The school said one withdrew and the other declined to be interviewed.
For Meskers, deciding against the offer boiled down to Tester twice voting against proposals to bar federal funds from going to schools that allow transgender athletes to play women's sports, a prominent GOP campaign topic. Tester's campaign said the proposals were amendments to government spending packages, and he didn't want to play a role in derailing them as government shutdowns loomed.
"As a former public school teacher and school board member, Jon Tester believes these decisions should be made at the local level," a Tester spokesperson said. "He has never voted to allow men to compete against women."
Meskers said she believes using influence as college athletes is good and she is in favor of NIL. She just doesn't think the two should mix specifically for supporting candidates.
"I think especially as student athletes, we do have such a big voice and we do have a platform to use," she said. "So I think if you're encouraging people to do their civic duties and get up and go (vote), I think that's a great thing."
