Racial Inequality and White Privilege

In my personal experience I haven't been greatly affected by white privilege. Although I have been afforded many privileges from my parents success I don't tie their success to their races, but to their work ethic. My dad (German) grew up the eldest of 7 brothers so money was very scarce and had to work multiple jobs and shoulder college debt to get to where he is. My mother (Mexican) struggled attending college as well, but was offered a scholarship that worked linearly with her grades where she owed less if she got higher grades. Looking at the school aspect of things both seem to be afforded the same privileges as the other. However, my mother experienced many events in her daily social life that my dad fortunately never had to experience when working. Early in her career she was constantly mistaken as a waitress, maid, janitor, etc. While on the job this was extremely embarrassing and demoralizing after working hard to put herself in the position she was at the hospital. In most cases many didn't even apologize and she would just have to turn the other cheek and walk away. It is instances like these that my dad had the privilege of avoiding because as a white male his presence in the hospital was almost expected while my mother's was a rarity save for a few rare instances that people immediately gravitated to and found themselves making incorrect assumptions about her position. As Max Romano articulated in his article "most white have been taught since an early age that people of their own race can become doctors." (Romano pp.262) This goes to show that even when started in the same socioeconomic position there are certain occurrences that my dad can't relate to when it comes to being perceived as brown. What I appreciate about my parents is that they met each other and didn't let the societal norms dictate the validity of their relationship. When my parents started dating in high school my mothers grandparents were very skeptical of my dad because all of the experiences that they had with white people were mostly negative. Fortunately, they challenged the precedent and eventually raised me and my siblings to be more open minded than their parents. Statistics even show that at the time, "In 1990, for example, about 14 percent of 18- to 19-year-olds were in an interracial relationship." (Lang pp.1) What I appreciate most about this story is that my dad could have simply avoided my mother and lived a very different life because his motives wouldn't have been questioned, but he chose to not let the societal pressures dictate his life and did what he thought was right even though it wasn't seen as normal for someone of his skin color.


Romano, M. J. (2018, May 1). White privilege in a white coat: How racism shaped my medical education. Annals of Family Medicine. Retrieved January 24, 2022, from      https://www.annfammed.org/content/16/3/261

Lang, S. S., & November 2, 2005. (2005, November 2). Interracial relationships are on the increase in U.S., but decline with age, Cornell Study finds. Cornell Chronicle. Retrieved January 24, 2022, from https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2005/11/interracial-relationships-are-increase-decline-age#:~:text=In%201990%2C%20for%20example%2C%20about,were%20in%20an%20interracial%20relationship.

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