Q: First, I’d like to get your perspective on White privilege—what it is and perhaps what, in your experience, has led to its manifestation?
Both: I’d be interested to hear your definition of “White privilege,” but, as I understand your question now, “White privilege” is impossible to address without acknowledging the current climate in the United States … one in which the racial, but also the socioeconomic, cultural, and religious majorities operate more easily within the social frameworks that have been created by that very majority. I believe it follows that, since the majority of people who fulfill those categories are White, it may be misconstrued that there is some sort of White privilege in education and other major areas of our society. It’s worth mentioning, however, that many of the people who don’t fit into those majority categories are also White. My point being that the lines between the privileged and the less-privileged—whether in education or elsewhere—seem to fall less along racial lines and more along socioeconomic/cultural lines.
Adam: That is to say: all other things being equal between two applicants, I’m not sure White privilege exists so strongly in many of the leading universities in America. The higher education system is self-conscious now, in a nearly unprecedented manner, and has started to develop a mindset that is protective of minority groups. For example, a socioeconomically disadvantaged White person may not trigger the same protective disposition.
Joel: I largely agree with Adam, and perhaps the parts where I disagree involve the specific institutions I’ve been exposed to. From my personal perspective, it has seemed that certain minority groups represent a disproportionate amount of the athletes on campus. That is to say, it seemed that the disadvantaged minority populations that were given access to this form of higher education were generally athletes who would bolster the school’s athletic prowess. I could very well be wrong, but, nonetheless, if that were true, it would suggest that White privilege exists insofar as it is predominantly White students (or at least disproportionately White students) who are admitted for their academic/educational/intellectual endeavors, which is, or should be, the most significant aspect of higher education. I don’t think that this is always the case by any means, but it does seem to operate at the margins.
The real question is (as suggested in the first paragraph): is this because of race? I knew plenty of athletes at Dartmouth who were White, from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, and who—in my opinion—were basically just at the school for their athletic talents, and for whom a degree from one of these institutions would not be terribly valuable (because their overwhelming focus was not on school). Again, whether this is just a problem with the way Ivy League schools try to work around the “no athletic recruitment” policies is not something I—or anyone for that matter—could answer definitively.
Q: To what extent do you think the traditional model for higher education still perpetuates this concept of White privilege?
