White privilege

Colin Kaepernick started a campaign to fight against racial Injustice. He decided to kneel for the national anthem, which was his form of protest. "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color" (Wyche). Colin Kaepernick is a biracial former professional football player who is standing up for racial Injustice. When looking at statistics with the issue of mass incarceration, specifically for African - Americans, as well as the issue with Police brutality for African- Americans, Colin Kaepernick's protest is valid and proven by statistics which undoubtedly shows that white privilege was and still is an issue in the United States. For me the biggest problem with white privilege is that typically those that have this privilege, do not acknowledge it simply because they do not know anything different and hopefully are not aware of or have been fortunate to be taught about this issue. However, there is also a part of our society that simply will deny white privilege and look for reasons to blame other ethnicities for their lack of success in life. Paul Gormley in his piece in the intellect quarterly states, “AMERICA IS NOT A MELTING POT. IT IS A SIZZLING CAULDRON” (Gormley, 24). He talks about the racial conflict that contradicts the statement that the United States of America is a fully functional and equal “melting pot”. This depicts what is wrong with the communication that is going on interracially among the citizens of this country. There is no communication about the social issue that is trying to be brought to light by a peaceful protest, instead, the conversation is about the symbol that is being used to protest. White America and Black America reacted very differently to Kaepernick’s protest. Twenty-three percent of Whites approve his protest, versus seventy-two percent of Blacks, approve his protest about racial injustice. (Strachan) This statistic exemplifies how white privilege is very much prevalent today, the amount of white people who disapprove is extremely high and this is most likely due to the fact that these issues do not affect them which makes them more susceptible to being blind to the issues of racial injustice.










Rothenberg, P. S. (1998). Race, class, and gender in the United States: An integrated study. New

York: St. Martin's Press. Part 1, Ch 1, 2, 5, 6. Part 2, Ch 2, 4. Part 4, Ch 2.

Strachan, Maxwell. “Black Americans Support Colin Kaepernick. White People?
Not So Much.” The Huffington Post. The Huffington Post, 7 Sept. 2016.
Web. 27 Oct. 2016.

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