Week 4, Question #2: White Men

2). Explain the concept "white men of privilege". Do you agree with the concept? Why or why not?

"White men of privilege" is the belief that upper-class white European males who are rich hold the most power in several instances in our society. Harris (2008) explains it as, "Clealy, the overriding assumption of social, economic, and political power in this country has long resided with upper-class and upper-middle-class white European males of wealth and privilege" (p. 96). I do agree with this concept because for the most part these type of men are the ones you always see in the highest positions in our country. For example, management positons, CEOs, congress, so on and so forth. I mean, we just now in 2008/2009 had a "minority" get elected into presidency, which is a huge step for our country. And Hilary Clinton, while not the first woman to run for president, become about the twelth woman to do so. Perhaps the "white men of privilege" concept is slowly decreasing, and maybe even in the not-so-distant future Hilary Clinton - or another woman - will become the first female to be president of the United States. Perhaps Obama being elected president is the first step to allowing minorities, women, the less attractive, etc to get in on some of the power and privileges that the "white men" have been experiencing for a long time now.