White Privilege In Jessica Drew De Paz's Story

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I truly enjoyed reading Jessica Drew de Paz’s story. I’ve heard and read many inspiring stories on individuals who come from minority backgrounds, but never stories on white Americans. It was definitely different and refreshing to hear Jessica’s story. Jessica described white privilege as being oblivious to the effects of a person’s racial background. It wasn’t until Jessica was in graduate school that she began to recognize white privilege. Her and her classmates were asked whether or not there racial backgrounds were a big part of their life. To her surprise, many of her white classmates, including herself, didn’t feel that their racial background was a big part of their life. While many of her classmates from minority backgrounds felt as if their racial background was a big part of their life. Jessica (2014) realizes “were we whites oblivious to the ways in which our lives are also shaped by race” (pg.94). Essentially Jessica described white privilege as unrecognizable privileges that benefit white people. …show more content…

I believe the purpose of the article was to bring awareness to the concept of white privilege. There are many individuals today who are unaware of the concept, it either goes unrecognized or in many instances is seen as a made up belief. I feel that by Peggy giving many examples of white privilege she was able to bring awareness to the existence of white privilege. One of the main values in the social work profession is social justice. In order to secure social justice for individuals who live with inequalities social workers must be able to recognize the cause of the inequalities. White privilege is one contributor to many inequalities. This article is a great tool for all social workers to use to help identify the many social inequalities that others face due to white

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