Chapter 5 is entitled, “White Privilege, Color, and Crime” and is a first personal account of how Peggy McIntosh, a privileged white woman, has had an advantaged life. She compares her experiences with those of her African American colleagues. She accounted for these in a paper she wrote in 1988, that included 46 conditions of white privilege. The follow up, published in this book, includes her expanded perspective to include friends and colleagues of other racial groups.
McIntosh writes that most people who experience privilege do not even recognize it as such in that it is invisible to them. She has observed that where she chooses to live, where and how her children are educated, her employment opportunities, how she is able to present herself physically and how she functions as a consumer are all privileges White people enjoy. However, these same opportunities are experienced differently for people of color.
She also writes how White people are more positively reflected and better serviced in the media, businesses and the medical and law enforcement communities for example. In other words, the kind of discrimination in these same scenarios experienced by people of color, are not part of her experience as a White woman. She also cites wealth and recognized white men (one of them being Donald Trump) as privileged not only by their financial worth and lifestyle, but because they can break the law and go unpunished because of their race. McIntosh has co-presented her paper with people of color and those people experienced heightened discrimination after the fact.
Chapter 10 is entitled, “The Caucasian Evasion.” The authors discuss how the media portrays whites as more law-abiding victims who deserve help versus people of color. They claim that when whites commit crimes, the public reaction is one of surprise because the expectation is that the perpetrator is usually black, and this behavior is part of the black culture. Another theme is an emphasis within public perception that more crimes are committed against whites (in particular, white women) by blacks. The authors also looked at the perception that whites have more professional potential than blacks because they have obtained a better education.
Another topic covered in this chapter is how the legal system is biased against blacks as they are treated more unfairly (and assumed to be guilty more often than not) than whites. This means there is a higher rate of false conviction, some of which is later overturned due to the increased use of DNA evidence to clear blacks that have been falsely imprisoned.
Chapter 15 is entitled “The Unanswered Question” and it addresses the question of whether or not blacks are treated unfairly in the criminal justice system and if the media exploits this. Historically, blacks have received more brutal treatment (beatings, lynching) when convicted of a crime than whites, which largely escaped physical punishment. The author concludes that racial discrimination greatly influences the criminal justice system.
From an academic perspective, the author, Jerome Miller, claims we prefer to avoid uncomfortable topics, such as racial profiling or discrimination. Part of the reason is it is difficult to measure the level of discrimination within the criminal justice system, although since the Michael Brown case, there has at least been a new level of awareness of this topic around the country.
Chapter 20 is entitled “The Laundering of White Crime” and discusses the impact of white supremacism, dating back thousands of years. The author touches upon how the media points out that a “black male” has committed a crime, whereas if the perpetrator is white, the term “white male” is almost never used. The public image of whites that commit crimes, as a whole group, is glossed over. Going back to the White-Indian Conflict, the Indian Wars, slavery and the Klan, the perception among whites that their race was superior, gave them the false sense that they had the right to kill people of color because their lives were less valued. The author concludes that white American men have used their race and dominant social value, to abuse people of color. Using the example of Jesse James, who essentially became famous for being a white man who committed numerous crimes of violence, but was labeled an American hero, the author makes the observation that whites can be above the law based on the color of their skin and social standing. In essence, the author likens this group to bullies who use their status and race to commit crimes and get away with it.
My reflection on these four chapters is based on my own observations that there is no doubt people of color are discriminated against in many ways when it comes to perception of crime, law enforcement and the media. I have a close friend who is African American and even though she is an attractive, well-dressed woman, she says she is followed in stores. Regarding the chapter that discusses white supremacism, this is a timely topic following the Trump election, during which people like Steve Bannon, who ran a conservative, white-biased news organization, rose to public prominence and white nationalist groups supported this candidate.
Some major racial profiling events have happened in the news since this book was written. However, the essence of these chapters remains the same in that there is a still a racial divide in this country and unequal treatment of people of color in the media, public perception and criminal justice system.
