Personal Experience of Privilege and Stigma

Society frames some racial and ethnic groups in a more positive light than others, thus affording preferential treatment to the members of those groups. The term privilege is used to refer to this preferential treatment. Privilege is the advantage given to some statuses. Wellesley College professor Peggy McIntosh first created the term in 1988, while teaching courses in women’s studies. In the “Framework Essay” for Section II in your course text, the author describes McIntosh’s personal account of her observations. She learned that men often are granted advantages, such as higher compensation at work, because of their gender. By extending the analysis to race, she discovered that people often assume that white people are not poor or violent and do not engage in criminal behavior.
While privilege results in preferential treatment, stigma results in negative treatment. In many ways, privilege and stigma are considered to be opposite. A stigma is an attribute for which someone is considered bad, unworthy, or discredited. For example, a black person is more likely than a white person to be under surveillance while shopping. In McIntosh’s account, blacks were also viewed as lazy. Asian Americans were seen as shy and yielding.
Be sure to support BOTH responses with specific references to the Learning Resources (IN TEXT BOOK)
Rosenblum, K. E., & Travis T. C. (2016). The meaning of difference: American constructions of race and ethnicity, sex and gender, social class, sexuality, and disability (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Section I, “Framework Essay”
Section II, “Framework Essay”
Section II, Reading 22, “Latinos in the U.S. Race Structure”
Section II, Reading 23, “Everybody’s Ethnic Enigma”
Then, describe a situation in which your chosen person experienced negative treatment due to stigma related to perceived racial or ethnic identity. Explain why the individual was stigmatized.
Coinciding with social injustices that individuals may succumb to when being ascertained by the law proves worthy and abundant with African American individuals from a social aspect while experiencing the stigma of racial identity is disparaging and disheartening to view. Racial profiling in the law is a common and frequent occurrence specifically towards any minority other than Caucasian in America (Rosenblum & Travis, 2016). Cops being trained to seek out a racial minority and even ethnic minorities in the community, permeate throughout history (Rosenblum & Travis, 2016). With instances such as Trayvon Martin, who was a 17-year-old child who was fatally shot in Florida by George Zimmerman, comes to mind. However, witnessing from a personal account, when African Americans encompass a total of .4% of the total population of Montana, or a meager 4,300 persons (Kolmar, 2019), it is easy to see how racial profiling is plentiful amongst Montana. During a night out in Billings, MT, there was a group of guys involved in a bar fight, and unfortunately, the cops were called to acquiesce vigilance amongst the bar-goers that night. One the individuals was an African American guy in a white tank-top, baggy jean, and comparatively to the other three, which were white males in plaid and t-shirts, immediately the cop sought after the African American questioning why he instigated a fight. As the cop began handcuffing the African American student from MSU, a group of bar attendees lamented that he was not even a participant but a victim that the group began ostracizing the man as he dressed inappropriately in comparison to everyone else and did not belong in Montana. The individual was stigmatized simply because he was of color versus his fellow bar compatriots, coinciding his attire of a white tank-top and baggy jeans. His master class of where he came from in the suburbs of Queens, were relinquished the moment he stepped into Montana. As fortunate as it was for myself to witness such paramount injustice towards a human who had no involvement in the crime was disheartening to witness and forever changed the perception of the minority.
Finally, compare and contrast how the treatment differed in the situation representing privilege versus the situation representing stigma.
Seemingly privilege undoubtedly harnesses power, protection, and flexibility in navigating through daily encounters of life. Whereas stigmas further indoctrinate social inequality amongst the populace. Comparing the two, if at all possible, would be the power-gap that both represent, which consequently yields the differences between the two. Where the privilege the perceived power relinquished power to a higher authority, and contrast the stigma situation forgoing any power in order to maintain composure amongst a social situation.
References:
Rosenblum, K. E., & Travis, T. (2016). The meaning of difference: AMERICAN constructions of race and ethnicity, sex and gender, social class, sexuality, and DISABILITY: A text/reader. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Kolmar, C. (2019, December 21). Montana cities with the largest black Population, 2020. Retrieved February 27, 2020, from https://www.roadsnacks.net/most-african-american-cities-in-montana/