Apparently, poor white people are a myth. Of course, as a white man with a wife and two kids and a fairly small income, this is news to me. However, my “betters” in academia argue otherwise.
No, seriously. From The College Fix:
Students studying “multicultural competence” at one college are taught that white people can pretty much live wherever they want — and afford it, too — according to screenshots of a quiz question obtained by The College Fix.
Students enrolled in an online “Wellness Coaching & Communication Skills” class through the American College of Healthcare Sciences, which offers online schooling as well as a campus in Portland, Ore., were recently quizzed on privilege.
“If I should move I can be pretty sure that I can rent or purchase housing in an area that I can afford and in which I want to live. This is an example of …” the quiz asks, in which the correct answer is “white privilege.” The other choices were “heterosexual privilege, male privilege or Christian privilege.”
Under the question it indicates it stemmed from a lesson on “multicultural competence.”
Alright, the term “academia” might be a tad generous for a school that has majors in “holistic nutrition” and “iridology consulting.”
However, the sentiment isn’t unique to the American College of Healthcare Sciences. I’ve heard similar statements over the years, and I have to tell you, it’s wonderful.
You see, I don’t live in the best of neighborhoods. No, we don’t have running gun battles just off the front porch, but we’re not too far from that. It’s great to know that I can just move and that I can find somewhere I can afford because, well, I’m white. If the only area I want to live is Beverly Hills, I can be “pretty sure” I’ll find a house I can afford because, again, I’m white.
That’s not how any of this works and it never has been.
Whites struggle just like everyone else. What whites don’t get are institutions around them helping them to blame other people for the ills in their life. Oh, plenty do it just fine, but they don’t get the level of support from academics and government officials who constantly feed into the idea that whites are living under golden clouds of awesomeness.
We don’t.
The reality is that no matter how much I wish it were so, there’s no golden ticket that’ll allow my family to move except for my own hard work. That’s true for anyone, regardless of skin color. If that constitutes white privilege, then everyone has it.
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