White Privilege, White Guilt, and the Role Media Play in Perpetuating Such Paranoia

"Was there ever a point in history where White Privilege did exist?"

That's the question a White Liberal asked Candace Owens at one of Turning Point USA's outdoor events.

"Yeah, I suppose when we lived in a country where if you were Black, you were not allowed to go into certain places," she responded.

"When did it end?" he asked.

"When it stopped being systemic."

Owens' answer was fire.

Today, more than ever, I've watched White Americans on social media and in the news shout their hatred of White Privilege, despite them being White.

This type of self-hatred is quickly becoming the norm for most Liberal White Americans, who, for decades, have been labeled as some of the most racist individuals in our country. (Just listen to Malcolm X's speeches to hear what I mean.)

It's like if they somehow go on record as stating their hatred for themselves and their "privilege," then it proves to Black Americans and other people of color that they aren't racist.

But what is White Privilege? Is it a myth, or is there some basis in this arbitrary notion?

And what is White Guilt, and could this be the reason why so many Liberal White Americans espouse such views?

This analysis--from a female, Black, Conservative's perspective--may astound you.

What is White Privilege?

Study any ethnic studies course in America, and you will come across this term repeatedly.

White Privilege is a social construct, much like racism, in which people are basically granted certain "rights" to complain about their position in life due to the color of their skin.

Now, that's Felecia's assessment of the concept, because I have witnessed time and again people use this idea as an excuse for why they can't achieve more in life.

It's easier to blame someone or some invisible force for their failures rather than taking a hard look at the person in the mirror.

But if want to talk about White Privilege from an historical perspective, we can make solid arguments that this concept was, in fact, a reality...

...that simply because of the color of one's skin, certain legal rights were afforded White Americans that were not shared with Black Americans...

...laws such as the Jim Crow ones or the black codes.

These were examples of systemic racism, which Owens alluded to in her video.

For now, let's take a look at how some people today define White Privilege:

• According to "Teaching Tolerance," a website devoted to helping educators with their professional development, "White privilege is an invisible force that white people needed to recognize." Pulling from Peggy McIntosh's study found in "“White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” this notion is the power White folks have in seeing their race easily represented in all facets of life: in entertainment, in stores, practically everywhere. Furthermore, the site argues that White Privilege is a force that has the ability to make systemic decisions.
• According to "Showing Up for Racial Justice," White Privilege is more of a benefit that White people enjoy over people of color. The writer uses the example that White people typically won't experience police harassment like Black Americans. The author also adds that White people are given more attention and respect in conversations than people of color. Lastly, as the writer puts it, "We don’t have to represent our race, and nothing we do is judged as a credit to our race or as confirmation of its shortcomings or inferiority."
• Finally, according to a Huffington post article, "Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person," the writer, who once found this concept offensive, argues "being born with white skin in America affords people certain unearned privileges in life that people of other skin colors simply are not afforded." The writer further adds, "Whether [White people] realize it or not, [they] do benefit from it, and it is [their] fault if [they] don’t maintain awareness of that fact."

Let that last sentence settle with you for a minute, Dear Reader.

If you are White, and you do not maintain awareness of your privilege, then it is a fault on you. This, according to White Privilege enthusiasts, reveals a subtle flaw in your character.

Please excuse me while I try not to mock these humans for their ridiculous sentiments.

Is White Privilege a Myth or Reality?

My first encounter with this concept came, of course, during my years at the University of California, Davis.

I was working on my second major, African American Studies, and all of my ethnic studies professors spoke to this notion of White Privilege.

Growing up, this idea never flooded our house. My father never raised me or sister to believe we had to work twice as hard as our White friends to succeed, even while we attended predominantly White private schools.

Father never told us that White people had better opportunities than us.

He simply instilled faith in us, the drive to succeed, the determination to follow our dreams, and the wisdom to resist the devil whenever he tried to destroy us.

The principles taught in our home were based on the Word of God and Conservative values.

You can imagine my surprise when, at one of the most prestigious public universities in the country, I learned that because of my skin color, someone else was better than me because he was White.

As a Black woman, this knowledge should have enraged me.

Instead, it had the opposite effect.

When asked repeatedly about my thoughts regarding White privilege today, my critics are surprised to learn that not only do I call the concept a myth, but that such a belief ceased to be a reality years ago.

It goes without question that at one point in American history, there were benefits and privileges that White Americans experienced over Black people.

White Privilege had the power to create laws and policies that directly affected a Black person's ability to exercise civil liberties in the country...

...again, policies like slave laws, black codes, and legalized segregation.

Once such laws were prohibited and overturned, White Privilege became more or less a concept based on one's belief regarding himself in comparison to people of color.

For example, it wasn't uncommon for poor White Americans to feel a sense of superiority to Black people, even Black intellectuals, because the assumption was that Black people were inferior to all Whites.

Or it wasn't uncommon for White Americans to be treated more fairly in public places such as stores and restaurants when compared to Black Americans.

In those instances, White Privilege was certainly a reality, because there were overt, visible effects of it.

But today, there is nothing preventing Black people from experiencing anything that a White American (or any American) cannot enjoy.

As Candace Owens alluded to in her debate with the White Liberal, when one's privilege affects systems (policies and laws), then yes, there is privilege.

When that is no longer present, then such privilege is nothing more than a myth.

Enroll today in The Fifteen 20 E-Course and Book, where I continue my teachings related to this topic.

White Americans Who Talk the White Privilege Message are Offensive to Me, and Here's Why

I get it.

Most White Americans hate being called racist.

They hate the idea that their ancestors once owned slaves and once created laws that oppressed Black Americans.

I get it.

But what I find appalling about this issue is the subtle message White Privilege promotes regarding Black Americans all together. Here's what I mean.

The White Privilege message conditions most White Americans to see all Black people as being oppressed.

I remember reading a comment from some White woman on Facebook, who wrote, "Black people in this country are subject to a life of poverty."

Subject to a life of poverty? That's funny, because I don't remember being subjected to poverty while growing up in my all-Black, middle-class family.

I'm not subject to anything or anyone except the Holy Spirit, and I had to give Him permission for that!

The White Privilege message conditions most White Americans to view all Black people as victims, not victors; and when Conservatives like myself or Candace Owens, especially because we are women, confront people who want us to agree with White Privilege, those individuals become enraged when we don't espouse their views.

I remember another time, a man told me that I was "in denial" because I wouldn't acknowledge my "marginalization" or "suppression" as a woman.

I'm thinking to myself, "If I'm being oppressed, shouldn't I be the one to speak on it, not you?"

It's so incredibly offensive to me that when certain White Americans look at me, they automatically assume that I'm uneducated and broke or the typical "single Black mother" who is incapable of financial independence.

They don't see my intellect or how I've been able to establish a business of my own, on my own.

I remember sharing with one of my dear friends, who is White, that I attended UC Davis and graduated with multiple degrees.

She couldn't believe it! She assumed, like many other Liberal Whites, that I was not that sharp academically because she has been trained to believe in (and to feel guilty for) her White Privilege.

She had been conditioned to see Black people, especially single mothers, as "subjected to poverty."

(I wanted to tell her, "Honey, I'm rich! It may not look like it now, but I'm building generational wealth for my children's children, despite my current obstacles."  I love my friend, by the way. She's great!)

It's one thing to feel sorrow and anger for America's dark history.

It's another thing to assume that only White people had a hand in it.

• You do know that over 3,000 free Blacks were also slaveholders before the Civil War, right?
• You do know that the first person to make a servant a slave for life in this country was a Black man, right?
• You do know that other ethnic groups, like the Cherokee, were slaveholders, right?

My point: White people were not the only ones practicing this heinous act!

So, who am I, as a scholar of American history, particularly Black history, to make someone of a different ethnic group feel guilty or responsible for my lot in life or that of other Black Americans?

I own my life and I take responsibility for it; and it's my total reliance on the Lord that gives me what I need to prosper.

This knowledge and awareness is why I experience success, despite the hardships I've encounter.

Indoctrination Factories and the Privileges that are Present

Today, colleges are nothing more than what I call "indoctrination factories." This is where parents send their children, hoping they receive an education that will lead to economic success.

Instead, too many graduates emerge as useful idiots who don't understand the power of critical thought, the power of economic success, and the power to win in life, despite one's trials.

Colleges condition young minds to reject the values our parents taught us growing up. They teach us that it's OK to be a victim and to have people feel sorry for us because of our Blackness.

By and large, colleges and universities are training the next generation to hate morals, to hate values, and to ignore spiritual principles that can lift anyone out of poverty and distress.

Fortunately for me, the values my father taught me were strong enough to carry me through my college years.

I left the University with two degrees, and came out unscathed by the racist rhetoric and doctrine of victimization, which the school wanted me to embrace.

But this, unfortunately, is not the fate of most college graduates.

In fact, the mere notion that so many White people today--young White people at that--are grossly consumed with preaching the White Privilege message, this speaks to the power our colleges have on creating useful idiots in society.

These same individuals will continue spreading these lies to their children (if they haven't aborted all of them yet); and thus the cycle continues.

But this discussion isn't to say privilege does not exist in this country.

There is privilege, and it's called American privilege.

As American citizens, we can travel anywhere in the world and be looked upon as having privilege simply because we represent the First World.

We have access to education, healthcare, religion, and much more any time we want!

We have the power to create anything we desire, when we desire it, and how we desire to see it manifest.

There is literally nothing stopping us from manifesting what we imagine in our hearts and minds. Our only limitations are those which we erect for ourselves.

Felecia Killings, a Conservative Black woman, had the privilege of launching her own virtual ministry, which will generate millions of dollars in the coming years, all thanks to the benefits she has in this great country.

That's the privilege we can talk about, and it's powerful!

Privilege (or the lack thereof) has nothing to do with my ethnicity.

It has everything to do with my nationality.

By conditioning people to believe in this invisible force that's trying to kill Black people, aka White Privilege, we strip people of their power to do what this country affords us the right to do: to live as prosperously as we desire.

That's why I and other Black Conservatives REJECT this White Privilege message, because it does more harm than good to the psyche of Black people.

Fear is the Backdrop of White Privilege

Ask yourself, "Why would the concept of White Privilege come to prominence during the 1980s and not before?"

Why, when at a time when White Privilege had NO BASIS in reality, would a White woman publish an essay that became the apex of future White Guilt?

I contend that such notion became widespread at a time when so many White Americans wanted to show and prove their allegiance to racial equality and equity. This, of course, is simply my observation and assertion.

It's easier for White Americans to have a voice and influence in Black people's lives when White Americans are willing to admit they "have privilege."

It would seem that if no White American admitted to his or her privilege, then internally, they are racist.

For most White Americans, being called racist is like being called a rapist or a murderer or an adulterer.

The term is simply pure evil, and most White Americans want nothing to do with such title.

So, the question becomes, how can they assure people of color that they're not racist?

Making it more person, how can my Liberal White friend ensure that she doesn't say anything to offend me, her Black best friend?

The answer: by adhering to the doctrine of White Privilege and being willing to openly express her awareness of such privilege when necessary.

This is nothing more than people responding to fear: fear of being called a name, fear of being considered evil, fear of being something that no one wants to be called today: a racist.

Such fear then leads to a feeling of guilt and shame.

White Guilt: A Psychological Disorder

Both White Privilege and White Guilt go hand-in-hand.

One is not present without the other, which explains why so many White Americans preach the White Privilege message more than anyone else.

The concept of White Guilt is defined as such: "Individual or collective guilt felt by some white people for harm resulting from racist treatment of ethnic minorities by other white people both historically and currently in the United States and to a lesser extent in Canada, South Africa and the United Kingdom. White guilt has been described as one of the psycho-social costs of racism for white individuals along with empathy (sadness and anger) for victims of racism and fear of non-whites." (Source: White Guilt).

People who walk around with such anxiety struggle with their knowledge of White Privilege, and as such, they develop shame that causes them to feel guilty for something they didn't do.

When Black Conservatives like myself tell White Americans they don't need to succumb to White Guilt, we are called "sellouts" and "traitors to our race."

We are told that by "ignoring the problem," aka White Privilege, we are doing harm to our communities.

What they fail to realize is that the same principles that pulled their ancestors ought of poverty are the same principles that pull Black Americans out of despair.

As I mentioned earlier, many individuals want Black Americans to feel and embrace a victim's mentality, to share our stories of how racism ruined our lives, or to make them feel the same kind of emotional pain our ancestors felt during the nation's most racist moments.

They can't stand to hear that there are Black Americans who do not espouse such liberal views, that we aren't caught up in our emotions about racism, or that we actually don't care about the White Privilege myth.

Black Conservatives are, by and large, focused on higher things, higher standards, and higher principles, which are based on God's Word.

If White Privilege is a Myth, and White Guilt is Unnecessary, Then What is the Problem Today?

Progressives who speak of this "invisible force" negatively affecting people of color are correct in one thing: there is something trying to destroy us.

They call it "White Privilege."

I call it negative thinking.

The problem today, Dear Reader, is not whether or not a White person has more rights than I do, which he doesn't.

The problems I or anyone experience are simply the result of negative thinking.

The Bible points to this clearly: "As a man thinks in his heart, so he is" (Proverbs 23).

I find it interesting that Jesus taught His disciples to "be of good cheer," even though they would face trials and testing in this world.

He encouraged them, because He said, "I have overcome the world." (See John 16.)

Having knowledge and awareness of the Greater One being with them and in them gave them courage to press forward with their spiritual calling.

That same knowledge is given to anyone who seeks it out.

Spiritual laws and principles are the guiding forces that make ordinary men and women extraordinary. These principles are what colleges, universities, and families must teach.

Not White Privilege.

When each of us is given the opportunity--through accurate, wholesome wisdom and knowlegde--to explore the depths of our mental capacity, nothing will be impossible to us.

But it all starts with renewing the mind so that it thinks on higher things. (See Colossians 3:2.)

In his amazing book, Outwitting the Devil, Napoleon Hill contends that the things we allow to manifest in our lives are the result of that which we create in our minds.

When people allow fear to guide them--and the White Privilege message is one based on fear--then paranoia works much like faith: it brings into existence that which we ponder consistently. Here's how it works:

• If I believe White people are out to destroy me, then each time I come in contact with White people, I will see their actions as working against me. Thus, I manifest my own destruction based on notions I perceive to be a reality, even when they're not.
• If I believe the police are out to get me because I'm Black, then each time I see a police officer, I will interpret his actions as being racist. Thus, if I'm constantly in trouble with the law, I attribute that to racism instead of looking at my own actions.
• If I believe I cannot succeed in life because White people have all the privilege and benefits, then I will never succeed because of my own mental limitations, not because of what White people are doing. Thus, I subject myself to a life of poverty, because I don't believe there are opportunities for me.

What I share here, Dear Reader, is the truth, and history proves this.

If I think negatively, I manifest negative results.

To the contrary, if I think positively--regardless of my current circumstances--then I manifest goodly results.

Try to imagine being a Black woman living in a time when all Black people were considered inferior and were forced to segregate based on race.

Now imagine that this same woman, who lived during a period of overt racism, developing a hair-care business that made her one of the wealthiest people in the country.

That person, Dear Reader, was Madam C.J. Walker, and her story is similar to that of many Black intellectuals and business people, who, despite living in more hostile environments than we do today, thrived economically because they had the will (and mental power) to win.

How, then, can Black Americans living today argue that White Privilege is preventing them from faring well, especially when we have at our disposal everything we need to thrive and more?

The truth is, the White Privilege message is profitable to people, and the ones perpetuating this fear are the same ones generating wealth from this hysteria.

Media's Influence on White Guilt Paranoia

I've said it repeatedly: "Media are the enemy of the people."

Malcolm X said it best: "Media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and they make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses."

Media have no filters when it comes to turning the general public against each other.

They use television, movies, commercials, politicians, athletes, celebrities, and commentators to sway the public into believing anything about anyone.

When an ideology needs to be ingrained in the public's mind, media outlets use their influence to accomplish the task.

What's interesting is that media never expose their own prejudice, biases, and racism. Take Hollywood, for example.

Celebrities are constantly talking about President Trump's racism; yet they crucify any celebrity who calls out the overt racism found in Hollywood itself, and there is substantial evidence to support this happening RIGHT NOW.

The sports industry throws its support towards athletes like Colin Pumpernickel (I mean Kaepernick) for calling out police brutality against Black people; yet the sports industry says nothing of its own discrimination against other ethnic groups, who are barely represented in their industry (Asians, Hispanics, Pacific Islanders, etc.).

Again, whatever media want, media get because they have the power to control the mind of the masses.

And when media use moguls to promulgate White Guilt and White Privilege, it turns the general public against each other.

Here's My Last Thought

As a Black American, I don't want hear anything about how someone has more privilege than me. I don't want to be made to feel like I'm lower than anyone.

So, stop trying to make me think that way!

I want to hear how I can grow more, how I can reach new levels, and how I can achieve my goals by applying certain principles that others have used to succeed.

Trying to force me to embrace victimization won't get me there. It will keep me stuck in a position where I am ineffective as a member of society.

I, and many other Black Americans, won't have it!

It is quite possible for me to learn and embrace my history in this country without making someone else feel ashamed for it.

If Liberals want to make the playing field equal and equitable for all, they should start by denouncing the White Privilege message. It is nothing more than a pathological, racist narrative that conditions people to see Black Americans as permanently inferior while making White Americans anxious and depressed.

Black Conservatives like myself can't take them seriously, especially because we understand that our privilege comes from simply living in the greatest country in the world.

This, my Dear Reader, is the counter message I have regarding this topic. It's a message I will continue to share with others, because the words of my mouth will continue to be used to break people free from the spiritual and mental bondage that hold them back.

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