White Privilege/
The Black-White Pay Gap
April 18, 2008
http://www.iastate.edu/~soc.134
© 2008 David Schweingruber
Racism terminology
 Racism: belief that humans are subdivided into distinct groups that are
different in their social behavior and innate capacities and that can be
ranked as superior or inferior (p. 393)
 Personal racism: individualʼs expression of racist attitudes or behaviors
(p. 391)
• Can be either prejudice (attitudes) or discrimination (unfair treatment)
 Institutional racism: laws, customs, and practices that systematically
reflect and produce racial and ethnic inequalities in a society, whether
or not the individuals maintaining these laws, customs, and practices
have racist intentions (p. 405)
Definitions: Newman’s Sociology (2000). Pine Forge Press.
©©2008
2000David
DavidSchweingruber
Schweingruber
White privilege
 White privilege: term coined by Peggy McIntosh to describe “an unearned package of
unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was ʻmeantʼ to
remain oblivious”
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I can, if I wish, arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.
I can avoid spending time with people whom I was trained to mistrust and who have learned to mistrust my
kind and more.
I can be reasonably sure that my neighbors will be neutral or pleasant to me.
When I am told about our national heritage or about “civilization,” I am shown that people of my color made
it what it is.
Whether I use checks, credit cards, or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the
appearance that I am financially reliable.
I can swear, or dress in secondhand clothes, or not answer letters, without having people attribute these
choices to the bad morals, the poverty, or the illiteracy of my race.
I can be reasonably sure that if I ask to talk to “the person in charge,” I will be facing a person of my race
I can worry about racism without being seen as self-interested of self-seeking.
I can easily buy posters, postcards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys, and childrenʼs magazines
featuring people of my race.
 Whites can act as though they are “colorless” (not having a race)
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Racial transparency: tendency for the race of a societyʼs majority to be so obvious, normative, and
unremarkable that it becomes, for all intents and purposes, invisible (p. 407)
Feagan’s Racist America. McIntosh’s “White Privilege and Male Privilege”
©©2008
2000David
DavidSchweingruber
Schweingruber
More benefits of whiteness
 Psychological benefit of not having to experience
discrimination—self-report studies show discrimination in:
• College: including with white students, professors, campus police
• Military: 75% reported racist encounters in past year, e.g., racist joke
(52%)
• Public: retail (30%), dining out (21%) in last month (Gallup Poll)
 Immediate economic gain—audit studies show discrimination in:
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Housing: landlords in 53% of cases, real estate agents in 59%
Housing insurance in 53% of cases (Memphis 32% —Chicago 83%)
Hiring: 20% of cases in FEC DC study, 38% in UI DC-Chicago study
Another hiring study: “white” names 50% more likely to get interview
 Non-economic discrimination—studies report discrimination in:
• Parents visiting schools: whites more likely to speak to principal and get
tour
• Asking for help in public places: blacks less likely to get response
 Longer-term economic gain
Feagan’s (2000) Racist America.
©©2008
2000David
DavidSchweingruber
Schweingruber
Why do whites make more than blacks?
Household incomes vary by race
 White mean = $60,166; Black mean = $40,011
 Gap has closed slightly; 2002 = 66.5%; 1967 = 62.8%
Why?
 Household composition
 Education gap
 Work in different occupations
 Blacks offered lower paying jobs within same
occupations
 Wealth gap
©©2008
2000David
DavidSchweingruber
Schweingruber
Household income by race, 1967-2002
$80,000
$70,000
$60,000
White
Black
Asian
Hispanic
$50,000
$40,000
$30,000
$20,000
$10,000
Source: Income in the United States. 2002. U.S. Census Bureau.
2000
1997
1994
1991
1988
1985
1982
1979
1976
1973
1970
1967
$0
©©2008
2000David
DavidSchweingruber
Schweingruber
Changing income configurations
White
1967
Black
24.1%
Over $50,000
9.8%
23.1%
$35,000-49,999
12.8%
17.1%
$25,000-34,999
15.9%
15.2%
21.6%
20.6%
$15,000-24,999
Under $15,000
White
2002
Black
39.8%
45.5%
Over $50,000
27.0%
15.2%
$35,000-49,999
14.8%
12.0%
$25,000-34,999
14.5%
12.8%
$15,000-24,999
Under $15,000
16.4%
14.5%
Source: Income in the United States. 2002. U.S. Census Bureau.
27.4%
©©2008
2000David
DavidSchweingruber
Schweingruber
Graduation rates
Education by race, 2003
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
85%
85%
80%
All
White
Black
Asian
Hispanic
87%
57%
50%
27% 28% 17%
11%
High school
Source: 2004-05 Statistical Abstracts of the U.S., table 212.
College
©©2008
2000David
DavidSchweingruber
Schweingruber
Black occupational representation
Greatest black overrepresentation
Nursing aides & orderlies
30.4%
Postal clerks
29.3%
Hotel maids & housemen
29.1%
Corrections officers
28.2%
Bus drivers
27.9%
Telephone operators
26.0%
Pressing-machine officers
24.9%
Social workers
23.7%
Security guards
23.4%
Textile & apparel workers
20.3%
Janitors & cleaners
20.1%
Source: Hacker. 1997. Money: Who Has How Much and Why.
Greatest black underrepresentation
Geologists
0.5%
Dental hygienists
1.0%
Cabinetmakers
1.6%
Tool & dye makers
1.7%
Dentists
1.9%
Bartenders
2.0%
Advertising executives
2.3%
Architects
2.5%
Realtors
3.4%
Lawyers
3.6%
Designers
4.2%
©©2008
2000David
DavidSchweingruber
Schweingruber