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Essay / Personal Account of a White Man's Life in America
In our country, it is very well known that individuals belonging to different categories have radically different life experiences. As a white man in the United States, I have never been in a situation where I experienced any discrimination based on my race or gender. Personally, I can't say that I identify with a specific ethnicity. My family has lived in the United States for over 200 years, so we have lost any connection to the European countries where my ancestors might have originated. I am the epitome of the “white American male” stereotype. The only experiences I have had in which my race played a role can be attributed to the idea of white privilege. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay So far in my life, things have been incredibly easy for me. Being a white man has significant advantages in our nation. I have never been profiled for any reason or in any situation; and I never felt like I was being watched more closely than other customers in a store. Never in my life has a person on the street looked at me like they were afraid of me. I was once stopped for speeding in my hometown and the white police officer who stopped me seemed very comfortable with me. I was released without a speeding ticket after about five minutes. I personally believe that if I had been a different race, my experience in this situation would have been different in some way. With confidence, I can attribute all of these aspects of my life to white privilege. I am very proud of who I am, but it makes me sad to know that I have advantages over other people in my country based strictly on the color of my skin. White privilege is a problem in our country that I believe will not be resolved for many years. Prejudices and stereotypes are deeply ingrained in our society and in the minds of the American people, without any justification or meaningful truth for them. My national identity is definitely American. I was born and raised in this country, so I can easily identify as an American. My ethnic identity is also American. Because my family has lived in this country for a long time, I cannot identify with any other ethnicity. My last name, Cathcart, comes from Scotland, but I don't identify as Scottish in any way. My mother's side of the family has an English surname, but I don't identify with England in any way. When I think about the fact that I cannot identify with any foreign ethnic group, I feel sad in a way. I am somewhat jealous of my friends who can be proud of their heritage as Mexican or Indian-American. I think individuals who can identify with an ethnic group often feel a great sense of pride in their ethnic identity and I often wish I could feel that. Saying this doesn't mean I'm not proud to be American, I just wish I could be proud of my heritage as a European or South American. Coming back to my identity as a white American male, I believe that in the future I will have a better chance of gaining power than other people. After graduating from college, I can confidently say that I will have a better chance of getting a job compared to someone of a different race or gender. Studies have shown that people with "white" names are more likely to get a job interview than those with "non-white" names. In many cases, a..