White privilege a serious challenge to racial justice

On May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis, George Floyd died under police officer Derek Chauvin's knee. It led to the biggest outcry against racial injustice in the U.S. in generations.

In 1966, the U.S. signed the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination to help it become part of the United Nations resolution. In a report in 2000, a study by the U.S. government led to the conclusion that “overt discrimination” is “less pervasive than it was 30 years ago.” But the findings also admitted that discrimination continued due to subtle forms that “persisted in American society.”

The forms of discrimination reported to the United Nations by the U.S. included “inadequate enforcement of existing anti-discrimination laws; ineffective use and dissemination of data; economic disadvantage experienced by minority groups; persistent discrimination in employment and labor relations; segregation and discrimination in housing leading to diminished education opportunities for minorities; lack of equal adequate access to health insurance and health care; and discrimination against immigrants, among other harmful effects.”

White privilege is defined by Webster's Dictionary as “inherent advantages possessed by a white person on the basis of their race in a society characterized by racial inequality and injustice.” Wikipedia defines White privilege as “the societal privilege that benefits white people over non-white people in some societies, particularly if they are otherwise under the same social, political, or economic