Slavery in Colonial America began in the early 1600s, with the first Africans brought to Jamestown in 1619. However, slaves made up only a small percentage of the population. population until around 1680, when the Royal African Company lost its monopoly on transporting slaves to the colonies and ambitious Americans rushed to profit from the lucrative slave trade. From then on, the supply and importance of slaves in the colonies became increasingly great. Between the years 1500 and 1800, approximately 400,000 slaves were brought from Africa to colonial America, and this only includes slaves coming directly from Africa, not counting slaves born in America (Cohen and Kennedy 59) . Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the Original EssayThis powerful institution of slavery in America was first created for economic purposes (primarily plantation labor) . However, in the late 17th century, slavery began to expand. prominence and wealth increased incredibly, this was obviously driven and influenced by racial discrimination. (Cohen and Kennedy 62). So, from the beginning, black people (along with other people of color) were considered inferior to white people. As slavery and America's success and wealth grew, so did prejudice, racism, and white privilege. Unfortunately, 51 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, all of these racial aspects still exist in America today. And although it is a major crisis in society today, people tend to view it as an independent and isolated issue, when in reality, white privilege and racism form an umbrella. which encompasses a wide variety of crises. Thus, by understanding the meaning and definition of white privilege, one can recognize its negative impacts on minorities and oppressed groups in America, such as people of color, women, and the LGBT+ community. White privilege and racism that developed during the era of slavery are still relevant today. important and evident in America today and has a negative impact on people of color. A group is privileged when it defines the mainstream and culture, social and cultural norms, is considered more sophisticated and has the greatest institutional power, all of the above easily applies to the white race in America (Goodman 13-15). White privilege can be seen locally, such as in a mall filled with only white models, or nationally, as with the recent Confederate battle flag controversy. America's mainstream and social norms are based on whiteness, which is seen almost everywhere as the default and "normal" race, such as when the beauty/cosmetic brand Dove sold a self-tanning lotion that claimed it worked for “normal to dark skin”. on the bottle (Dove Sells...1). Whiteness also holds the greatest institutional power in America, as noted previously, with 95% of management positions being held by white men in American industry (Kendall 2). Therefore, this allows white people to establish policies/procedures in their favor, and possibly suppress and deny the rights of minorities (Goodman 15). Coming back to the Confederate flag, it is perhaps one of the biggest indicators of white privilege and how negative it is.This affects people of color in America, primarily black people in this particular situation. The flag is one of the greatest symbols of white supremacy and racism, yet it is still present on public lands throughout the United States (Guelzo 1). The Confederate flag represents a system based on “the great truth that the Negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery – subordination to a superior race – is its natural and normal condition,” according to Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens (2). And although the flag virtually disappeared after the passage of the 13th Amendment, it was revived by the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s and segregationists in the 1950s, and both groups adopted the flag as a symbol of racism, racism and racial discrimination.discrimination and segregation (2). Today, however, even with this knowledge of the flag's history and meaning, it is not unlikely to see a Confederate flag on a daily basis, especially in the southern states (former Confederate states). There were recent anti-flag protests after Dylann Roof fatally shot 9 black people at an African-American church in South Carolina, and photos of him with Confederate flags on his clothing and of him holding small Confederate flags surfaced (1). However, little progress has been made on this issue so far. Now that explanations and evidence of white privilege and racism in America past and present have been provided, it is important to recognize intersectionality and the effects of racism on non-racial minority groups. like women, who are oppressed and not equal to men in society, politics and economics. However, within this inequality lie other inequalities. The feminist movement really began to gain ground in the 1800s, just as another social revolution was taking place: Social Darwinism, which took Darwin's ideas about the survival of the fittest and applied them to society, justifying racism, oppression and white power. , and inequalities. In other words, “demands for women's rights emerged simultaneously with the spread of evolutionary ideas about racial development, sexual difference, and social progress” (Newman 22). This simultaneous development made possible the entry of white women into the public sphere at a time when "new forms of corporate and monopolistic capitalism were creating vast wealth differences between an educated white ruling class and an impoverished (often immigrant and non-white). (23). This problem, combined with the racism and severe inequality that already existed at the time, meant that any progress made for women only applied to white women. Furthermore, the characteristics of white European women were what was called "feminine" and what was considered beautiful and desirable by men (23). Unfortunately, the racism and white privilege that developed within the feminist movement in the 19th century never caught on and still exists in feminism today. This feminism that does not recognize intersectionality and feminist issues specific to women of color is often referred to as “white feminism”. White feminism is everywhere and seems to be more prevalent than true intersectional feminism. For example, it is common knowledge that women generally earn between $0.76 and $0.78 for every dollar a man earns. However, this wage gap is only specific to white women, who earn 78% of white men's earnings (for the same.