America has a privilege problem, well at least according to the majority of Delta State students we do. The Delta Statement recently conducted an anonymous survey to gauge the beliefs of our students about white male privilege in our country and campus.

Perhaps the most unexpected result of this survey was the extremism shown from both those who believed white male privilege was real and those who don’t believe in it juxtaposed with those who simply do not care about this issue at all.

I reached out to approximately 88 students on Delta State’s campus and received 38 anonymous responses to the survey. The general consensus among participating students on the definition of white male privilege is “the government/governing body showing leniency or preference towards white males over other people of different races or sexes.”

The main points from the survey are that 62% of participating students believe that white male privilege is present in our country, but only 29% of participating students believe that white male privilege is present on our campus.

Of those who believe that white male privilege is prevalent on our campus (21 students), only six provided a specific example of this privilege and only one cited a specific example of it being a problem in leadership.

In addition, 44% of the participating students believe that white male privilege is a problem on our campus or country. Finally, we asked if there were any other types of privilege on our campus. There were several different types of privilege mentioned which included staff privilege (parking mainly), Greek privileges and minority privilege (mainly affirmative action).

To surmise, Delta State students view white male privilege along the same plane as parking privileges and being invited to parties. The blatant lack of concern about this issue was more evident than the obviously peeved participants from both sides.

The parallels between our country’s politics and the views of our students are striking. Overwhelmingly, the voices of those who are extreme are heard loudly screaming at each other from the church to the university.

These extremists are in the minority. Our country, and certainly not our campus, is not near as polarized as CNN or FOX would lead their viewers to believe.

I hope this survey reveals to you that you do not have to believe whatever your preferred news source says; instead you can begin to do your own research. Our campus is split on their beliefs, and that’s okay as long as you form your own opinions and support them with evidence and reasons.

You can also check out the survey results yourself at http://www.surveymonkey.com/stories/SM-G7K8TDN/