black privilege

noun

The collective advantages enjoyed by some black people over others, or over people who are not black.

Meanings

nounblack privilege (uncountable)
  1. uncountablehuman sciencesThe collective advantages enjoyed by some black people over others, or over people who are not black.
    3 more examples

    To win, a Democrat would have to insulate himself against charges of racial liberalism, of being weak toward black crime, and of favoring unearned black privilege. A Democratic nominee would also have to come up with a way of handling Jesse Jackson that did not alienate blacks, as Al Gore had in New York, […]

    2002, Jeremy D. Mayer, Running on Race: Racial Politics in Presidential Campaigns, 1960-2000, page 227

    Modern middle-class blacks do not see cultural attitudes and displays — whether they are new or long-standing practices and traditions unique to blacks — as being in conflict with their socioeconomic privilege. Instead, they experience black privilege. The late 1960s were particularly transformative years, witnessing a notable cultural shift among blacks toward a fierce public expression of black pride.

    2020, Cassi Pittman Claytor, Black Privilege: Modern Middle-Class Blacks with Credentials and Cash to Spend, page 20

    [T]he principle of the Seven Generations is a significant part of the literature that helps to sustain and nurture Black/Brown lives. It is pivotal to Black privilege. The selection of literature we examined, ^([sic]) helped to build historical consciousness, and widen my students' perspectives and at the same time it humanized the abstractions of war and history as they had learned from their textbooks.

    2025, Marva McClean, Navigating Black Privilege Across the Globe, page 91

Synonyms & antonyms

Cite this entry
APA

black privilege. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20privilege

MLA

“black privilege.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20privilege. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “black privilege,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20privilege.

Source: black privilege on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.