Is white privilege for real?

As a person of color, I have to ask myself the following:


Is "white privilege" for real or imagined?*  Or is it just a political tool to leverage more power to certain groups?

Is "white privilege" simply a function of Caucasians (including Hispanic whites) having been been up until recently the overwhelming majority in the United States (over 80% of the population)?

Are people of color actually more tolerant of other races than Caucasians are?


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Furthermore, in a democracy, doesn't and shouldn't the will of the majority prevail?   Doesn't the majority have commensurately greater influence on society, not out of some imagined injustice or sinister plot against minorities?

We might as well talk about "black privilege" in those localities in the U.S.A. where African-Americans make up a majority--and hence, by sheer numbers, have a preponderant voice in the politics of everyday life:   Philadelphia, Detroit, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, etc.

Along with being the majority in those cities, they--by the logic of many, if not most, liberals--must necessarily enjoy black privilege.
One might as well complain about white privilege in England, Hindu privilege in India, black privilege in Zimbawe, or white privilege in Sweden. 

Sadly, most people in Seattle do not question what has now become a cliche (white privilege) and would prefer to believe that it veritably exists and is an injustice not much different from racial discrimination.

*A newspaper like The Stranger blithely rides its favorite hobby-horse (one that it believes it can never flog to death):   the notion-mantra that if you keep repeating a phrase like "white privilege" long enough, you will make people believe it really exists, is prevalent at all levels, and is a real danger.  In truth, it has simply succeeded in reifying a conceptual construct, to populist acceptance and favor.