Every day, I read reactions to the racist incidents published in the Collegian. And almost every day, I overhear people belittling these incidents, saying that students should simply "deal with it" and stop blowing things out of proportion.

I also read letters from students claiming that they, too, experience discrimination for being right-wing conservatives or members of large middle-class families. It seems like the incidents published each day in the Collegian aren't the ones being blown out of proportion. When a person walks into a room, you can't tell right away what views they hold on abortion, or how many children are in their family. But you can tell the color of their skin.

Isn't the student reaction to these incidents illustrative of the way white privilege works at Penn State? It is this privilege that enables certain students to summarily "decide" what counts as racist behavior and what doesn't. Furthermore, it is this privilege that makes it possible to equate years of injustice with not getting a government grant.

Everyone gets the short end of the stick from time to time — that's life. You might have to pay for your own education. But it seems to me that some people get the short end more often than others. And that's something we all have to deal with.