Final answer:
True, a privilege is indeed a benefit for an individual, and this includes broader societal benefits that certain groups, like those with White privilege, may experience due to systemic advantages.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement 'A privilege is a benefit provided for the convenience or enjoyment of an individual' is indeed true. Privilege, broadly speaking, is an advantage that is granted or available only to a particular person or group. When discussing social issues, it's important to recognize that privilege doesn't simply refer to personal conveniences. It also encapsulates a wider context of systemic advantages that some groups have over others. A pertinent example of this is White privilege, which is the societal benefit that benefits people who are white or who appear to be white.
White privilege is an institutional condition rather than a personal trait. It affords certain people ease and opportunities that others may not have due to their race. Peggy McIntosh described this using the metaphor of an invisible weightless knapsack filled with special provisions. White privilege allows individuals who fall into the privileged category not to be concerned with their racial identity daily and to see their Whiteness as the societal norm.
Institutional discrimination, such as White privilege, not only involves the imposition of disadvantages on certain groups but also the promotion of a group's status—thus giving them unearned advantages. This does not necessarily imply intent or personal guilt; rather, it's the unconscious accrual of benefits because of the color of one's skin, or membership in a certain social class or group that is viewed as the norm or dominant.