This week we were assigned to read to different articles. The first article was written by Peggy McIntosh titled, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”. Throughout the article, Peggy showed the readers what it means to have white privilege. She showed the readers 50 different types of “advantages” that whites get over other races, such as African Americans. This is the biggest theme throughout her entire piece.
In “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”, written by Peggy McIntosh, suggest a list of invisible privileges, which she is immune towards due to her ethical background. McIntosh names the numerous ways and examples of privileges she obtained from her white heritage. Which most other ethical race would have to think twice before attempting. People of the white heritage in the United States, are not stereotyped or live in fear of being a victim of racism like many other race. McIntosh provides a solid point; in addition she supports her arguments through observations and examples of her personal life.
Such privileges range from obvious aspects like, “[turning] on the television or [opening] the front page of the paper and [seeing] people of my race widely represented.” to more conspicuous concepts like the ability to “ choose blemish cover or bandages in ‘flesh’ color and have them more or less match my skin.”. Throughout her 26 bullet points, McIntosh gives reasoning behind her initial claim that white privilege is overlooked by those who are a part of the group. Consequently, the audience is forced to, figuratively, unpack their privilege. With each bullet point, the reader is taken to another privilege that is not listed: McIntosh forces the reader to dig deeper, think further.
There is one particular example that I can think of in my personal life that goes along with this theme of ‘white privilege.’ I attended Northeast Guilford High School, which is a primarily African American high school. Therefore, I was the minority. Right before I transitioned from middle school to high school, the district lines in my county were ‘redrawn’ and many of the black students who used to attend Eastern Guilford that lived in the lower income housing were now being sent to Northeast. It was almost as if they wanted to pull as many of the African American students into one school because they didn’t want those students of color to be attending the same school as the rich, white students.
throughout her life she discovered how her skin tone enabled her to maneuver situations in life a lot easier than she should be able to. White Privilege is synonymous to dominance. it correlates to an unearned strength and unearned control/power. Unearned power hearkens back to domination and one exerted superiority over another. white privilege can both intentionally or unintentionally oppress those who do not have it.
White privilege does influence life. I usually notice white privilege in professional settings. For instance, at work most minorities are talked to about their performance or attire, while Caucasians are rarely talked to about their deficient performance of attire. In other words, when I am at work or in a professional setting I notice the effect of white
Just by being white, I am privileged, and that puts down an entire race. It is very hard for me to think of how I have benefited from white privilege, as the book White Privilege suggests, this is because “whiteness has often gone unnamed and unexamined because it has uncritically and unthinkingly adopted as the norm throughout society” (Rothenberg 2). The book mentions a few ways I have benefited from white privilege that I have never thought of before. In a store, I never good looked at with suspicion. A privilege I have taken for granted because I am white and as Rothenberg suggests, white privilege is simply coextensive with [white] life, and whites do not notice their privilege any more than they would notice their whiteness.
He attended meetings that these two organizations held and interview individual members in order to gauge how they think about their whiteness in relation to other races. White Bound focuses less on how white people think of other races and more on how they think of themselves. Most studies that has been conducted on white people about race has found that white people tend to be less self aware about their own racial identity than those that fall under other racial categories (Hughey 9). This book argues that the lack of self awareness that white people tend to have is where the idea of superiority comes from. White people view themselves as the
White privilege is the societal privilege that benefits individuals whom society recognizes as white in some countries, beyond what is generally experienced by non-white individuals under a similar social, political, or financial conditions. Peggy Mcintosh explains white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets. White privilege denotes the subtle or sometimes obvious passive advantages that white people may not notice that they receive, which originates from overt bias and prejudice. These incorporates cultural affirmations of one’s own worth; presumed greater social status; and freedom to move, buy, work, play, and speak freely. A lot of the time people feel guilty about being the beneficiaries of some form of privilege, but a lot of the time they do not understand that having privileges is not the result of what we have done as an individual but should be seen more like a membership given upon birth.
I sometimes get irritated when people don’t agree on the same ideas that I have or when the other person says something that I don’t agree with. The objective of this chapter made me comprehend that based on an individual’s experiences and viewpoints impacts the person’s behavior. Some experience may deal with the oppressions and privileges a person has, the article “Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person…” made me realize that I am more privilege than what I thought. The author didn’t think she was privilege until she read a book she got recommended and from her article she summarizes
Whether it is the worries that my mother has for me everyday or the awkwardness I feel when talking about social issues in the with my mainly white professors and classmates. Issues of race in the U.S. threatens to oppress minorities by having a culture that has never given the same privilege that whites receive. According to Brainard (2009)," white privilege refers to the unquestioned or invisible preference that white people receive regarding their treatment by others; these may be but are not limited to words, behaviors, and/or actions, policies and practices and or nonverbal communication"(p.10). An example that shows the equal privilege
Whites are not aware of the privilege they have, simply for the fact that this is their life the majority do not know anything different. When you have been drinking coke every day of your life and everyone else has ben drinking diet coke labeled as coke you wont know the difference. Lipsitz (1995) affirms whiteness is everywhere in US culture, but it is very hard to see. This is how white privilege looks to the average American even though everyone else is not getting the same treat as the whites they do not understand it because they have been treated the same way or so they think their whole life as well. Minorities are getting diet coke their whole life, though they see the whites making more money, and treated better in turn they begin questioning and coming up with the
White supremacy is the belief that people with whiter skin are superior in this nation, which has the effect of disdaining other races/ethnics. The political policies also play a role in this problematic structural inequality. They allow privatization and deregulate the balance between the lower end of the class and the upper end. Although federal law prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender, race, and national origin, the public policies and urban developers favor the mass of the affluent class. Those who born in a poor family are less likely to overcome their low social status.
Often privilege is not something that is earned. Privilege is frequently granted into the role an individual was born into, however there are ways to obtain more privilege through occupation or social class. Privilege occurs due to social class, gender, or geographic location. A person who is born into a white middleclass family living in the suburbs is automatically more privilege than a black slum neighborhood low-income family. The individual in the first scenario may have a better opportunity for education and a brighter future.
We've all heard the saying "White Privilege" used loosely in society. Well folks, it exists as a factual privilege given at birth to those of the Anglo-Saxon race of people, not only in America, but worldwide. Believe me folks, it comes with its perks and self proclaimed righteousness that creates its own preconceived path to success. On the other end of the spectrum, Charlamagne Tha God introduces "Black Privilege" in the book. Yes, it is indeed a privilege to be Black, African American.
