White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack While reading this piece by Peggy McIntosh, I found myself as a white woman thinking, 'yes I can do these things,' and realized right there what white privilege looks like. Looking at the fifty points McIntosh discusses, it is clear that the predominance of white privilege affects her daily life. These daily effects McIntosh discusses range from who she wants to surround herself with, knowing and feeling financially secure and feeling welcomed in public life. While only choosing fifty instances where McIntosh feels her white privilege comes into contact, it is apparent that the instances are common when discussing primarily skin color compared to race, class, and religion. Without argument,
From the readings and the NPR podcast it gave me a lot to think about how I view race and specifically white privilege and how it affects the social constructs of our society. I believe that in order to understand white privilege you must know the role that race plays. Race is a social construct that was developed by people in order to distinguish between different groups based on physical characteristics but, also to maintain exclusiveness and social superiority (Conley, 2015, p. 344). In the second reading “Defining Racism” it acknowledges that even if someone is aware of their white privilege why would they want it give up because it plays in their favor. In Peggy McIntosh’s “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” she argues that white people
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.
So, I am sure I have benefited from white privilege in many ways, but it is incredibly hard to think of how since it seems like the “norm” and as suggested by Rothenberg that it is other people who are raced, not me. Whites are just people and in other words, white is not of a certain race, they’re just the human race. As the video “The Color of Fear” proposes, American, white and human are used as synonyms. Although I have never viewed myself as privileged, I see more than ever how wrong I am. Harlon Dalton’s Failing to See suggests I think this way partially because race obliviousness is natural to the one being in the driver’s
To justify the theory their actions they made up a belief that in order to be a person you had to be white. If you was not white you did not come from god but rather animals. There could be intermarriages that allowed whites and natives, but excluded Africans from marrying both whites and natives’ the start of mix children and otherness. This demonstrated how whites were considered a superior race, as well as the privileges that were granted to Indians but not
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.
(Mills 218) According to Mills, it is a lens through which certain people view the world that allows them to accept the misconception that people of color are inferior. (Mills 219). White privilege can be defined as “an invisible package of
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 privileges are the unearned advantages and immunities that white people benefit from on a daily basis. A lot of times people don’t realize that they have these advantages because they
I never really thought about our racism being hidden by our silence making it invisible “in the background of Whiteness” (Rothenberg 19). I think often the media plays a negative role in this form of discrimination, as while watching the news most of the broadcasts show people of color being arrested for felonies. Our text points out that whites stereotype African Americans as being dangerous.
White privilege is very real in America. Though certain ethnic groups of white people have been disadvantaged in American history such as Irish Americans, white people currently possess advantages in American society when compared to people of color or non-white people. These advantages can be seen in the amount representation in the government and mass media. They can also be seen in our own day-to-day interactions. These privileges can stem from the fact that white people are still a dominant group in American society.
People see whiteness because they experience its effects. A useful comparison can be drawn between the unrecognised privileges of males, and those of white people (McIntosh, 1988). It is not unusual for men to acknowledge that women are disadvantaged. With that said, McIntosh (1988) argues that white privilege is in the same manner without recognition and thus preserved. McIntosh (1988) views white privilege as an invisible collection of unearned assets that is of benefit to white people on a daily basis.
9. One of the goals of affirmative action was to promote educational and vocational access for underprivileged minority groups. The idea behind the program was to counter the socioeconomic trends that had been historically developed in the United States. The benefits of affirmative action are that it promotes diversity, it can eliminate socioeconomic differences, stop stereotypes, helps people achieve their goals, and breaks the glass ceiling. The consequences of affirmative action are that it promotes discrimination in reverse, it continues to reinforce stereotypes, and it lessens the achievements that minority groups obtain because they are labeled as having received help.
Privilege is a special right or advantage. Today’s society, have the right to explore their option on whatever privilege they think is right. People don’t have to follow the white, straight, or male privilege. In my opinion, I think white and black privilege is a myth, everyone should be receive equal privilege, and it shouldn’t matter on the color of your skin. Student have the right to accept any type of privilege, for example, the right for equal pay, the right of police protection and etc.
