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,
As Neyyirah Waheed once stated, “Never trust anyone who says they do not see color. This means to them, you are invisible.” Neyyirah is explaining how at one time, when one’s self was little, one is taught not see color. But at the same time, one becomes more aware of the situation while being told to ignore it all at once. Peggy McIntosh’s White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack reflects on how she was taught how to deny the privilege she was born with as a white woman but also how to benefit from it.
In his essay, Mike Rose focuses on three personal references to allow his reader to understand the purpose of his work “Blue Collar Brilliance”. To begin, Mike Rose introduces his mother, Rosie, who was a waitress at coffee shops and family restaurants. By allowing the reader to be familiar with
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.
America is a diverse melting pot of various ethnicities and heritages all blended together to create the American society. As beautiful as that is, America as a population is mired in fear of addressing issues such as white privilege which is the product of discrimination and racism. White privilege is viewed by those opposed to it that those who are privilege received unwarranted success as a result of status, luck and privilege rather than putting in hard work or using their brain to earn their success. The existence of discrimination from white privilege comes from the privilege attained by a certain as well as oppression and social prejudice facing certain other groups or races. Individuals who are privileged in one society seldomly are unaware of their privilege, not because of their own doing, but simply because it is very easy to be oblivious to the privilege when you have never seen its adverse effect from the other side.
Scott Kurashige’s The Shifting Grounds of Race: Black and Japanese Americans in the Making of Multiethnic Los Angeles exposes its’ readers to the history of race and politics in the city of Los Angeles, California. In his research, the author describes the political history of Japanese and Black Americans in LA by discussing the interethnic cooperation and competition each group faced while dealing with bigoted and racist beliefs and challenges that white people threw their way. Kurashige’s research focuses most on how these two racial groups at Little Tokyo/Bronzeville produce entirely different responses to the political sphere around them after World War II. The author shows how the African Americans in this city were trapped in the lower
Racism is still a very prominent issue in America today. Yes, it has improved from the days of slavery, and we do have a black president; but society is nowhere near equal, and that is not acceptable. White Privilege by Paula Rothenberg truly opened my eyes to the extent of the social injustice on African Americans. Many people are implicitly racist, meaning that they are unaware of their racism. And in fact, just by being white, one is oppressing another race because the privilege and respect that comes with the skin color.
In “Cultural Knowledge aand Social Inequality”, By Annette Lareau, she address interesting data’s that demonstrates the upward mobile adults from middle class. Under instituitions and cultural knowledge, she discusses how cultural knowledge matters when white and African American young adults of differing class backgrounds navigate key institutions. She found that middles class young adults had more knowledge than working class regarding how institution worked. This study is and can be very useful for working class young adults, and is topic we should dig deeper into. In the article “Black America and the Class Divide” an interesting data from Du bois, which really connects to this reading I believe is “Du Bois knew, of course, that any black
After entering Chicana and Chicano Studies Introduction to Comparative Ethnic and Global Societies, we, as a class, were introduced to the terms “community cultural wealth” and “critical race theory.” Critical Race theory is the positive aspect of the community using the community cultural wealth capitals navigational, social, linguistic, aspirational, familial and resistance to show the fight for social justice within the community. These capitals help us to analyze how people of color can gain a knowledgeable skill set that is often unnoticed in common society. All people know are the stereotypes. What our group did was show how the African American community is not only involved in a positive way, but also show acts of resistance through
In the play A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry introduces a family trying to move up in the world but has trouble doing so because they are racially opposed by society. Starting in the 1890’s the Jim Crow Laws were used in the South as a way to oppose African-American giving them a status called, “separate but equal.” They mandated segregation of public schools, public transportation, public facilities including restaurants, bathrooms, and drinking fountains. In the 1950s African- Americans were starting to fight for equal rights and were starting to make headway.
Racial Inequality, an overwhelmly common theme found in the writings of American authors throughout the last 200 years. It can come in many shapes and sizes, some subtle, some direct, some physical and others spiritual. Two pieces studied this semester that had racial inequality as one of their main themes. The first is the prose piece by Judith Ortiz Cofer, “American History.” This short story highlights the conditions that immigrants in the United States during the 60’s lived in.
Minorities are the Majority Major corporation market their services, merchandise, and foods according to their demographics. The number of minorities in the United States is steadily growing and one of the companies that is aiming at minorities this is world wide known, McDonald’s. McDonald’s has been the leading pack in this movement as, “a pioneer of ethnic advertising since the 1960s,” (Economist). McDonalds through the years has taken heat that their marketing is bias to race, as they attempt to appeal to minorities by adding culture and weaving values held by minorities to their commercials. Through a commercial entitled “Late Night,” McDonald’s is showing that they believe in minorities.
New York, New York - Who ever said; "When Opportunity knocks, open the door?" Whomever uttered that statement should be shot and gagged. That's the problem we face in this egotistical society! Opportunity is a fundamental gift that reserves itself for those who take and embrace a situation by exherating effort to make it happen. Charlamagne Tha God, the co-host of Power 105.1's The Breakfast Club explains in his new book Black Privilege: Opportunity Comes to Those Who Create It, how embracing one's truths is the fundamental key to success and happiness.
Every movie depicts a host of social elements in every scene. It 's only when the situations are realistic, do they manage to strike a chord with the audience. Slumdog millionaire is a British film, set and filmed in India. Slumdog millionaire is a movie set in the backdrop of the Mumbai slums and shows the life of a former street child Jamal, the protagonist and his struggle to reach the top.
