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.
John Alvord, who despite being avid anti-slavery, proclaimed that whilst he valued the education of the freed people, he believed black people were naturally inferior to whites regarding intellectual and reasoning skills. Doubts over the natural ability of black people’s brains to process information continued even when young people proved they were able to cope with lessons on the same level as their white peers. August Stickier noted that whilst black children could retain basics such as the alphabet he unfairly questioned whether black children would progress parallel to whites within higher education. These powerful, white men from the North were extremely influential in precluding black access to higher education and maintaining the
The White Advantage “Explaining White Privilege” by Tim Wise was more or less a defense of a more detailed argument on the subject of white advantages based solely on race. Tim Wise did provide several examples from several studies that did explain his theory as it was intended and how it was received. Apparently the original article was not very receptive from the audience when it was published: hence the reason for this short excerpt. The author was trying very hard, not only to defend his article on white privileges, but to provide reasons why the majority of the United States should consider his suggestion as a valid and accurate argument. Though “Explaining White Privilege” was a defense of Tim Wise’s original article, which was not included, he also managed to provide one example using disability people as evidence to support his argument.
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
Patricia Collins tries to expose her readers to the term oppression and the different types of oppression that human beings can be subjected to or rather the different disparities that cause human oppression including gender and race among others. Collins (74) in her attempt to expound on the issue of oppression and dichotomous thinking argues that "one side of the dichotomy is typically labeled dominant and the other subordinate" which forms the basis of the definition of the term as being a way of thinking in which an individual is convinced that they are subject to being the dominant or the subordinate on the basis of different issues including race where the white male perceives himself as the dominant while the black male becomes the subordinate. The
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
As part of my ongoing quest to understand the intersectional and multi-faceted world we live in, I was drawn to the McIntosh reading “White Privilege:Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” and its powerful commentary on racial biases affecting women in our modern world. I loved the way she spoke about the many simple things that she as a white person doesn’t need to worry about as a default, which non-white people wouldn’t,like the assumption that her tax audits would be executed fairly and without ludicrous scrutiny. This reading inspired me to venture out into my home town and look for an event that spoke to the same issues. I found myself in a small art gallery which was featuring various pieces by indigenous women. The exhibit had a particular focus on the
By acknowledging and understanding the privileges of my White identity, such as my cultural capital, I hope to change how I perceive issues and interactions with students throughout my future in higher
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.
W.E.B. DuBois, one of the pioneers in Critical Whiteness Studies, emphasizes the interrelation between “the relative invisibility of whiteness” (ibid.) and the maintenance of white supremacy, which underlines the political nature of Critical Whiteness Studies insofar as its premise is to question and challenge existing societal structures. According to Frankenberg, whiteness is a construction or an identity that is inseparable from racialized dominance (ibid.: 9). White therefore refers to a position in racism as a system for categorizing racialized groups and for the identity formation of the subject positions within racism
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.
The educational system in America contains numerous racial disparities that affects the very core of the children who is suppose to benefit from education. This disparity comes in many forms in primary schools, a teacher’s attitude being one of them (Epps, 1995). A teacher’s attitude in a classroom consisting of a racially diverse children is a large contributing factor to the academic success of their students, more specifically, the minority African American students. It is a given that all schools should employ qualified teacher who are passionate about their students and the quality of education they provide to these students. Unfortunately, that is not the case for many urban schools that house a large proportion of African American students
Martha Peraza SOC 3340 Inequality in Education California State University, Bakersfield Abstract In the United States, there exists a gap in equality for different demographics of students. The factors contributing to educational disadvantages include socioeconomic struggles, gender of students, language or culture, and particularly for the scope of this paper, race.
thesis: 1) proper education can inspire a positive attitude to racism 2) education helps racial students to move from intolerance to acceptance and understanding of cultural difference 3) education provides cognitive skills, which increases people’s captivity people’s capacity to detect prejudice and to reject it. Is Education the Best Inversion Against Racism? The ex Prime minister of Britain Tony Blair has always insisted the importance of education in preventing racism. According to Tony Blair some people are born to be bad, you can’t stop people from being bad (Blair, T. Education backs Lessons Against racism 1999.) proper education can help get rid of prejudice and changes in the national curriculum of the British educative system whereby
Is privilege actually a play on words when one examines the possible outcome of it? Privilege is summed up as the rights that people have yet they have done nothing to earn them. This sounds great for the privileged, but what about the non-privileged person, how does it make them feel? I had to really look into some areas of my life to see where I felt most privileged. I have to say that the one thing that weighed heaviest on my mind was the fact that I am a NCAA athlete at a Division I school.
