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What Does Privilege Mean?

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What does privilege mean? According to dictionary.com, the definition is “a right, immunity, or benefit enjoyed only by a person beyond the advantages of most.” Who are the privileged class? Furthermore, what do we do about it? How do we stop the violence regarding privilege and discrimination? Privilege is described by Peggy McIntosh as existing “when one group has something of value that is denied to others simply because of the groups they belong to, rather than because of anything they’ve done or failed to do” (Johnson, 2006, p. 21). She continues to describe two types of privilege. First, there is privilege known as “unearned entitlements”; things that people should have but certain groups may not have. If we did away with all …show more content…

23). Examples of this form would be men dominating over women, whites over blacks, straight individuals over gay individuals, and privilege pertaining to physical abilities. This is where we have to do the hard work of eliminating that power difference. Equality for all. Everyone is affected by privilege whether you believe it or not. I for one was (and still am) a bit on the edge of acceptance of this phenomenon. To say that I am privileged for being white did not sit well with me. If living the American dream means that I own my house (or the bank allows me to pay month to month), I have a job that I work hard in, a husband and four children, a couple vehicles and am able to continue my education, then I am living that dream. I am the first in my family to continue their education. I don’t have all the top-notch gadgets or the newest …show more content…

According to Johnson privilege exists when we allow one group to have more power than the other; when we put people in those social categories (Johnson, 2006, p. 126). Oppression can come in many forms and cause many different behaviors to show. Those who are excluded, do not weep the benefits others seem to have, and have violence shown upon them tend to be aware of privilege more than those who have it. The ones who have privilege get defensive and deny it; but it truly exists. (There is where I was prior to this class). In order to do this we need to talk about it, not seeing it as their problem but a system problem. In order to do that we all have to work

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Summary Of White Privilege Unpacking The Invisible Knapsack

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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,

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McIntosh shows the readers that people who are African Americans should be treated the same as their white counterparts. She even later goes on and says that the word “privilege” used in this sense seems to mislead and states, “We usually think of privilege as being a favored state, whether earned or conferred by birth

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1238 Words | 5 Pages

In 1989, women’s rights were on fire, especially in the eyes of feminist Peggy McIntosh. At this time, she created an article titled “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” that inspected just that: white privilege. As expected, she forms an argument that argues against those who do not recognize their all-too-common- white privilege. After looking into the structure of “White Privilege”, a few obvious aspects make the piece successful in what it does. Overall, the format of the article allows for ease of a compelling reading.

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Summary Of White Privilege Unpacking The Invisible Knapsack

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White Privileges: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack In the article, White Privileges: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, Peggy McIntosh explores the power of white privilege. White privilege, as McIntosh puts it, is an advantage enjoyed by white people beyond the common advantage of other races. The article begins with the author reflecting upon male privilege,, and then transitions into her own reflection on privileges involving race. To prove this, she lists the effect of white privilege in daily life.

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For example, in Kindred, the whites abuse the blacks, both physically and mentally, because they have a higher social standing and believe they have power over the blacks. Likewise, the monks trick the warriors into helping them because the monks have a higher social standing and believe they have power over the warriors. Both of these examples enforce the discrimination among the different classes and

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Privilege, Oppression And Difference By Allan Johnson: Chapter Analysis

422 Words | 2 Pages

The trouble around diversity Johnson states within chapter one of his book that people differ from one another. The trouble is produced by a world organized in ways that encourage people to use difference to include or exclude, reward or punish, credit or discredit, elevate or oppress, value or devalue, leave alone or harass. Privilege exists when one group has something of value that is denied to others simply because of the groups they belong to, rather than because of anything they've done or failed to do"(Johnson, 21). Privilege can also refer to unearned advantages.

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Who or what has imposed such privilege upon them? Why and how do the few control the many? These are just some of the ideas that crossed my mind whilst reading “Hegemony” by James Lull. One could easily argue the current dominant class is the result of a trickle-down effect over time of the inheritance of wealth, therefor inheritance of influence. Which makes a lot of sense, except for when we realize that in reality all they have is a bunch of “valuable” green paper, they do not have some mystic or divine control of others.

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Reading and Reimagining Social Life In Allan Johnson’s Privilege, Power, and Difference, Patricia Hill Collins describes the Matrix of Domination as an intersectionality between all the isms, especially racism and sexism. Collins describes this cycle of domination saying “that each form of privilege is part of a much larger system of privilege” (Johnson, 52). Work for change needs to focus on the idea of privilege in all forms and the way in which it enables people to think in relation to inequality and power. The only way to understand the matrix, is by understanding its dimensions.

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1422 Words | 6 Pages

Whites are privileged because we are seen as the average American. We do not get second glances, because nobody suspects we are doing anything but living our lives. Though since we are not subject to this intense scrutiny we do not realize that we in turn do this to African Americans, just simply living their daily lives as well. McIntosh (1988) points out that she repeatedly forgot each of the realizations on this list until I wrote it down. For me white privilege has turned out to be an elusive and fugitive subject.

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Over the past decade the term white privilege has emerged in our American history. White privilege is the concept that one particular group is benefited which is typically identified as white people. Most of the victims experiencing harsh conditions are non-white people under the same social, political, or economic circumstances of mistreatment. A conversation took place with a few people about white privilege whose race is identified as white. An interviewer started that “the belief that being white comes with unearned advantages and everyday perks”.

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Privilege is a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group of people. It is an issue that has been occurring throughout the world since the dawn of time. Consequently, it remains a heavily debated topic and still continues to be a problem in today’s society. An example of past privilege is On the Road by Jack Kerouac. It is a Beat Generation historical fiction novel published September 5, 1957.

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1788 Words | 8 Pages

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.

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There are no limits to the challenges that people face and opportunities to utilize our privileges. “Not all privilege is obvious, and not all disadvantages are easily defined,” (Schrobsdorff, p. 59). Although most people associate wealth with privilege, it isn’t the only means of privilege. Privilege can give meaning to your life. Confront your privileges and decide whether it defines your values.

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