Peggy Mcintosh's White Privilege: Article Analysis
Nicie Prince
Interracial Communication
Critical Essay
5/26/15
Peggy McIntosh creates an interesting opinion on the invisible impact on the white privileged in the United States in her article, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. Given that Peggy is also from the same race what she writes about brings a very interesting perspective to what she says. McIntosh claims there are white people who refuse to see that their color puts them at an advantage even though they agree others are at a disadvantage. I agree that people with privileges can be oblivious to it, but I do not agree that lessing or taking away the privileges of the privileged is the only solution to making it more equal to the unprivileged. An increase of opportunity to the unprivileged is a solution also. …show more content…
Unearned power is another way of saying dominance, implying that being white in a system that caters to white people gives them dominance over other races. Even though this dominance is may not be as apparent, it is invisible. Peggy calls it the Invisible Knapsack. According to Webster, a knapsack is a canvas, nylon, or leather bag for clothes, food, and other supplies, carried on the back by soldiers, hikers, etc. In other words, Peggy states that white privileged is an invisible package of unearned assets she can cash in each day with special provisions, maps, codebooks, clothes and blank
Interracial Communication
Critical Essay
5/26/15
Peggy McIntosh creates an interesting opinion on the invisible impact on the white privileged in the United States in her article, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. Given that Peggy is also from the same race what she writes about brings a very interesting perspective to what she says. McIntosh claims there are white people who refuse to see that their color puts them at an advantage even though they agree others are at a disadvantage. I agree that people with privileges can be oblivious to it, but I do not agree that lessing or taking away the privileges of the privileged is the only solution to making it more equal to the unprivileged. An increase of opportunity to the unprivileged is a solution also. …show more content…
Unearned power is another way of saying dominance, implying that being white in a system that caters to white people gives them dominance over other races. Even though this dominance is may not be as apparent, it is invisible. Peggy calls it the Invisible Knapsack. According to Webster, a knapsack is a canvas, nylon, or leather bag for clothes, food, and other supplies, carried on the back by soldiers, hikers, etc. In other words, Peggy states that white privileged is an invisible package of unearned assets she can cash in each day with special provisions, maps, codebooks, clothes and blank