Mr. Muhammad
African American History
March 4, 2012
White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack
The list comprised in this article is unfortunately true and eye opening. Many white people are unaware of the natural advantages that are written here. They take it for granted thinking everyone else is also entitled to these rights. Since I am not white, I can clearly see that these are privileges given to whites only. I can even say that I have never experience some of the things written in McIntosh’s list. I disagree with many of these terms. The item on her list that I feel most strongly about is: 10. Whether I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of my financial reliability. People should not relate other’s financial situation based on their skin color. That is very wrong. It has been engraved into people’s minds that all black people are on welfare or food stamps because they don’t work. But that is not true. Just because someone is black does not mean that they are poor and unable to support themselves. If you are judged for walking into a high end store just because of your skin color, that is very unfair. Race and ethnicity does not have anything to do with someone’s financial reliability. Another that I think is unfair is: 12. I can swear, or dress in second hand clothes, or not answer letters, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty, or the illiteracy of my race. For the same reason as the previous one, race should not be a factor in the judgment of others. McIntosh sees these are privileges for white only when in fact; it should not be a privilege. Anything written on this list should be given to everyone, regardless of the race. I definitely agree with McIntosh that: whites are taught to think of their lives as morally neutral, normative, and average, and also ideal, so that when we work to benefit others, this is seen as work which will allow “them“ to be more like “us.” The idea of white privilege relates to the themes of white power because it is giving whites an overall advantage in life. White privilege also relates to the themes of white supremacy because it makes them more powerful. Privilege is being of a favored state by birth or luck. If the things stated McIntosh is called privilege, then it is extremely misleading. The idea of white privilege makes them feel confident, comfortable, and oblivious; on the other hand, other groups were likely being made unconfident, uncomfortable, and alienated. White power and white supremacy is all about making white people the most powerful and advantageous, white privilege also supports that.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
White Privilege: The Invisible Knapsack, by Peggy Mcintosh illustrates an image of white superiority over other colored people. Peggy knapsack is lecturer and associate director at the Wellesley College Center where she does her research. Specifically focusing on women, gender equality and multi culture. Her legitimacy derives out of being some of the firsts scholars to examine whites to be measured in racial categories. Beginning with one of her first arguments, the author states that much like men having hierarchy over women, white colored people have immunities that people of colored skin do not. Just as she said “Describing white privilege makes one newly accountable. As we in women’s studies work to reveal male privilege and ask men…
- 299 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
I appreciate and thought the essays were illuminating. Peggy McIntosh’s piece was the most persuasive because it goes into specifics that allows readers to make personal and thus stronger connections. In closing, a point, I would like to raise about white privilege is that there is definitely individual variation in experience. Some European Americans have had it easier than others, most likely because they came from wealthy families that gave them even more privilege that just being white. Some European Americans have had it tougher than others because they came from families with less means.…
- 143 Words
- 1 Page
Good Essays -
Peggy McIntosh and Tim Wise talks about white privilege; Peggy McIntosh explains how she enjoyed the white privilege through her life experience. She mentions how she always feels comfortable in public places when she uses credit card and checks or even browses in stores. She will never notice any shadowed or suspicious looks from security guards. Not only that, Peggy talks about how white privilege makes her life easier as a parent. In the Same way Tim Wise shows in his lecture that white men will be less likely to be stopped by authorities to search his car, unlike Latino and black African. In other hand, Peggy McIntosh explains how white person action doesn’t reflect on his race. Tim Wise agreed with her when he talks about white people…
- 364 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
majority of whites seem to deny that the privilege even exists at all. The denial of its…
- 1618 Words
- 7 Pages
Powerful Essays -
I agree with Peggy, and many people deny the existence of white privilege. Do I have a knapsack of tools? Perhaps I do and I was handed it unearned. She lists…
- 356 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
In reference to this exercise, I believe that if administered correctly could potentially help people to have a clearer understanding of what “White Privilege” and will help them to unpack the hidden privilege. Having said this, I also do believe which is in agreement with the teacher Jane Elliot, that this shouldn’t have to be an exercise that children need to go through because it can be damaging. In today’s society though it is an issue that people have to deal with.…
- 660 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
In White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, Peggy McIntosh provides vivid examples on how "white privilege" is considered to be unapparent for many white individuals and negatively affects people of color. White privilege is an “unearned advantage” given to Caucasian individuals, as it “confers dominance” by establishing that the is white race is superior (McIntosh, 1990). With white privilege, white individuals are protected from the “hostility, distress, and violence,” which is often associated with individuals of color (McIntosh, p. 332). White privilege gives these individuals the opportunity to receive vital educational, political, and social resources that may possibly be inaccessible for people of color. By providing awareness on how white privilege works and how it can be detrimental in the attempt to gain racial equity for individuals of color, this concept can work to improve racial equity by establishing educational programs that inform individuals on white privilege and ending political policies that serve as a measure to oppress individuals of color.…
- 723 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Whiteness studies incorporate aspects such as the cultural, social and historical factors relative to the people identified as the white citizens in the United States. These studies exist around the idea that white privilege is in fact alive in our social world. Meaning the playing field isn’t level between different races and that white individual’s benefit from it. Whiteness Studies were popular in the mid-1990s. During that time there were numerus studies that surrounded whiteness. The authors of those studies were inspired by the concepts of post modernism and society’s racial history including the philosophy of white superiority. Some argue that the principles of the ideologies were specifically intended to justify the concept of racial…
- 442 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
It would most likely be harder for my parents to find a home and jobs. At school, I may not be helped as much due to discrimination. When looking for a job I may be sent somewhere else and it may be harder to get hired. When a crime or violation occurs around me I may be more likely to be questioned than my fellow white counterparts for no apparent reason besides the color of my skin. In general people may be less likely to assist me, denied or not offered things that people in other groups are given, and my personal opinions and feelings are more likely to be overlooked or poorly represented. Peggy McIntosh compares privileges to an invisible knapsack and states, “privileges are like an invisible knapsack full of provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools, and blank checks”(McIntosh). In this analogy I have a large invisible knapsack with lots of helpful things inside. She calls it invisible because we are not meant to even recognize these privileges because we are so used to having them and because they have been with us our entire lives. Our social structure and society is set up to place wealthy white men at the top and everyone else…
- 2258 Words
- 10 Pages
Good Essays -
This has been the case in America with White Privilege. It started when whites first immigrated to other countries besides Europe and began taking land and enslaving people. They enslaved many people among these people were Africans. People were not able to defend against these foreigners for they were better equipped and had the only guns. When the White immigrants came to America they conducted mass genocide to the natives and conquered the land there for when they decided it was time to write history then they wrote it to make them seem a favorable is possible and also established laws only benefiting the White man and white women alike although at the time women were still subordinates to White men.…
- 121 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
This paper covers white privilege as well as the systematic racism leading to the death of two people. It also connects an online article by Warren J. Blumenfeld to the book written by Rebecca Skloot. Both have a central theme of white privilege and racism, but Blumenfeld appears to believe that racism and white privilege feed off of each other while Skloot simply reports examples of past instances of racism that still have an impact today.…
- 712 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
White privilege is a way conceptualizing racial inequalities that white people accrue from society. It can be defined as a privilege advantage over non- white people, and give special freedom or immunity which non-white groups are not exempt from. An underexposed part of racism in America is the White people have a privilege that other American like the black race doesn’t. "Defining "White Privilege"" Autoredirect to Main Site. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. .White Privileged involve low crime suburban neighborhood, not facing poverty, and not facing injustice. The three majors articles that gives us a clear understanding as to White Privilege are Cradle to Prison Pipeline, Multicultural Community Practice strategies and intergroup empowerment, and…
- 3351 Words
- 14 Pages
Better Essays -
In Peggy McIntosh's "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" one of the first appeals to text I see is logos. We see such techniques in the first few paragraphs were she goes on to use logic to explain that because male privilege obviously exists and because men, while admitting women do have a disadvantage in society, can't see their advantage in being male, then, because of interlocking hierarchies in our society, the same must go for whites when it comes to white privilege. Meanwhile for ethos, she clearly states multiple times that she is indeed white and is able to use her race as a source of credibility for the article. McIntosh uses her experience as a white citizen to list down some of the advantages she has had, or will…
- 290 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
McIntosh talks of how white privilege often is not discussed and how traditional schooling fails to explain the integral role white privilege plays within society. Still, her piece seems to suggest, McIntosh has become enlightened about white privilege and that this awareness has given her a new outlook on aspects of her life she otherwise “took for granted”. Sara Ahmed would cite McIntosh’s newfound knowledge as deeply rooted in the widely held belief that racism is centered in ignorance and thus, anti-racism is rooted in knowledge. This is a classist approach to understanding racism. McIntosh aligns herself with the progressive type of “new whiteness” that is “not equally available to all whites, let alone any…
- 605 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The beginning of this article discusses how men exhibit privilege in society over women, and either fail to admit to the privilege, or fail to actually do anything about it. The reason being is that men would have to disadvantage themselves, in a sense. McIntosh discusses both topics of male privilege and white privilege, stating that white people have been trained to be blind to see white privilege, but wholly benefit from the phenomenon known as white privilege. McIntosh then outlines 26 different ways in which she benefits from white privilege each day. McIntosh calls white privilege an “invisible knapsack” because most people are taught recognize it and do not…
- 281 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays