White Privilege Unpacking The Invisible Knapsack Summary

McIntosh gives a complete list of activities she can do and enjoy on a daily basis as a white woman that for others are a constant reminder of the unspoken white privilege that surrounds them and few refuse to acknowledge. Paula Rothenburg is a professor at William Patterson University and is the author of White Privilege: Essential Readings on the Other Side of Racism. Rothenburg considers white privilege to be the other side of racism, meaning that having certain advantages and not wanting to accept them, while still profiting from them is indirectly using racism for one's own benefit. It is important to understand that white privilege does not exclusively exist in the Caucasian race, but in every race. Being a “light skinned” Mexican woman, not only

The severity of racial profiling is very concerning. As proven by numerous texts studied for this Expository Writing class, it is evident that the Black respondents of Otis Johnson’s poll, analyzing citizens’ relationships with the police, are not the only Black people that: “expressed far less confidence than whites in local police to treat both races equally” (Johnson). In White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, Peggy McIntosh describes various privileges which sound ordinary, though surprisingly only White people have. Among them, is one that affects all people on a daily basis: “If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven’t been singled out because of my race” (McIntosh). Governmental

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.

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.

The “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” McIntosh begins her essay portraying the unwillingness of men to admit that they are over privileged. Even those who are willing to admit that women are at a disadvantage have a problem admitting their privilege. McIntosh realizes that this denial of privilege does not only apply to gender but to race as well. She realizes that white people including herself are thought to view racism as something that puts others at a disadvantage but have never had to considered an aspect of racism that befits them; white privilege. Although being a woman puts McIntosh at a disadvantage she realizes that by not acknowledging her privilege she is unintentionally oppressing others as well.

“Behind every success, large or small, there is a story, and it isn't always told by sex or skin color” (page 2, par. 15), Fortgang, T (2014). Some people base their success on their racial background. “Checking My Privilege” by Tal Fotrtgang was written in an effort to voice his opinion on this matter. In his essay, Tal Fortgang says, “I actually went and checked the origins of my privileged existence, to empathize with those whose underdog stories I can’t possibly comprehend. I have unearthed some examples of the privilege with which my family was blessed, and now I think I better understand those who assure me that skin color allowed my family and I to flourish today”

My initial thought about privilege when I read the paper written by Peggy McIntosh was to instantaneously think about entitlement and the minimization of a cultural and a class of people. It’s not that whites are exclusive in the usage of systematic racial intolerance, it’s that they appear to be oblivious to the benefits of this entitlement. The author attempts to debase and use some forms of lightheartedness to point out the luxury she possessed as a result of simply being white but it’s much more than simply being white.

White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”, she notes that the whites in America are taught not to recognize their white privilege as males are taught not to recognize male privilege. Whites were also taught to see racism as something that puts people at a disadvantage rather than something that puts people at an advantage as well. Therefore, McIntosh decides to unpack her invisible knapsack and list 46 privileges she was granted because of her skin color. In Audre Lorde’s essay, she argues that feminists must critically examine their own use of dominant concepts. She also mentions that academic knowledge is based on an institution that has excluded people of colour.

1) White privilege is an ongoing societal issue that benefits white people, giving them an upper hand in situations where non-white people would not get the same treatment. For example, when walking down the street, a white person walks freely without concern of being stopped. Someone who is not white doesn’t have the same luxury. Authority stops them just because of their appearance. Tim Wise asked law enforcement what they thought of a black male driving a nice car in a nice neighborhood versus a white male in the same situation.

Moreover, social stratification has always been within every society, ranging from a horticultural society to a post-industrial society such as ours. Given that context, an average person would immediately assume the term “White Privilege” is an expression that relates to the authority of white people over the people of color, However, this isn’t completely accurate - it is more intricate than the given webster

The General Idea of White Privilege McIntosh (1988) defines white privilege

From the readings and the NPR podcast it gave me a lot to think about how I view race and specifically white privilege and how it affects the social constructs of our society. I believe that in order to understand white privilege you must know the role that race plays. Race is a social construct that was developed by people in order to distinguish between different groups based on physical characteristics but, also to maintain exclusiveness and social superiority (Conley, 2015, p. 344). In the second reading “Defining Racism” it acknowledges that even if someone is aware of their white privilege why would they want it give up because it plays in their favor. In Peggy McIntosh’s “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” she argues that white people

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.

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.

Racism occurs when a minority group is defined, negative characteristics are associated with them, and they are kept at a disadvantage to others. The most interesting aspect of racism is how people justify making their classifications. Race is a socially constructed term. This means people of a society made up race without any real backing or evidence to do so. One’s race is based mostly on their physical characteristics like skin color or hair type, or lineage.