Peggy McInstosh wrote a short essay called “Unpacking the
Invisible Knapsack”. McIntosh short essay starts by talking about male
privilege. Even though, some males say that they’ll work to get more woman privileges,
they never talk about lessening their privileges or ending it. She then states,
“I realized that since hierarchies in our society are interlocking, there was
most likely a phenomenon of White privilege which was similarly denied and
protected. … I think Whites are carefully taught not to recognize White
privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege”. She also
explains that most of the time White people don’t notice their privileges, and “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 which will allow “them” to be more like “us”’. Whenever McInstosh started
listing White’s unearned privileges, I grabbed a highlighter and started
listing the ones that I believes to be true…. I highlighted 23 of them that
have occurred to me. I believe this was important because most White’s don’t
see how little their privileges are, but they slowly start to build up when there's more being added. She
explains that, “For this reason, the world “privilege” now seems to be
misleading, we usually think of privilege as being a favored state, whether
earned or conferred by birth or luck. Yet some of the conditions I have
described here work to systematically over empower certain groups”. These “privileges”
were made to build certain groups up while tearing the others down. I slightly disagree with that statement because no one chooses to be White or a minority, we're just born into this world.
I agree with what the author says about how whites are taught to think of their lives as normal. I also think that whites are privileged in a way that is seen more as perks rather than the actual definition of privileged. Privilege is something that should be granted to someone instead of being automatically passed down based on race. As a person of color, I saw the list of privileges the author had experienced and recognized them as things that not only I wished I had, but what all minorities wish for. Think of it as a “must be nice” moment. At the beginning when the author talks about male privilege I couldn’t really relate as male but I guess that’s the point she’s trying to make. However, I do believe there are double standards that fall on both male and females. I think some of those have been recognized though and are constantly being brought up. Anyways I see white privilege as something that really is being denied because there are people who talk as if everyone has equal opportunities yet the reason those opportunities are denied to minorities is because they aren’t white.
ReplyDeleteI think it is important for her to create an inventory of unearned privileges she experiences as a white person, because it shows that the white people may have more opportunity but that shouldn’t make us wrong people and racist people. She goes into many different topics of detail about daily activities that she does as a person in America and because she’s white doesn’t mean that she personally is at an advantage over the other races in America. The author says “I have come to see white privileges as an invisible package of unearned assets which I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was meant to remain oblivious” and in my eyes I see her as saying that yes she has this opportunity and I don’t think she should just throw it away because some others think she has more opportunity than others. I think that everyone has the same equal about of opportunity in America even if its handed to you or you have to work your butt off for it, every one as their own no matter what racial color you are.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with McInstosh when she stated that Whites “are taught to think of their lives as morally neutral, normative and average”. There’s this idea that being White is “normal” and that people of color should try to be more like White people because that’s the “right” way. I think it was important that she listed the “privileges” she has as a White person so other White people could recognize that they do have these “privileges”, whether they want to recognize it or not. It’s important for White people to recognize these benefits and people of color don’t so we can start talking about how to improve our society so people of color can also have these “privileges”. I agree with her when she says “Yet some of the conditions I have described here work to systematically over empower certain groups”. I agree with her on this because whether people like it or not, it’s true. There’s a system, not on in America but other parts of the world, that are made to hold back or shut down people of different groups.
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