Personal Narrative: My Activism

Through the duration of this course some of my opinions on civic issues have changed and some have stayed the same. An opinion of mine that has changed is the number of flaws in our education system. This is an important civic issue because the education of young people is deciding the future of this world. This is politically significant because this generation will grow up to be a part of politics whether running for a role in the federal, provincial, or municipal parliamentary or simply voting in an election.

Peggy McIntosh concludes white privilege is, “an invisible package of unearned assets which I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was meant to remain oblivious.” The writer came to this conclusion when observing male privilege initially in America. McIntosh discusses the lack of acknowledgement of men when it came to addressing their own advantages over women even if they could admit the position of disadvantage of women. This shed light on how white privilege is curtailed; In the United States, foundations of our society are interlaced with institutionalized privilege creates unethical levels of dominance; dominance of males over females, whites over people of color,

An alumni group, Check Your Privilege organized by Dr. Ja’Nina Walker, works to raise student and faculty awareness about privilege on a San Francisco campus and increase social equality. The group defines privilege as “unearned access to social power based on membership in a dominant social group.” The group desires to increase consciousness about privilege, especially in the among social justice influences. They work to bring privilege into regular public discussion and urge those with privilege to use it for public benefit.

To be a person, requires intersectionality. Intersectionality is the idea that people do not function on only one aspect of their being, but instead, function on every aspect. Aspects that include race, gender, ability, etc. With this intersectionality comes innumerable categories that lie on the scale of privileged, oppressed, or somewhere in between. To be privileged is to have advantages that are not necessarily earned, and instead come with a specific, usually uncontrollable feature, such as race, gender, class, and ability. To be oppressed is to have disadvantages that are not earned, but instead come with the same uncontrollable categories as privilege. Even cis-gendered, heterosexual, white, men have aspects of their intersectionality that might not place them at the top of the privilege hierarchy. And it is in these complications where people start to place doubts on their own privileges. It is important to realize that it is nearly impossible to have privilege in every single way or oppression in every single way, yet, this is not an excuse to deny privileges. Even with some oppressions, some are still granted more advantages than others. To delve into this deeper, analyzing writings from established writers, such as Peggy McIntosh and Devon Carbado become necessary.

White (male) privilege comprises of having more access to resources, having normative assumptions of self-worth, and escaping consequences like being discriminated against just on the basis of one’s race (Neville, Spanierman, & Lewis, 2012). There are seven core components of White (male) privilege (Neville, Spanierman, & Lewis, 2012). The first core component is that While (male) privilege differentially benefits Whites on the basis of social group membership, including class, gender, and sexual orientation. Further, differentially benefits Whites, means that Whites benefits vary based on their social membership group. An example

Privilege is often seen as special rights granted to individuals either on behalf of merit or through unwarranted means. In their writings, Johnson (privilege, oppression, and difference) and Peggy McIntosh (White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Backpack) discuss their views on the impact that privileging specific social groups has on society. The concept of whiteness in America is often overlooked or unaffiliated with discussions concerning racial dilemmas. Whiteness and white privilege perpetuates racism due to its normalization in society which in turn serves as an agent of how other non-white people are treated.

“White Privilege and Male Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh discusses about white privilege and male privilege as an invisible privilege that does not become a topic for discussion in white communities. The children of white communities are taught to not recognize what is white privilege same with male. Instead of recognizing what is white privilege or male privilege, they become ignorant of the privilege they have compared to other races without privilege. Peggy uses herself as an example to understand white privilege and the advantage of occupying a position of privilege. In addition, she lists a list of conditions that she meets as a white individual compared to her friends, who may not meet the conditions.

According to “The Trouble We’re In” by Allan G. Johnson is that that the differences mainly exist because of privilege and power. The first point that Allan makes was that people are not afraid of change and they are capable of working through issues related to change. The overall point of being different is not the problem. The misconception linked to difference is the well-known theory that people automatically are scared of what they do not know or understand.

In this sense, I noticed how privileged I am because of my sexuality, socioeconomic status, and country of origin. I was raised in a European country where I had the same ethnicity as the majority. Coming from an upper-middle class family, I never suffered from poverty or the stigma associated with it. This means that I grew up in a nice house and in a nice neighborhood where my neighbors were also middle-class families. I could walk alone around my neighborhood without the concern that I could be assaulted or robbed. This means that I was part of a privileged group, but without being aware of it since, as a kid, my parents could afford healthy food, medical bills (such as dentists, dental brackets, or new glasses) but, also toys and clothes. Furthermore, I was able to participate in extracurricular activities or go to college without worrying about the financial cost. Moreover, I have not struggled with stereotypes or stigmas that come with lower socioeconomic statuses such as thinking that they are less educated. Thus, I was never questioned for being intelligent, honest, or hard-working. Overall, I never faced discrimination or racism and that makes me unaware of how it truly feels like. For that reason, I need to acknowledge my identity

I am a white woman. I am so pale, that my skin blows out the white balance in a photograph. Because I am white, I have been able to escape prejudices that so many other women experience every day. For a very long time, I was unaware of how deep-seated racism is in America. Because I am white, color was a non-issue for me. It was never discussed in my family. Why would it be? Many white people are blind to the injustices that others face, because it has never been something that affected their lives directly. As stated by C. Wright Mills in The Promise of Sociology, “...the personal uneasiness of individuals is focused upon explicit troubles and the indifference of publics is transformed into involvement with public issues” (Mills, 5). This describes how people are so focused on their own personal troubles, that they cannot comprehend the troubles of others. Therefore, they do not see the struggles of others as having the capacity to be a problem within society. Privilege is something I feel has only recently been discussed in mainstream media. Going to college really opened my eyes to the experiences of people who live entirely different lives than me, and interacting with people from all

Male privilege has existed for centuries, but it was not widely discussed until around 1988 when Peggy McIntosh, a scholar working for Wellesley College Center for Research on Women, wrote a paper titled, “White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences Through Work in Women’s Studies,”. The paper takes a look both at white and male privilege, with a long list of 46 examples of McIntosh’s own, self-recognized privilege as a white woman. The paper sparked a massive controversy and extremely opposing opinions on privilege. David Horowitz, an American writer with deep conservative views and values, deemed McIntosh one of “America’s ten wackiest feminists”.

Seghal begins her article by discussing the definition of ‘privilege’. She acknowledges how privilege has changed, but she does not omit the current perspective. Seghal claims that people “refer to the unearned benefits afforded a group of people”( Sehgal 1). Thusly evoking shame when one is claimed to be privileged by others. Although just an introduction into the topic, there is a great paradox from this. How can one be ashamed of their success? Seghal demonstrates the confusion and mixed emotions involving privilege. She continues on to define privilege not only as money, but also and a mental state. From her research, “poor whites felt that they outranked poor blacks” (Seghal 2). She strongly entertains the idea people are more privileged

This summer I reunited with my best friend. We haven’t seen each other since I left to go to New York. We kept in touch as much as we could, but I moved around a lot that it was hard. So, finally I found her again and we had a lot to catch up on and only a day to do it. When I showed up at her house her mom gave me a hug like I was moving away forever. Well, my best friend’s name is Georginna and she is the same age as me. The night she stayed with me we caught up on what happened while we were away from each other, talked about boyfriends, ex’s, and crushes. We also watched scary movies and annoying my brothers. She met my step-dad, Elijah, and Isaiah. We talked about her moving here to go to school with me again, and she

Confessing one 's political identity in 2016 truly embodies the phrase “walking on eggshells”. Whether you’re a liberal or conservative, owning up to your political resolutions sometimes comes with some intense backlash. In this years’ presidential election we have an intense candidate with very radical views, and if you don 't know who I’m talking about you should probably move from the rock you are living under. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has gained a immense popularity amongst not only the American public but Internationally as well. His chauvinist rhetoric, egotistical outlook, and how he continuously fabricates lies upon lies has truly brought him into the public eye. Hearing Trumps incredibly horrifying agenda makes me proud to admit that I am a Democrat, a solid liberal to be exact. As a solid liberal I believe in the power of the people and that means all people.Whether you are rich, poor, black, white, gay, or straight building and creating a nation that caters to people inherently means doing right by the economy and when we do well for the economy we do well for everyone.

I was forever changed when I joined Revolution Lacrosse in the summer of 2010. I owe this all to the founder of Rev, Lukas Cash. Lukas is known for his inspiring speeches and ability to change one’s perception of the world. After hearing many of his speeches, I too was inspired. I was changed with the words, “Some people are given the opportunity and just look past it. Others are never given the opportunity but always seek it. Today you are given an opportunity for greatness. How will you react” This quote is everything to me. From that day forward, I made a promise to myself to take every opportunity that I could. I promised to be a leader, in hopes of giving others the opportunity as well. The next few years, I continued this idea with the