The Article ' Unpacking The Invisible Backpack '

When I think about white privilege, I see it as something I must understand to truly feel a relation to my own privileges with race. “As a white person, I realized I had been taught about racism as something which puts others at a disadvantage, but had been taught not to see one of its corollary aspects, white privilege, which puts me at an advantage.” (McIntosh 1988) When comparing other privileges McIntosh sees that her life is more influenced by her skin color than class, religion, ethnic status, or geographical location. Tim Wise explains “even though there is more than one type of privilege, they can never fully eradicate white privilege.” “Understanding the persistence of privilege requires recognizing the sleight of mind that occurs on the subject of individuals as members of groups” (Wildman 2005). Early work done by African American sociologist W.E.B. DuBois (1868-1963) showed that studies with white workers over time came to see themselves as white unlike the developing working class with recently freed black slaves. DuBois was one of the first people to initiate the concept of white privilege.

Shannon Sullivan wrote the book “Revealing Whiteness: The Unconscious Habits of Racial Privilege”. She does agree with McIntosh that whites do in fact receive these hidden privileges. In her book she wrote “Blithely wrapped up in a white world, white people often do not see their own ignorance and cannot be faulted for not addressing it...” (18). Sullivan explains that white people do not realize that they are receiving these certain benefits for just being white. They also can’t fix this problem until they realize that they are privileged.

When asked about white privilege, many whites believe that it is a myth while other deny the existence of white privilege entirely. However, white privilege is not a myth. White privilege is very prevalent in society and uniquely effects many different groups. Peggy McIntosh discusses white privilege in her article “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” McIntosh states, “I have come to see while privilege 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” (par. 3).

Prior to beginning my readings on white racial identity, I did not pay much attention to my white race. If someone had asked me to describe my appearance I would have said short blond hair, blue eyes, average stature, etc. One of the last things I would have noted was the color of my skin. Growing up in overwhelmingly white communities, I never thought to use the color of my skin to differentiate myself from others. Over the course of this dialogue I have learned that my white racial identity is one of the most defining aspects of my appearance in this society. There is a certain level of privilege that I am afforded based solely on the color of my skin. According to Peggy McIntosh, “White privilege is like an invisible weightless

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,

Peddy McIntosh highlighted various unearned white privileges in her autobiographical article “White Privilege, Color and Crime: A Personal Account.” She illustrated the white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets that one white person could count on cashing in each day. White people have these privileges given to them by the society in which they live in. The same society taught them to be ignorant and unawareness of these privileges. This system of unearned privileges established by white individuals made people of color feel oppressed. In this system being white is a norm and dominant power. Caucasians, who benefit most from the white privilege system in the United States, are more likely to

Unearned privilege is the idea that a specific group of people are entitled to have special things or treatment, despite doing nothing to deserve them. Examples of groups of people who have unearned privilege include white people, men, right-handed people, tall people, in shape people, celebrities, any figures in the public eye, and spoiled kids. There are many more, based on who you ask and their opinion on the subject. I identify with all the examples McIntosh listed in the area discussing her “daily effects of white privilege” because I am white. Some of the examples directly form McIntosh’s list that are possibly outdated are as follows.

White privilege is a form of structural racism where whites are routinely advantaged while producing adverse outcomes for people of color such as Blacks and Hispanics. White privilege is a historically based system which still exists in the United States (US). In my view, white privilege system marked the beginning of racial inequality in the US. White privilege exists in the United States and is one of the contributing factors to the injustices people with color are facing in the US.

In the online article Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person by Gina Crosley-Corcoran she argues with Mcintosh's understanding of the way privilege is perceived in her perspective. Mcintosh states in her article that the white people of her race are granted privileges that people of others “color” are not guaranteed in this world. For example she believes that if you are white, you are likely to have a comfortable living with a great income and family. Therefore Gina responds to her statement in a argumentative manner to prove that her belief is not true by giving a brief summary of her child. As she grew up in world of poverty in her eyes she was limited to many things in life that Mcintosh says are guaranteed for white people.

Peggy McIntosh’s “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Backpack” addresses the issue of acknowledging whites’ unaware privileges, thus weakening the systems of advantage to reconstruct power systems in the society from 1989 to the present. For instance, men are unconscious about their privileges in a patriarchal society while women are oppressed in the society. White people are unaware of the privileges which they take for granted while non-white communities are discriminated against repeatedly. McIntosh identities her privileges from daily life, which she also relates the patterns of white privilege and assumptions that passed down.

A privilege is not something people should expect to have, but something people consider themselves fortunate if they have it. Lewis Gordon believes that white privilege does not exist, since the ‘privileges’ that benefit white people are just social commodities that all people aim for. He also points out that although white people may be the majority race and population in privileged settings, that the actual amount of white people that enjoy those benefits isn’t much. Another criticism of white privilege also points out the confusion between a privilege and a right. If someone were to discriminate against a person of color, or a nonwhite, that does not count as a privilege. Blum feels as though privilege is not whites having more opportunities than nonwhites, but that racial discrepancy has been adopted by society over the years, within activities and opportunities that are often unconsciously assumed by those who benefit.

In Peggy McIntosh’s “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” she expresses her own privileges as a white woman. She says things such as, “I do not have to educate my children to be aware of

In Peggy McIntosh’s, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” she introduces the topic of privilege from the point of view of a women in a world designed to favor men. She sees that men acknowledge the fact that women are disadvantaged but are unable to admit that they themselves have higher power. This denial of power is what creates the gap between men and women and is a clear stepping stone to her primary point of white privilege. The problem does not lie in the existence of white privilege but more so in the validation that is given to it. To be oblivious to this privilege is what gives it power to aid the white population, while simultaneously crippling other minority groups. She goes on to state that realizing there is hierarchy is the first step to systematically taking it down. This however has to start by finding where the problem originates.

The author of the "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack," Peggy McIntosh, Ph.D., is an American feminist and anti-racist activist, the associate director of the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women, and a speaker, founder, and co-director of the National S.E.E.D. Project on Inclusive Curriculum (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity). The text appeared in 1988, as a part of Peggy McIntosh’s essay "White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences through Work in Women's Studies", and was written for High school students, college students, and beyond. She thinks that whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privileges, and as one who writes about having white privilege, she must ask: “what will I do to lessen or end it?” McIntosh wants to encourage white people to start recognizing situations in which they are privileged because of their skin color. That way would be more people to help lessen this problem, and make changes in our social system.

There are two prominent writer/scholars who have taken the issue of white privilege to heart and have shared their expert analysis on the subject; these authors/writer-scholars are Peggy McIntosh, a white feminist, and Beverly Tatum, an African American Psychologist. McIntosh, in her article "Coming to See Correspondences," makes excellent observations about the privilege that she has experienced just by being a white female in America. The two most significant points made by McIntosh