White Like Me Summary

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

In “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” Peggy McIntosh argues that racism can be found imbedded into the culture of society; conferring and denying certain privileges on some rather than all. This is a dangerous cultivation; endowing a strong expectation that white privileges are naturally deserving. Furthermore, making the cornerstone of McIntosh’s main argument; that white privilege is just a less aggressive synonym for dominance. When you receive privileges for looking a certain type of way, the recipient becomes immune; often not being able to acknowledge their advantages. As a result, this creates a cultural divide, between racial groups.

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

Often when individuals are presented with the concept of privilege, especially those who have a lot of it, they find the idea affronting. It’s hard to hear that the country we are taught to love isn’t as perfect and fair as it seems. Privilege is the unearned benefits or advantages given to a specific group. The key to this definition, and the one most people don’t recognize is the unearned benefits or advantages. For example, not having to think about how you will enter a building if they do not have handicapped access, or not having to consider how others will react to learning your sexuality. The idea that some of the population has an advantage over others is often met with automatic defensiveness. People in power feel like they have worked hard enough to earn what they have; however, privilege is understanding that not all of us begin at the same starting point. Some people need more help than others. As a temporarily able bodied white man in America, I receive a lot of privilege. This essay is going to focus specifically on the privilege I receive from my own whiteness and the prevalence of normalized whiteness in American culture.

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.

The article “The Great White Way” by Debra J. Dickerson attempts to show her readers that “Race is an arbitrary system for establishing hierarchy and privilege” (68) in America. In her article, Dickerson questions how “whiteness” leads America in our culture and society and how all the other races are defined in America. She also explains how history has divided whites from non-whites in America. The intended audience that Dickerson’s essay gravitated towards are political or liberal Americans. In her article “The Great White Way”. Debra J. Dickerson powerfully argues that race is an overall way to establish social classes and who and what get special privileges because of their certain race or skin color. Dickerson argues that “Race is

Wise’s examination of the inconspicuous character of racism 2.0 dovetails fittingly with our course’s recurring theme of institutionalized racism. In class lectures we have defined institutionalized racism as the discriminatory practices that have become regularized and routinized by state agencies, organizations, industries, or anywhere else in society. Although such practices might not be intentionally racist, they end up being racist nevertheless as consequence of the systematized and unspoken biases that have become increasingly convoluted and entrenched within society over time. It also doesn’t help white people to recognize these discriminatory practices considering they have been unconsciously tailored to be consistent with white perspective and mentality. In her article, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, Peggy McIntosh examines not only how white folks often consider themselves to be a normative figure within society, but also how they are carefully taught not to recognize the advantages they gain from the disadvantages that impair people of color. In the article, McIntosh acknowledges the reality of her own white privilege and expresses, “In my class and place, I did not see myself as a racist because I was taught to recognize racism only in individual acts of meanness by members of my group, never in invisible systems conferring unsought racial dominance on my group from birth” (McIntosh 4). In fact, even if white folks do not believe themselves to

In this paper I will be discussing my reflection of whiteness in society. First I will need to explain what whiteness is in order for one to understand what it is I’m writing about. Whiteness is one of the principles of the construction of racism. It consists of the White racial group of people, their culture, human rights, and compensations that are provided to the white race. Being white is described as being a member of the domineering cluster of people. It creates images of “White pride” and “White power” which encourages deliberate acts of racism. Whiteness is forcefully embraced and defended. “Whiteness is nothing but an expression of race privilege.” (Schaefer, 2010).

The election of Barack Obama as the 56th president of the United States raised many hopes that the “Black struggles” was finally over. For conservatives, Obama victory reassured their beliefs that there was no longer such thing as racism and that every American had equal rights and opportunity to pursue the American dream. While many people have come to believe that all races have equal rights in America, Tim Wise argues in his documentary “White Like Me” that not only does racism and unconscious racial bias still exist, but that also White Americans are unable to simply relate to the variety of forms racism and inequality Blacks experience. This is mainly because of the privileges they get as the “default.” While Wise explores the variety forms of racism and inequality today such as unconscious racism, Black poverty, unemployment, inadequate education system, and prison system, the articles by the New York Times Editorial Board, the Human Rights Watch (HRW), and Adam Liptak further explore some the disparities in the criminal justice system. Ana Swanson points out in her article, “The Stubborn Persistence of Black-White Inequality, 50 Years after Selma” that while the “U.S. has made big strides towards equal rights,” significant gaps still remains between the two races. With the Supreme Court striking down a “portion of the Voting Rights Act that stopped discriminatory voting laws from going into effect in areas of the country with histories of disenfranchisement,” civil

The concept of white privilege helps to highlight the hypocritical nature of the American ideologies of democracy and meritocracy. Ask yourself: Do we live truly in a democratic system if the voices of our nation’s disenfranchised people are not heard? Or are we truly a nation that functions on a meritocratic system if every person-- regardless of socioeconomic background or race-- is not given the same opportunities for development? The concepts of white privilege and male privilege, as used by McIntosh, are meant to unveil the hidden schemes of American ideology.

Usually considered the favored state of being, privilege evokes the “connotation of being something everyone must want” (7). McIntosh disagrees with this claiming that certain conditions of this idea of white privilege are simply acts working to systematically overpower certain groups (7). Her main and most powerful argument is that “the kind of privilege that gives license to some people to be, at best, thoughtless and, at worst, murderous should not continue to be referred to as a desirable attribute”

Educating white children on white privilege is not as straightforward as it may seem. One study in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology suggests that when presented with evidence of white privilege, white people actually respond with denial on the basis of personal hardships (Phillips, Lowry 12-18). The study also stated that understanding privilege, “requires a comparison to someone of another group membership with the same life circumstances” (Phillips, Lowry 12-18). If white children feel that

By associating the potential existence of racism with consumption, a form of rationalization is that we now live in society that does not recognize and reward race, but merit. In turn, whites do not inherently realize the privileges that they are born with. Peggy McIntosh actually used the terms unearned entitlement and unearned advantage to describe disproportionate lead that whites have over blacks (McIntosh, 103). The fact of the matter is that most white people are in denial that they have been born with unearned entitlements that minorities do not have and according to McIntosh this is because they have been taught not to recognize it. As much as white people have been taught not to recognize that they have been given white privilege, blacks and minorities recognize that they do. Although many believe that the playing field is now level, is apparent that there is an uphill struggle for people of color. But how should one first recognize this struggle?

White privilege is a predominant issue in America today as it is embedded into the education systems. In an article written by Peggy McIntosh titled, White privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, McIntosh writes about white privilege not being necessarily overt, but embedded and so naturally it is hard to see especially for white people, as it is simply the norm most of them have been born into. White privilege ultimately gives white people an easier life, as they are awarded unearned advantages over people of colour. White privilege affects the chances to obtain a job in academia, the curriculum being taught, and student success in the world of education.

“White privilege is an institutional (rather than personal) set of benefits granted to those of us who, by race, resemble the people who dominate the powerful positions in our institution One of the primary privileges is that of having greater access to power and resources than people of color do; in other words, purely on the basis of our skin color doors are open to us that are not open to other people's”(Kendall,1). Privilege occurs when a group possesses an advantage of significant worth over others. This advantage is based on favoritism not by merit. More emphasis is placed on those who meet the criteria for the privilege instead of those who simply have the qualities that are essential. The ability to access opportunities equally may exist but is outweighed by privilege.White privilege is an unfair advantage that negatively affects minority groups. White privilege in the United States started when British colonists decided to travel to the New World and claim the land as their own even though other people already lived there. Because the Native people were not of the same color or culture, they were treated poorly, forced to relocate, and even killed. White privilege is justifying the murder of millions of people in order to create a new society void of oppression from the British throne. Another example of white privilege in the early stages of American society is when whites took African Americans from their native homelands and separated their families to bring them