White Privilege: Unpacking The Invisible Backpack 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

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.

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 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.

In Marilyn Frye’s article On Being White, she brought up a few points that caught my attention. There are three points she made that support me arguing that whites carry privileges that are not available to people of color. First, whites have the power to define who is white and who is not. Second, white people have the option to hear or listen to black people or ignore them. Lastly, many white people do not understand or realized that they are privileged. I am going to explain why these points and Mark Twain’s book Pudd’nhead Wilson relates to I and Frye’s argument.

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.

My initial reaction to this article was that of agreement. McIntosh describes white privilege vividly as the idea of an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions and more. In other words, a white person in the United States has on his or her back an invisible weightless knapsack granting favored status, acceptance, and more. It was interesting seeing a white woman’s perspective on the topic of privilege. As I was reading I was reflecting on moments in my life where I have whiteness white privilege and how it worked against me. I’ve seen white privilege illustrated at various time throughout my life. My personal favorite part of this article was the list of daily effects of White privilege that the author complied. It was interesting yet not relatable. To me, this list was eye opening. I understood the point she was trying to make with it. I cannot

In the article Unpacking the Invisible Backpack, McIntosh states “I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege” I think that statement is true since people can become a part of situations related to privilege unintentionally and cannot help how they were born. I believe McIntosh explore of white privilege is all about and how power is established in the everyday life of all people in America. She says "White privilege" is stated to consist of an "invisible weightless knapsack" of useful goodies. A list of these goodies includes "special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools and blank checks." I think her take on that would be the ability to go through society as a white person without having the disadvantages of another racial group such as African Americans however she questions on how she is going to use this advantage of having white privilege, will she use her white privilege as a means of power to benefit only herself or will she change and transfer the way of how her power is different from others. Jensen also has some of the same questions as McIntosh, in the excerpt White Privilege Shapes the U.S. Jensen askes a student “if we live in a world of white privilege--unearned white privilege--how does that affect your notion of a level playing field” the student responds by saying it doesn’t really matter, acknowledging he has an unearned white privilege but ignores

Whether intentional or not, white privilege often affords white people opportunities that are not made available to those of other races. This is especially true of educational and economic opportunity. One cannot underestimate the legacy of racial oppression in the United States as it contributes to this idea of white privilege. Historically, even after the abolition of slavery, social

“To be white in America means not having to think about it,” declares James Baldwin. What Baldwin means by this is that white people do not have to think about how their race affects their lives on a daily basis. To take this to a further level, in American society to have privilege in any identity group is to not have to think about how being part of that group shapes your life daily and to think of what it would be like to be part of a different identity group. In fact, for most people thinking of how being part of a privileged group makes their lives easier makes people uncomfortable or annoyed for having to think about their privilege, all of this which A.G. Johnson calls “the luxury of obliviousness” (Johnson, A.G. (2006). Privilege, Oppression, and Difference. p. 12-40). Johnson paraphrases Peggy

White privilege, ignorance, and blindness are not valid reasons for minimizing racial oppression or social injustice. The reach of white privilege is extensive yet rarely recognized by white individuals. Most individuals are not aware of their white privilege or the subtle "accommodations" that are afforded white individuals not shared by African Americans. White privilege affords those of white identity all-inclusive membership privileges that insulate them from the historical, institutionalized rules long-favoring whites at the expense of black oppression. This privileged lens further perpetuates blindness of not seeing the advantages given to those unaffected regardless of status, character, or merit. Stories of “historically invisible sufferers” as they stand in solidarity must be given the platform to give their accounts. An analysis of white privilege reveals blindness to the moral responsibility of the effects of racism: authenticating the need of further exploring white privilege, opening dialogue, increasing awareness, and facilitating change.

White privilege has been identified as the unspoken and often unseen advantages that white people benefit from in various aspects of everyday life, based on nothing more than the colour of their skin (Robbins et al. 2014:98). White privilege creates a social hierarchy in American society, in which white is normative, and at the top of the hierarchy, and anything else is deviant (Gallagher 2003:25). This paper will demonstrate how white privilege serves as a visual barrier for white people, through which they are blind to the everyday struggles of people of colour. Most people who live with white privilege remain blind to the ways in which their privilege both helps them, and harms others. The experience of Jennifer Cramblett and Amanda Zinkon,

“The belief that European American norms and more are universal and supreme to other cultural prescriptions and interpretation” (Day, Phyllis. J. A New History of Social Welfare). White privilege or "white skin benefit" is known for societal benefits that advantage individuals recognized as white in Western nations, past what is normally experienced by non-white individuals under the same social, political or monetary circumstances. White privilege is a quality so pervasive thus slippery in our way of life that we are still blind about oblivious in regards to its presence. Alongside patriarchy's abuse of classism, sexism, and prejudice it is a key component in the advancement and backing of numerous different qualities.

After reading chapter one of the text the White Privilege Concept mentioned caught my attention most pertaining to the example of the a white women being able to use a credit card without suspicion, whereas the black women draws skepticism . Only because I’ve seen such behavior where I currently work, and I had encountered a similar situation recently that exemplified the concept.