Chapter 7. “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” Peggy McIntosh
Peggy McIntosh explores the invisibility of racial privilege. She argues that Whites tend to be unaware of the privilege they have as members of the dominant group. To illustrate this point she compares her own experiences with denied male privilege to her own limited perception of the privilege she enjoys because she is White. In an effort to challenge this lack of awareness, she lists 26 examples of the invisible privilege she experiences in her everyday life that people of Color do not. She points out that these daily benefits of being White make her life easier. For example, the ability to shop without being followed, to count on her skin color not causing suspicion of her financial reliability, or even the ability to find blemish cover to match her skin tone reflects her White privilege. She argues that for Whites these occurrences are largely taken for granted. They are expected, assumed to be the normal experiences of everyday life. For people of Color, however, they are constant reminders of the struggle involved in all aspects of life when one’s position in society is reflected as outside of the norm.
McIntosh identifies positive and negative aspects of privilege; unearned advantage and conferred dominance. The advantage experienced by the privileged group can be unearned, merely as a consequence of their position, or it can be created through dominance yielded because of their position. Both aspects challenge the notion that one’s experience in society is based solely on one’s merit, and recognizing this challenges the denial surrounding systems of privilege and oppression. McIntosh contends that once the privileged can no longer deny the benefits intrinsic to their position, they must then decide to either destroy or maintain the system from which they benefit.
Peggy McIntosh explores the invisibility of racial privilege. She argues that Whites tend to be unaware of the privilege they have as members of the dominant group. To illustrate this point she compares her own experiences with denied male privilege to her own limited perception of the privilege she enjoys because she is White. In an effort to challenge this lack of awareness, she lists 26 examples of the invisible privilege she experiences in her everyday life that people of Color do not. She points out that these daily benefits of being White make her life easier. For example, the ability to shop without being followed, to count on her skin color not causing suspicion of her financial reliability, or even the ability to find blemish cover to match her skin tone reflects her White privilege. She argues that for Whites these occurrences are largely taken for granted. They are expected, assumed to be the normal experiences of everyday life. For people of Color, however, they are constant reminders of the struggle involved in all aspects of life when one’s position in society is reflected as outside of the norm.
McIntosh identifies positive and negative aspects of privilege; unearned advantage and conferred dominance. The advantage experienced by the privileged group can be unearned, merely as a consequence of their position, or it can be created through dominance yielded because of their position. Both aspects challenge the notion that one’s experience in society is based solely on one’s merit, and recognizing this challenges the denial surrounding systems of privilege and oppression. McIntosh contends that once the privileged can no longer deny the benefits intrinsic to their position, they must then decide to either destroy or maintain the system from which they benefit.
Please watch the clips (some of which we got to in class) and use the comment feature in this blog post if you would like to share anything. Please remember that you must have created a Blogger account using your CNU.edu account to participate in blogging opportunities.
Two clips are from sociologist Robin DiAngelo. The first video is more academic in tone. The second video is shorter and produced for NBC, so it's a little more Buzzfeed style.
The final clip is from the New York Times, titled, "A Conversation with Black Women on Race."
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