...After reading “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh, I experienced pangs of shame about the underserved benefits that I have received my whole life just for being white. Although I consider myself to be a culturally aware student and am extremely aware of active racism, I have not only failed to recognize passive racism but have adamantly denied that it is the norm in American society. This article effectively conveyed to me how blind I have been to the biased societal system that affects every individual’s daily life. The white as normative concept especially hit home because I realize how often I act as if white people are the rule and all others are the exceptions which is a divisive and harmful way of thinking....
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...White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack “I can go into a music shop and count on finding the music of my race represented, into a supermarket and find the staple foods which fit with my cultural traditions, into a hairdresser’s shop and find someone who can cut my hair,” is the twelfth item on a list written by Peggy McIntosh who is caucasian. She wrote this list to show some of the daily effects of white privilege in her life. This example that was used in her list can still be seen in today's society with how people act. Even though it is very wrong and racist, some people can do it unknowingly by appropriating culture. There are some racist people in this world that to this day still take from other cultures to try to make it their...
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...In “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” Peggy McIntosh describes the conditions that her white privilege provides for her on a daily basis. McIntosh explains white privilege as a transparent backpack of sorts, full of objects that would make life somewhat easier, such as maps, passports, and blank checks. She lists fifty items that she could often find true in her own life, but not true for African Americans she knew in the 1980s. These fifty things are powerful and most whites, such as myself, never even sat down and thought about how many advantages their skin color gets them, let alone wrote them down on paper. McIntosh notes that on multiple occasions she forgot the points on her list until she began to write them all down. The advantages of white people are oblivious to white people, and that is what shocked me the most. Knowing that this paper was written in relation to McIntosh and...
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...Minority groups in America have experienced discrimination and limited opportunities for decades and even to this day, but to a lesser extent. The tragic situations that minorities experience is seen by white people, but what white people do not see is how they are less likely to experience the same inequalities. When the idea of white privilege is brought up to white people, they often come off as defensive and contend that “you people” are the ones bringing it upon yourselves. The system is set up to empower white people since they are the majority and the ones holding most of the power. Peggy McIntosh’s article, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, exposes the problematic issue of white privilege, the daily struggles minority groups face, and how the United States must fix the system to truly bring equality for all....
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...This article examines different ways that people experience the world based on privileges gained at birth such as race, gender identity, class, citizenship, and ability. The author shows that these factors can lead to inequality or privileges. The author examines Peggy McIntosh’s 1988 piece, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” in which she claims that being born white in America provides individuals with privileges that other races are denied. The author claims that although there are privileges associated with being born white, his skin color did not prevent his suffering from poverty. This author claims that race is just one factor that could lend to privileges at birth. Intersectionality is the concept that “recognizes...
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...Nobody really likes to talk about racism, oppression, and privilege. The article, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh, introduced the concept of privilege. Most white people don’t consciously intend to behave in ways that can be experienced by their students or colleagues of color as racist; they simply go along with a system that is already biased in their favor, thus they do not notice the privileges built into their daily lives. For example, in “The Promise” video, when the woman gives an advice to her black waitress, only to realize the waitress cannot relate because the advice is subject to whites. She did not understand the pain that the black lady was going through at first with her son having to grow...
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...White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack Peggy McIntosh states that the privilege that Whites have is not seen as an advantage by them where as it is seen as an advantage by different races. Whites, as a race, do not take into account what they do not have to overcome in order to live life in the way that they do. This lack of acknowledgement of the domination that the White race has is closely related to the domination that males have in the US. If you are in this elite class you do not think of yourself as having more advantages, you just see others as having disadvantages. Unlike many individuals of the White race, McIntosh is attempting to place herself in the shoes of those that have a different skin. Her analysis of the factors that allow a White person to lead a life with less speed bumps is not all inclusive; however it does assist to paint a picture in the mind of the reader. Each of the 26 points may not fit in every sector of the US, although the most likely fit the majority of communities. When specifically we look at the African American perspective, it can seem that the world around them is not reflective of them. This melting pot that we call the US is still controlled by a dominate race, even though our population percentages grow smaller and smaller every year. McIntosh also references that the White races has an unearned entitlement and advantage simply due to the course of history and the mindset that it implemented since. When we speak of...
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...Miriam Escamilla ES 101 22 May 2014 Discussion: Friday 10 A.M. Analysis of Article Donald Sterling There has been a recent racial conflict within the National Basketball Association, or NBA, that has risen due to the Clipper’s owner, or soon to be formal owner, Donald Sterling’s leaked racist remarks. In the article NBA Initiates Charge Against Donald Sterling, Setting Up Vote On Clippers Ownership, by Brian Mahoney, he discusses the penalties and possible outcomes that Sterling might face after his hearing. The debate in the article focuses primarily on if Sterling will or will not have to forcefully sell his team, all depending on the votes that will come from NBA owners. This racial incident relates to topics covered in Ethnic Studies dealing with the issue of people being “color blind”, benefits of white privilege, and also on African American stereotypes. The topic of color blindness is extremely relevant to this article because it proves that that way of thinking, or living does not exist. One of the racist remarks that Donald Sterling was recorded “saying to a female friend, V. Stiviano [was] not to bring blacks to Clipper games during their conversation that was recorded” (Mahoney 8). With this it could be seen that Sterling himself, along with everyone else, sees color as an identifier. Saying that someone does not see color would be a lying, since a person’s color is a big part that they are. In the movie The House We Live In, that was screened in lecture it...
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...Bonilla-Silva writes, “Instead, whites rationalize minorities contemporary status as a product of market dynamics, naturally occurring phenomena, and blacks’ imputed cultural limitations (pg.2)” This analysis indicates that whites today believe that because racism does not “exist”, the reason minorities are in the situations they are in is due to their own lack of prosperity, and drive to do well. This collective belief system held by whites causes for racism and discriminatory practices to thrive. As in White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack Peggy McIntosh explains how whites are taught not to see their own privilege, and when their privilege is brought up they discredit the fact that they even have privilege. As Mcintosh explains, “They take both active forms which we can see and embedded forms which as a member of the dominant group one is taught not to see. 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 (pg.155).” This exemplifies that the forms of racism that exist today, exist because the dominant group (whites) are taught not to see them as racist, or see them at all, as they are “invisible” to whites unless revealed. In order to get a better, more individualistic understanding of one’s own white privilege a white female named Ellery Cogswell, who was born and raised in Portland...
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...individuals of other races such as Blacks, Hispanics or Asians. The use of this term is mainly in the social inequality context primarily in relation to social class, sexual orientation, race, age, and gender. Several recorded privileged elements show the advantageous that White America has in getting access to better housing, jobs, and education. This paper will explore the issue of White American privileges and how social class status is based on color of your skin and the financial means of your family. In the article by Peggy McIntosh, she defines, “White privileges as a package of unearth assets, invisible in nature and are obvious” (McIntosh 10). There is a comparison of white privilege to an undetectable light knapsack of assurance, maps, tools, guidance, visa, codebooks, clothes, passbooks, emergency gear, blank checks, etc. I concur with Peggy McIntosh analysis since there are several functions brought about by white privileges. These functions include provisions of “perks” specifically for white people. These benefits put all white people at an advantage over the rest of society. White people are exempted from many challenges faced by other races. In addition, there is the shaping of the world by white privileged concepts in which guide how the t interaction affects how the rest of the world views Untied States of America. The History of White American...
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...What White Privilege?!! Explanation! I'm not saying that privilege doesn't exist, I'm saying that as far as White Privilege goes in Modern Society, it is an anthill being transformed into a Mountain to push an agenda. I agree with Black Conservative and Economist Thomas Sowell when he argues that moral condemnation of discrimination doesn't automatically make it causally crucial, that having a majority in any society is a given, that the idea of a homogonized "white" group in society that is accepted and given privileges is erroneous. The theory of White Privilege fails to give an accurate definition/ analysis of barriers in society and the idea that large amounts of minorities or lagging majorities (in other countries) is due to a privilege ethnic or race group, is flawed and racist. First, while the idea of condemning discrimination against members of our species is important, it is by no means causally crucial. People forget sometimes that there are other races outside black and white when it comes to this subject. Once other races are involved you start getting different results, stats and causes. What about the difference in test scores for Japanese and Mexican American kids for example. In his essay Race, Culture and Equality, Mr. Sowell writes: Japanese and Mexican immigrants began arriving in California at about the same time and initially worked in very similar occupations as agricultural laborers. Yet a study of a school district in which their children...
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...An Investigation of How Culture Shapes Curriculum in Early Care and Education Programs on a Native American Indian Reservation ‘‘The drum is considered the heartbeat of the community’’ Jennifer L. Gilliard1,3 and Rita A. Moore2 This article investigates how culture shapes instruction in three early care and education programs on the Flathead Indian Reservation. Interviews with eight early childhood teachers as well as classroom observations were conducted. The investigation is framed by the following research question: How does the culture of the family and community shape curriculum? Data analysis suggested that ongoing communication with parents and community about teaching within a culturally relevant context, building a sense of belongingness and community through ritual, and respecting children, families, and community were essential to defining the Native American Indian culture within these early learning programs. KEY WORDS: culture; in; tribal; early; education; programs. INTRODUCTION Instruction informed by children’s home and community culture is critical to supporting a sense of belongingness that ultimately impacts academic achievement (Banks, 2002; Osterman, 2000). American school populations are increasingly diversified with immigrants and English language learners; but American teachers are over 90% European American (Nieto, 2000). Educators who are from different cultural perspectives than those present in the families and communities of the children they...
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...Prologue Florence, 1283 The poet stood next to the bridge and watched as the young woman approached. The world ground to a near standstill as he remarked her wide, dark eyes and elegantly curled brown hair. At first he didn’t recognize her. She was breathtakingly beautiful, her movements sure and graceful. Yet there was something about her face and figure that reminded him of the girl he’d fallen in love with long ago. They’d gone their separate ways, and he had always mourned her, his angel, his muse, his beloved Beatrice. Without her, his life had been lonely and small. Now his blessedness appeared. As she approached him with her companions, he bowed his head and body in a chivalrous salute. He had no expectation that his presence would be acknowledged. She was both perfect and untouchable, a browneyed angel dressed in resplendent white, while he was older, world-weary and wanting. She had almost passed him when his downcast eyes caught sight of one of her slippers — a slipper that hesitated just in front of him. His heart beat a furious tattoo as he waited, breathless. A soft and gentle voice broke into his remembrances as she spoke to him kindly. His startled eyes flew to hers. For years and years he’d longed for this moment, dreamed of it even, but never had he imagined encountering her in such a serendipitous fashion. And never had he dared hope he would be greeted so sweetly. Caught off balance, he mumbled his pleasantries and allowed himself the indulgence of a smile...
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