...White privilege otherwise known as white skin privilege is a term for societal privileges that benefit white people in western countries beyond what is commonly experienced by the non-white people under the same social, political, or economic circumstances. These privileges are unearned and are distributed based on values of the dominant group, which in the west is white people. According to McIntosh and Lee, whites in a society considered culturally a part of the Western World enjoy advantages that non-whites do not experience. This leads to the controversy over whether or not White people should be able to enjoy these privileges. The term denotes both obvious and less obvious passive advantages that white persons may not recognize they have, which distinguishes it from overt bias or prejudice. These include cultural affirmations of one's own worth; presumed greater social status; and freedom to move, buy, work, play, and speak freely. The effects can be seen in professional, educational, and personal contexts. The concept of white privilege also implies the right to assume the universality of one's own experiences, marking others as different or exceptional while perceiving oneself as normal. Some critics argue that the term uses the concept of "whiteness" as a proxy for class or other social privilege or as a distraction from deeper underlying problems of inequality. Others argue that it is not that whiteness is a proxy but that many other social...
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...White is Invisible To comprehend the historical backdrop of the belief system of "race," and battling prejudice today, includes understanding "whiteness" as the establishment of racial categories and why being white is superior. Whiteness is invisible on the grounds that whites are expected "not to have race". Being white would be regular and discussing "race" would mean discussing every one of the general population who are not white. The invisibility of whiteness is seen as a racial position of dominance. Western representation expresses that whites are overwhelmly and excessively transcendent, have the centra expounded parts, and above all are seen as the standard. Since they are the standard, they appear not to be spoken to themselves...
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...Focus on Pellow's discussion of stakeholders and ways in which companies maneuver to obtain approval and minimize opposition. How do these strategies connect to "colonial" hierarchies and institutionalized racism? As Pellow states, the causes of environmental injustice referenced in the scholarly literature include institutional racism in housing… and the exclusion of low-income individuals and people of color from the dominant environmental movement” (Pellow, 13). And the environmental inequality is a social process involving and impacting many stakeholders, such as social movement organizations, private sector firms, the state, residents, and workers. “When different stakeholders struggle for access to valuable resources within the political economy, the benefits and costs of those resources become distributed unevenly” (Pellow, 14). Which means that, those stakeholders with less power suffers from environmental inequality, such as living and working under dangerous conditions; those stakeholders with greater power are able to deprive other stakeholders. Thus, workers and residents with minimal political power are the most vulnerable to environmental inequality. In order to obtain approval and minimize opposition, companies adopt many strategies, which are connected to "colonial" hierarchies and institutionalized racism. “Throughout history, one of the most effective ways of controlling a colony was to create hierarchies (or intensify existing ones) between social classes...
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...“White Privilege” Topic: McIntosh, Peggy “White Privilege” The author made use of the phenomenon of male privilege to bring out the fact that white privilege is similarly denied and unconsciously protected. By describing how male privilege has rooted in our society, and how men denied this phenomenon by avoiding acknowledgement of the issue, the author explained the development of white privilege. According to the author, whites are taught not to recognize their privileges. They are disciplined in a way that they are unable to recognize racism as something that puts them at an advantage while as a result, put others at a disadvantage. They do not realize the existence of unearned skin privilege and therefore do not feel the need to stop it. By identifying the daily experiences granted by their skin privilege, whites can help themselves to reveal this distorted culture. They have to recognize the problem before they can lessen it and work to end it. The most obvious privileges are that white individuals are assumed to be affluence, civilized and morally neutral. The white community is perceived as a group of people who interact pleasantly and peacefully and that their country enjoys a widely represented state and its people enjoy many of its freedom. These perceived and unearned privileges are not only preserved from other people, they are also used as weapons to oppress others. However, even if white individuals do not approve the way which white dominance has been...
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...discrimination, disadvantages, worthless, and the list could go on with even more words that relate to racism. Jobs, acceptance, equality, benefits, this list is harder to label is it not? White Privilege is just as real as racism, but not as apparent. According the University of Dayton’s online dictionary, White Privilege is defined as, “a right, advantage, or immunity granted to or enjoyed by white persons beyond the common advantage of all others; an exemption in many particular cases from certain burdens or liabilities,” (“white privilege”). White Privilege is a subject rarely covered by educators due to the difficulty students’ have understanding it; therefore, resulting in a lack of awareness. White Privilege, unlike racism,...
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...Before we start I should state one thing, All Lives Matter, but right now we are going to specifically worry about the black lives. With that in mind, everyone from a young age is taught safety rules, we learn how to dial 9-1-1 in the case of a danger. Now while in our different homes we are taught a different set of rules. In a white home, they would learn that the police is there to protect them against all crimes that they may cross in their lives, so they should never second guess on calling them in times of need. While compared to a black family, we are taught that even though we are taught in school to call the police in the face of danger, we should never fully trust them, and always be aware of our surroundings when they are around....
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...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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...standard of American lifestyle, while being invisible to those who possess the privileges and benefits of meeting its requirements. Communication must be done with a level sense of purpose and reason; conversely, the mindset of Blacks and Whites is not necessarily “Black and White”. a) In Peggy McIntosh’s work “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”, she emphasizes the effort Whites must take to simply comprehend and acknowledge that their lives, in general, are not the same as those of color. (McIntosh, YEAR???) The article continues to express White privilege as a force of supremacy and dominance that is underlined by a large array of benefits and favors packaged together in an “invisible knapsack”. Much like male privilege, rather than release some of the power of being White, the actions taken are often to raise the glass ceiling of non-Whites to a higher level. What this does, consequently, is maintain the White superiority and...
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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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...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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...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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...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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...exactly how divisive the issue of race can be is white privilege. At first mention, the word can cause a feeling of discomfort. Although, it is not intended to do so. Overtime, the idea has gained awareness, which has led some groups to believe that white Americans are born more privileged than the rest of the population. In turn, this perspective is being met with a fair amount of criticism. Similarly, the article Yes, You Can Measure White Privilege, published on The Root, attempts to address this aspect of the race issue. It argues that white privilege exists, but not in the way that people believe it does. Not only that, the author offers up all the ways that the privilege can be measured. So as to avoid confusion, Harriot makes...
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...White American Privileges and Social Class Aieleen Lanot University of Hawaii – West Oahu White American Privileges and Social Class Privilege is a concept of sociology used to implicate that there are certain groups of individuals that have an advantage over others. “Social liberties use the term to mean benefits according to white people under economic, political, and social circumstance. (Anyon 17)” I agree with his stance because there is no extension of such privileges to 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”...
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