The identity of a person must be developed within oneself while acknowledging the external pressures that attempt to force the definition of individual character and purpose. Whiteness has been taught to be the norm, a 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 …show more content…
Preferred treatment in any establishment and the ability to exploit the entitlement that she knew others would permit. I, as her son, was able to reap these benefits, but with a distasteful satisfaction as this was not an available means to many of my relatives. In fact, the ability was quite the opposite for them. I was robbed of my ability to learn of many great non-White historic figures in school. In reality, history seemed to not exist without or before Whites. I know this isn’t true through communication with others and self-study, but for those who aren’t able to access such information believe this information as