White privilege is a topic that I never really heard about or grasped the concept of until I became older, maybe around late middle school or early high school years. Coming from a very small, railroad town in western Virginia, white privilege was not apparent or noticeable to me. It was not a topic that was commonly discussed unless you were taking a history class or another class that addressed racism in our country. Even in those classes, racism in our country was talked about, but rarely was the topic of white privilege and what it stands for brought up in discussion. My initial thoughts about white privilege are that I think it is unfair and morally wrong to have such a difference in treatment and opportunities between races. However, I’m not surprised that it exists in our world today and it doesn’t shock me to hear and see that white privilege is still embedded in the crevices of everything we do. We live in a world where racism is still …show more content…
There were many points that she addressed that I never recognized before as being white privilege and always just assumed that they were normal. I did not consider the fact that the conditions she listed, which were mostly typical daily scenarios, excluded all other races except mine, white. One scenario that McIntosh listed in White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack that especially caught my attention was number 44 which states, “I can easily find academic courses and institutions which give attention only to people of my race.” This particular statement affected me personally because I am at JMU immersed in the environment she describes as being one where I am granted white privilege. Reading this suddenly made me aware of my surroundings and I now am more conscious of looking to see if this may be true for JMU’s campus as