McIntosh

Jen
White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack
By Peggy McIntosh




1) "Through work to  bring materials  from Women’s Studies into the  rest  of the curriculum,  I have often noticed men’s unwillingness to grant that they are over privileged, even though they may grant that women are disadvantaged.   They may say they will work to improve women’s status, in the society, the university, or the curriculum, but they can’t or won’t support the idea of lessening men’s.  Denials, which amount  to  taboos,  surround  the  subject  of  advantages,  which  men  gain  from  women’s  disadvantages. These denials protect male privilege from being fully acknowledged, lessened or ended"
1. I feel like this is exactly how the situation is with white privileges.  Most people are aware of it to some degree, but when it comes time to changing it, then nothing happens.
2.I feel like nothing happens because like McIntosh stated that the men will not fix the problem because then they will not have as much power, if whites try to fix the problem, then they will not have as much power.


2)"I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male  privilege.   So  I  have  begun in an  untutored way to ask what it is like to  have white privilege.   I have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets which I can
count on cashing in each day, but about which I was ‘meant’ to remain oblivious.  White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes,tools and blank check"
1. When the author states that she thinks whites are taught not to recognize white privilege like males are taught not to recognize male privilege, it makes it a lot easier to understand why sometimes privilege is not recognized.
2. Privilege not being recognized is an issue that needs to be fixed.  White privilege needs to be brought to everyones attention, because if it isn't then it will not be fixed.


3)“As a white person, I realized I had been taught about racism as something which puts others at a disadvantage, but had been taught not to see one of its corollary aspects, white privilege which puts me at an advantage.”
1. This quote helped me understand the difference between racism and privilege. People only recognize racism, they ignore white privilege. If white privilege is never mentioned then there is no way that it will be recognized.


This article made me think more about racism, white privilege and male privilege. The example about how males will not give away any of their power but they will recognize that they have the power over women made me think that that could happen if more people recognized white privilege. They would not act on it to fix it.