...“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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...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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...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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...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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...different point of view on what it truly means, depending on his or her previous experience. Here in the United States, race is far more complicated. A perfect example that captures 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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...Hey, Jeremy! White privilege is a level of advantage that all white people, regardless of their class, gender, or other factors, possess in the United States. Just because someone benefits from white privilege doesn’t necessarily mean that they are privileged (that they are wealthy, live a life of luxury, etc.- that’s class privilege). There are a lot of ways that people can be privileged beyond race and class: by citizenship (being born in the U.S. affords you privileges that non-citizens will never have); by sexual orientation (straight people in every state have rights that non-straight people have to fight for); ability (by being born able-bodied, someone doesn’t have to structure their life around handicap accessibility and resources), etc....
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...dominant, Peggy McIntosh’s “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” explores the special circumstances and benefits she experiences as a white person, which she outlines to be often analogous to the unearned advantage of men in the patriarchal system. These societal advantages were not earned but were given on the basis of skin colour, which are often denied and protected by those experiencing white privilege, despite creating a very real influence on society. These notions of a disadvantage for one race and an advantage for another are developed and backed by different sociological studies throughout the paper. The race to which someone...
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...The article “What is white privilege?” is written by Christine Emba, who explains what “white privilege” means, how it originated and how it manifests itself in America. It’s the level of societal advantage that comes with being seen as the norm in America, automatically conferred irrespective of wealth, gender, or other factors. According to Christine Emba, white privilege is: “life easing level of advantage, no matter what your wealth, gender, or any other status is and just being white in America, you are respected and assumed the best. It is a set of unearned assets that a white person in America can count on clashing in each day but to which they remain largely oblivious. The article “Making My Head Spin” talks about unearned privilege...
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...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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...Privilege is the Greatest Enemy of Equality Educators most often consider multicultural education as teaching their pupils about Blacks, Latinos, Asians, Native Americans, and other descendants of color. However, multicultural education is not complete if it doesn’t challenge the root of structural racism and racial oppression: the matter of white privilege. It’s vital to understand white privilege and the role it plays in affecting society. In essence, white privilege is an unwilling and non-owned racism that has been ingrained into our mindset throughout history, and it affects how we interact with each other and how those who don’t share such advantages are affected. It’s a permeating factor responsible for many inequalities faced among races, widening the social gap between white and nonwhite Americans. Accessibility to education, jobs, and housing are all directly affected by societal inconsistencies of privilege and power. Ultimately, racism isn’t caused by white privilege; white privilege is caused by racism. Yet racism isn't a problem that resides in the minds of individuals; it lies rooted deep in our social institutions. It is necessary we reconstruct the societal ideologies of race and class to expel this self-perpetuating cycle. In this essay I will address these racial struggles for power and privilege, the role it plays in education, and my personal experience towards racism and how it has affected me as a person. Privilege, as defined by Websters Dictionary...
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...social phenomenon of 'white privilege' is defined in various ways from different scholars. White privilege is defined as having unearned benefits, rights and advantages that one receives because of one's race. Peggy McIntosh understands the privileges that are appointed to her simply because she is white. (White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, McIntosh, 1988) The thesis of McIntosh's article is that white privilege is burdensome to people who have or have not encountered white privilege. / To those who have or have not encountered white privilege, it is burdensome. Mcintosh identifies herself for having white privilege. In the article she analyzed how having white privilege in her daily life affected her. McIntosh encountered situations such as not getting questions when discussing matters of race or being able to go to most places and finding those of her own skin, even being able to find bandages that will more than likely match her skin tone. Different scholars have distinct meanings for white privilege. The social phenomenon of white privilege is complex. Different scholars have a different say of what white privilege means. Naomi Zack, a professor of...
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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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...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 awarded to them, they...
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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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...truly hard and at different angles in modern, everyday occurrences to see the faint remaining traces of racial discrimination in society especially if the person is white. People of fairer skin often find it difficult to notice modern racism, either because they believe it is an obsolete issue or because they take for granted what advantages their skin color awards them as a given for all when it is not. These advantages drawn from a white skin tone is generally addressed as white privilege which most whites would deny having or are oblivious to. Since white privilege serves as an invisible shield of protection and favor, white society is likely to have more advantages over non-whites, especially...
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