White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

I choose Peggy McIntosh’s article, “White Privilege: Unpacking the invisible Knapsack” to dive into for this blogpost. I think the main thesis of this article is that white privilege is oppressive whether one is conscious of it or not. White privilege is not synonymous with prejudice and isn’t defined as an act of meanness but is a system of dominance ruled by unearned privilege.

I can agree with the statement, “I can choose blemish cover or bandages in flesh color and have them more or less match my skin.” I find this statement powerful because I feel like not only are other skin colors not represented but that by naming that color “flesh color” it defines flesh color as white, as if there is only one kind of skin tone. I agreed with many of the points McIntosh makes in this article, but this particular one was one I haven’t thought of before and is quite frankly, offensive.

I disagree with the statement, “I have met very few men who are truly distressed about systemic, unearned male advantage and conferred dominance.” I agree with the point McIntosh makes about men not wanting to give up unearned privilege and power, but I don’t agree that there are very few men in the world who are truly distressed about it. I have had millions of conversations about these gender inequalities with my male friends and I feel that many of them are genuinely distressed and feel quite guilty about male dominance. I suppose it is all in the company you keep or the men you debate this topic with. Recognizing a problem and taking action to change it are two different things, however, and I have not met many people in general (male or women) who are willing to give up power they possess whether it is earned or not.

I am called to action by the statement, “Many, Perhaps most, of our white students in the U.S. think that racism doesn’t affect them because they are not people of color; they do not see whiteness as a racial identity.” I agree with this statement and believe that the more white people can recognize that they are affected by racism regardless of whether they are aware of it or not is key to having productive discussions and progress with issues of racism. At the beginning of the quarter Zalika asked the question, “What does it mean to be white?” I had no idea what to say because quite frankly, I had never really thought about it before. I want to encourage people to look at the world through the lens that regardless of your race, we are all affected by racism just by living on this planet. I believe that when one is connected to a problem they are more interested in resolving it.