Give a quick summary of the thesis of your chosen text so we can be "with you" as we read your reflection.
Please write one statement you can "agree" with and why.
One statement you would "argue" with and why and
One statement that spurs you to "action" in some way.
This article focuses on white privilege. The advantages of being white- some that are commonly thought of, most of which are not. Peggy McIntosh compares white privilege with male privilege. This quote sums up some of what the article focuses on, “As a white person I had been taught about racism as something that 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.”
“My schooling gave me no training in seeing myself as an oppressor, as an unfairly advantaged person, or as a participant in a damaged culture. I was taught to see myself as an individual whose moral state depended on her individual moral will. My schooling followed the pattern my colleague Elizabeth Minnich has pointed out: whites are taught to think of their lives as morally neutral, normative and average, and also ideal, so that when we work to benefit others, this is seen as work that will allow “them” to be more like “us.”
In my elementary school in Salem, Oregon there were no African American students, but there were some Hispanic students. However, my school was predominantly white. We learned about treating all people with love and respect regardless of our physical differences. But, children with disabilities were not present, nor were there many children who were not white and born in the United States. We learned about our past- about slavery, Civil War, civil rights movement, etc. etc. But we learned about it as if this was the past, and I was under the assumption for some time that an era of unfair treatment toward people based on the color of their skin was largely over. I sometimes thought about, and was upset by, a few of the 26 statements listed by Peggy McIntosh regarding white privilege, but there were many that I did not know about and did not acknowledge. I admit that during President Obama’s bid for presidency I was shocked at the amount of blatant racism that I saw and heard. And even now I am often surprised that there is so much racism. I often feel that it has taken a new form, instead of blatant racism, which is frowned upon, there is this underlying and more quiet racism. It may not be spoken aloud but it is prevalent nonetheless. This article brings up many of the privileges that I encounter and often do not think about.
There is not much in this article that I would disagree with. I do, however, find the following statement difficult to grapple with, “I did not see myself as a racist because I was taught to recognize racism only in individual acts of meanness by members of my group, never in invisible systems conferring unsought racial dominance on my group from birth.” I agree with this sentiment, and can relate to it. However, I do wonder if you are taught about these issues from an early age and you strive to bring about change by giving up your power then are you still a racist? And, how can we use the label of racist for some people regardless of the work that they are doing to bring about change, while simultaneously using this label for those who are “truly racist?”
The first statement (the one that I agree with) is also the one that most spurs me to action. I want children to see the repercussions of a racist culture, and not the type of racism that is largely seen as no longer pervasive within our society. But to look critically at systemic oppression. To see a series of factors which put those who are identified as white at a profound advantage to those who are not.
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