#peggymcintosh

[omlekha]

[MOFATEOAGD C9 merited]

[elizabethhgarcia-blog]

Privilege- White Privilege

Privilege encompasses everything from: being able bodied, to having a car, a home, being able to afford an education and everything in between. Some of us are able to recognize these privileges and for others, it may be more difficult to acknowledge that these privileges exist due to what was available for us since birth. This concept known as “white privilege”.

Peggy McIntosh, writer of “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”,began studying white privilege in the 1980’s and since then has given us a way to see how we are privileged compared to others. In her writing she states that, she came 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”. As a white woman herself, she acknowledges that she was not taught how to recognize these privileges since childhood because it was just something she was used to having available to her. In her essay she includes examples of her personal privileges in which she includes things such as being able to see people of her race in the front of newspapers being represented and being able to dress in second-hand clothes without being questioned on her morals. Just like her, there are many others that provide these instances in which we can see white privilege in action in the United States today.

Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I84jxCNsmo

Though privilege is a concept that tends to be attributed to white individuals, other individuals who benefit from the social class or ethnic group that they were born into. Privilege, which encompasses white privilege, affects various aspects of life that include: income, education, employment, incarceration, and housing. Being privileged also does not only pertain to white individuals, the “simple” ability to communicate, being able-bodied, having the resources to go and pay for college. The difference between white privilege and the privileges we have as people of color, is that we are taught that with hard work and determination, we can accomplish what we set our minds to.

In the reading “Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person” the author tells about a white individual who unlike an upper-class white individual, they themselves were not born into a privilege family and was “anything but privileged” growing up. Though this individual did not have it all economically, their skin color made their struggles a lot less difficult.

 White Privilege in Higher Education

In an article published by Allie Bidwell in the U.S. News, the author stated that researchers at Georgetown University studied trends in higher education institutions and found that although the numbers of enrollment for Blacks and Latinos are increasing, they are still underrepresented in elite universities. This problem illustrates one of them many inequalities that people of color experience throughout their lives. 

Text Sources: 

-Crosley-Corcoran, Gina. 2014. "Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person." in The Huffington Post. www.huffingtonpost.com: The Huffington Post.

-McIntosh, Peggy. 2008. "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack." in The Meaning of Difference : American Constructions of Race, Sex and Gender, Social Class, Sexual Orientation, and Disability, edited by Karen Elaine Rosenblum and Toni-Michelle Travis. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, c2008.5thEd.

-Bidwell, Allie, “Report: Higher Education Creates White Racial Privilege” U.S. News. 31 July 2013. https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/07/31/report-higher-education-creates-white-racial-privilege

Image/ Video Sources

-https://www.speakoutnow.org/speaker/mcintosh-peggy

-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I84jxCNsmo

-https://www.buzzfeed.com/michaelblackmon/17-harrowing-examples-of-white-privilege-9hu9

[zombielace-blog]

This was written almost 30 years ago and is still relevant today. #blacklivesmatter #altonsterling #philandocastile #whiteprivilegeisreal #peggymcintosh

[malloymackey]

#WCW #PeggyMcintosh "American Feminist and anti-racism activist." Author of a dope as essay, "White Privilege and Male Privilege." -1988. Now before you get upset I'll just say. The first step to understanding Privilege is to acknowledge that it exists. It doesn't mean that you're racist because you benefit from it. Secondly, you must look at the whole picture and take a step back from your immediate reaction to be upset and research what exactly privilege encompasses. #ScholasticWednesdays