White Privilege Unpacking The Invisible Knapsack Summary

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Peggy McIntosh’s “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” discusses racism and how it still exists. Light-skinned people still dominate dark-skinned people and as a white American, it is quite an easy belief that anyone can pursue their dream career, and that if they don’t, it’s considered their own fault because they didn’t try hard enough. As a white individual, it is important to realize the advantages and privileges I have just because of my fair skin. Everyone must adjust his or her thinking in order to understand the secreted racism in society. I found it interesting how McIntosh created a harmless language that allowed whites to observe their role in society and how dominant their race is without them feeling uncomfortable or guilty. …show more content…

Defining race as a “symbolic category” is intriguing, since this category purely exists mentally in the mind of the general population. Desmond and Emirbayer’s “Individualistic Fallacy” is presented in different parts including the concept that racism is solely racism when it has a negative effect. People tend to believe that racist people have negative thoughts or beliefs about different races, but according to Desmond and Emirbayer, this is not true. They believe that the only way to get rid of racism is to not recognize it as just a concept, but to recognize that all humans as only humans, and not be labeled to a specific race or color. The two authors argue that the first step to end racism is admitting there is a problem, and this is usually a hard step to follow since most people do not tend to think they’re a racist. The general population does not realize that being racist does not necessarily mean being

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