A Critical Analysis Of Peggy Mcintosh

927 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Racial inequality research paper

Peggy McIntosh uses the journalistic format because within the article she uses her personal experiences and she states that the article will not be scholarly. The set-up of the essay helped me categorize and think about my disadvantages and advantages. Not only did I think about myself, I thought about other racial groups that have been affected by white privilege. The main issue that Peggy McIntosh targets is a white privilege. White privilege according to McIntosh is an “invisible package of unearned assets (Shaw, Lee, 86)” Although, white people have these privileges they are “oblivious” to them; they are unearned privileges that have affected the society possibly in a negative way. For example, the target group of people to be killed are …show more content…

“These denials protect male privilege from being fully recognized, acknowledged, lessened, or ended (Shaw, Lee, 86).” It is hypocritical that men are getting the heat for not recognizing their over-privilege when white people cannot recognize their own. White female feminist who advocate equality, and seem to fail to realize they have more privileges than most other minorities. Peggy McIntosh tries to recognize her white privilege in her daily life, so she composed a list of fifty-four observations. From her observations McIntosh drew the conclusion that her morals have been affected, because she believed in equality for all, yet she did not realize she had a dominance which opened many doors for her. We see daily that the white race has more power over other races. In her essay she mentions: “At school, we were not taught about slavery in any depth; we were not taught to see slaveholders as damaged people. Slaves were seen as the only group at risk being dehumanized (Shaw, Lee, 87-88).” If students were taught to see slaveholders as damaged people, then it could impact white privilege which “needs” to remain …show more content…

I completely agree with her people have different “advantages” based on their skin color. However, if white people had less advantage than I would assume that oppression would also decline, leading to possible equality. McIntosh provides a list that illustrates how white privilege has impacted her life. “I did not have to educate our children to be aware of systemic racism for their own daily protection (Shaw, Lee, 88).” As an Arab American, my parents would constantly tell my siblings and I that we had to be careful saying “wrong” things about the government. In Dearborn, we do not really face many obstacles considering there are a lot of Arab Americans, however, as soon as we are out of Dearborn, we face constant glares, and derogatory comments, and sometimes even physical violence. In educational system it is usually given in account of white people. For instance, “as a white person, I realized 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 (Shaw, Lee,

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of White Privilege Unpacking The Invisible Knapsack

    775 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conversations many people get defensive when someone says, “You have this because of your privilege” they feel as though that the person they are talking with doesn’t understand that they have worked hard for what they have, however that is not the point that anyone is trying to make. What someone in that position is saying is that although you have worked hard to get where you are your journey have been well furnished with privilege on account of your race. It is said to think about that you got somewhere in life due to the color of your skin, but it is also sadder to think that someone got declined a job, got stereotyped, or got overlooked because of their race or

    Read More

  • Everything Isn T Racial Profiling By Linda Chavez Summary

    1322 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are many things minorities will never have the opportunity to experience or understand because they are not white. It doesn't matter what we do, how much we work, how much money we have, we’ll never experience white privilege. They are also not looked down upon by other races. The list of daily effects that McIntosh describes are perfect examples of what minorities will never get to experience.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Angelina Grimke And Sojourner Truth

    783 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the Women’s Rights Convention of 1851, Truth repeatedly equates her worth to that of a man by her physical and intellectual abilities. Some of Truth’s statements at this convention include: “I have as much muscle as any man, and can do as much work as any man. I can carry as much as any mean, and I can eat as much too”. These statements highlight the fact that women were thought to have less physical and intellectual ability than men, and as such were afforded fewer rights. By recurrently equating herself to men in all of these arenas, Truth displayed the commonalities between men and women. Furthermore, Truth’s views came from the stance of a former African American slave, who were not. In this speech, Truth paralleled herself, a black woman, to have the same abilities as a white man, thereby attempting to change her audience’s view of the current existing American capitalist patriarchal structure that put white men at the top and women of color at the bottom of the

    Read More

  • Imagine A Country Summary

    688 Words  | 2 Pages

    The two articles that had a profound impact to my understanding of race, class and gender in the United States was White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh and Imagine a Country by Holly Sklar. McIntosh explains the keys aspects of unearned advantage (a privilege that one group hold over another) as well as conferred dominance (the act of voluntarily giving another group power) and the relationship that these factors hold when determine power of a social group. Additionally, the purpose of McIntosh’s article was to demonstrate the privilege that certain individuals carry and how that translates to the social structures of our society. Furthermore, conferred dominance also contributes to the power of the dominant group

    Read More

  • Exploring the Concept of White Privilege

    1077 Words  | 3 Pages

    Everyone has privilege in one way or another. People feel that privilege is give to one race more, instead of every race. The race that it’s getting more privilege is the White race and with that comes White privilege. White means the people who have a light skin color also known as Caucasian or European and privilege means an advantage over others. An example of privilege is getting away with something that someone may not get away with. So White privilege is defined as “an invisible package of unearned assets that [someone that is White] can count on cashing in each day, but about which [they were] ‘meant’ to remain oblivious” (McIntosh 1990: 1). McIntosh is saying in that quote is that Whites do not recognize that they have this privilege

    Read More

  • Privilege: Character As The Basis Of Privilege, By Tal Fortgang

    1281 Words  | 3 Pages

    He simply looks at them as wrong. It 's okay to disagree with something, but there should be an argument to back it up. "Furthermore, I condemn them for casting the equal protection clause, indeed the very idea of a meritocracy, as a myth, and for declaring that we are all governed by invisible forces (some would call them “stigmas” or “societal norms”), that our nation runs on racist and sexist conspiracies." He disagrees with people who think that white privilege influences who controls the power, but doesn 't say why, almost like he 's expecting everyone to agree with his perspective as common sense. Conversely, McIntosh 's uses an argument to legitimize her perspective to her readers. She lists 46 advantages that she can perceive, that were given to her by white privilege. Reasons like number 41, "I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help, my race will not work against me.", number 44, "I can easily find academic courses and institutions that give attention only to people of my race." are advantages that lead her to the conclusion that "The pressure to avoid it (white privilege) is great, for in facing it I must give up the myth of meritocracy. If these things are true, this is not such a free country; one 's life is not what one makes it; many doors open for certain people through no virtues of their own.". The conclusion that meritocracy, the idea that those who put in hard work rise to power, is a myth, because of the discrepancy between opportunities offered to people based off of their race, sex, etc. is a logical

    Read More

  • On Being Young-A Woman-And Colored By Marita Bonner Summary

    1137 Words  | 3 Pages

    On Being Young-A Woman-and Colored an essay by Marita Bonner addresses what it means to be black women in a world of white privilege. Bonner reflects about a time when she was younger, how simple her life was, but as she grows older she is forced to work hard to live a life better than those around her. Ultimately, she is a woman living with the roles that women of all colors have been constrained to. Critics, within the last 20 years, believe that Marita Bonners’ essay primarily focuses on the double consciousness ; while others believe that she is focusing on gender , class , “economic hardships, and discrimination” . I argue that Bonner is writing her essay about the historical context of oppression forcing women into intersectional oppression by explaining the naturality of racial discrimination between black and white, how time and money equate to the American Dream, and lastly how gender discrimination silences women, specifically black women.

    Read More

  • Unpacking The Invisible Knapsack Summary

    733 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dr. Peggy McIntosh looks at white privilege, by “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” She describes white privilege as almost a special check or coin that she gets to cash in on. Dr. McIntosh tells that white privilege has been a taboo and repressed subject – and that many white people are taught not to see or recognize it. However, she is granted privileges (McIntosh 30). Dr. McIntosh goes on to describe twenty-six ways in which her skin-color grants her certain privileges. In example twenty, she describes how she can buy “…posters, postcards, picture books…” and other items that “…feature people of my race” (32). Additionally, in her first example, she talks about being able to be in the “company of people of my race most of the time” (McIntosh 31). Instances in which a privilege person would not even recognize unless they were looking, show evidence for white privilege. People take these advantages for granted because they simply expect them. Due to the lack of melatonin in her skin, she was granted privileges and her skin served as an asset to her. Dr. McIntosh conveys how her privilege is not only a “favored state,” but also a power over other

    Read More

  • Analysis Of In Ar 'N' T I A Woman By Deborah Gray White

    1125 Words  | 3 Pages

    Deborah Gray White was one of the first persons to vigorously attempt to examine the abounding trials and tribulations that the slave women in the south were faced with. Mrs. White used her background skills acquired from participating in the Board of Governors Professor of History and Professor of Women 's and Gender Studies at Rutgers University to research the abundance of stories that she could gather insight from. It was during her studies that she pulled her title from the famous Ain’t I A Woman speech given by Sojourner Truth. In order to accurately report the discriminations that these women endured, White had to research whether the “stories” she was writing about were true or not.

    Read More

  • The American Dream In Ann Petry's The Street

    1185 Words  | 3 Pages

    After getting the apartment on 116th Street Lutie didn’t know what her next step would be. She didn’t know how long she would stay there. They had just enough money to pay rent, buy food and clothes. Being locked into poverty enables Lutie from seeing a future. “She couldn’t see anything but 116th Street and a job that paid barely enough for food and rent and a handful of clothes. “(147). This world she was living contrasts with places that were “filled with sunlight and good food and where children were safe was fenced off to African-Americans so people like Lutie could only look at it with no expectation of ever being able to have it.”(147). Lutie came to the realization as to why white people hate black people so much. It is because they are entitled to white privilege at birth. Take McIntosh’s “White Privilege-Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” into account. McIntosh describes white privilege as invisible things that we are taught not to see. For example Mrs. Chandler, who employs Lutie as her maid. Mrs. Chandler has an advantage over Lutie, which puts Lutie at a disadvantage. People of the dominant society like The Chandlers have a “pattern running through the matrix of white privilege” (McIntosh), a pattern of assumptions that were passed on to them as a white person. “[The Chandlers] are taught to think of their lives as morally neutral, normative, and also ideal.”(McIntosh). In proportion as The

    Read More

  • Peggy McIntosh's White Privilege And Male Privilege

    982 Words  | 2 Pages

    The main point that McIntosh is pushing forward is that both whites and males have certain advantages. McIntosh says that “white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets” (605). White privilege are these advantages that white people receive just for being white. They didn’t earn any of the privilege other than being born with the right skin tone. She also recognizes them as being “invisible”. They don’t realize that they have this advantage over everyone else.

    Read More

  • Jill Filipovic's Quoty: The Expretation Of Women In Power

    1579 Words  | 4 Pages

    On May 2, 2016 Jill Filipovic wrote an article in the New York Times that addresses the topic of women in power and how women can be at a disadvantage due to the fact that they just simply are not a man. Filipovic started her article by addressing the topic of race and how Representative Donna Edwards was accused of playing the race card during her election. In todays society many women have a hard time getting hired, trusted to execute a role, or even getting paid less by companies. Due to these issues many women such as Hillary Clinton is now being accused of “playing the women card” in her debates for presidency. The purpose of this piece of rhetoric is to argue that women are not just “playing the woman card” but that discrimination

    Read More

  • The Characteristics Of Race And Gender: After Ferguson Canedy

    1504 Words  | 4 Pages

    Jordan attends an elite private school and an exclusive summer camp. So as much as I want to believe that our upper-middle-class status will protect my son from many of society’s social ills, it could not provide him the white privilege he seeks.” (Canedy 887 )Even though Canedy sent her child to a private school and lived in a big house, she believes that the racism wouldn’t affect him. similar to canedy, Chung worries about racism affecting her children Chung wanted to keep people with racist comments away from her kids. “I consider my children, who probably aren’t tracking this conversation — not just because they don’t watch the television show in question, but because they are still young and, for all our intra-family conversations about racism, they do not yet expect to encounter it in their everyday lives. I generally try to push back when someone says something offensive in their earshot, especially when it’s something I think they might understand.” (Chung) Canedy’s son being afraid of accepting his race is a good example of the problems racism causes the color people to want to be “white” because they have many opportunities that color people don’t if we go back to segregation the whites were able to go to good school and have nice house while “color” wasn’t able to, Many “color

    Read More

  • White Racial Identity

    3116 Words  | 7 Pages

    Prior to beginning my readings on white racial identity, I did not pay much attention to my white race. If someone had asked me to describe my appearance I would have said short blond hair, blue eyes, average stature, etc. One of the last things I would have noted was the color of my skin. Growing up in overwhelmingly white communities, I never thought to use the color of my skin to differentiate myself from others. Over the course of this dialogue I have learned that my white racial identity is one of the most defining aspects of my appearance in this society. There is a certain level of privilege that I am afforded based solely on the color of my skin. According to Peggy McIntosh, “White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, assurances, tools, maps, guides, codebooks, passports, visas, clothes, compass, emergency gear, and blank checks” (71). All these objects listed by McIntosh are things I have access to and certainly take for granted. Due to a history of non-white racial oppression, which transformed into decades of racial discrimination that still lingers today, the white race has dominated our society in terms of resources and prosperity. The ideas of wealth, higher-level education and ambition to succeed are all traits commonly linked to people of the white race that collectively define privilege. The aspect of privilege can also produce disadvantages for people of the white race as well. In the book Promoting Diversity and Justice, the author D. Goodman notes that people of advantage groups develop a sense of superiority, which will sometimes lead them to wonder if, “their achievements were based on privilege or merit” (107). Along with a diminished sense of accomplishment, the cost ...

    Read More

  • Essay On Post Racial Society

    1009 Words  | 3 Pages

    “White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools and blank checks” (McIntosh, 172). White privilege is all around us, but society has been carefully taught

    Read More

More about A Critical Analysis Of Peggy Mcintosh

Open Document