Megan
White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack
By Peggy McIntosh
White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack
By Peggy McIntosh
1.) “I have often noticed men’s unwillingness to grant that they are over privileged, even though they may grant that women are disadvantaged. They may say they will work to improve women’s status, in the society, the university, or the curriculum, but they can’t or won’t support the idea of lessening men’s.”
1. I found this quote not so much confusing, kind of helpful, but more interesting than anything else. This quote can be changed to fit a number of social problems and still be
1. I found this quote not so much confusing, kind of helpful, but more interesting than anything else. This quote can be changed to fit a number of social problems and still be
applicable for almost all of them. It describes perfectly how deal with the underprivileged and how it’s creating more problems.
2. This quote clearly means, that while privileged people may not realized that they are privileged and are not intentionally holding back the underprivileged but as it’s said “the first step to solving a problem is identifying it.” In order to fix social issues people must first realize what the issue is.
3. This quote perfectly puts into words how the privileged may see the issues of the underprivileged, not just in male privilege but also with white privilege.
2. This quote clearly means, that while privileged people may not realized that they are privileged and are not intentionally holding back the underprivileged but as it’s said “the first step to solving a problem is identifying it.” In order to fix social issues people must first realize what the issue is.
3. This quote perfectly puts into words how the privileged may see the issues of the underprivileged, not just in male privilege but also with white privilege.
2.) “As a white person, I realized I had been taught about racism as something which 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.”
1. This quote was helpful in helping me understand the difference with racism and white privilege. Most people know about racism, but not about white privilege although they seem to go hand and hand.
2. This quote means that while people are always able to recognize racism, most of us don’t realize white privilege, mostly because we tend to ignore it.
3. By having this quote in the article Mcintosh is assuring that people know that there is a difference in racism and white privilege.
1. This quote was helpful in helping me understand the difference with racism and white privilege. Most people know about racism, but not about white privilege although they seem to go hand and hand.
2. This quote means that while people are always able to recognize racism, most of us don’t realize white privilege, mostly because we tend to ignore it.
3. By having this quote in the article Mcintosh is assuring that people know that there is a difference in racism and white privilege.
3.) “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.”
1. I found this quote, along with the rule from Delpit that says that those with power don’t realize the existence of power, those without power realize it’s existence, how the views of power differ in situations depending how power is distributed.
2. This quote is explaining how we, the privileged, are not taught to see ourselves as privileged, we’re just people. But maybe if the privileged were taught to see the privilege we can change it.
3. This quote I guess in some way is defending the side of the privileged. If no one talks about the privilege then how do we know it’s there? I like how this is included in the piece.
1. I found this quote, along with the rule from Delpit that says that those with power don’t realize the existence of power, those without power realize it’s existence, how the views of power differ in situations depending how power is distributed.
2. This quote is explaining how we, the privileged, are not taught to see ourselves as privileged, we’re just people. But maybe if the privileged were taught to see the privilege we can change it.
3. This quote I guess in some way is defending the side of the privileged. If no one talks about the privilege then how do we know it’s there? I like how this is included in the piece.
Overall I thought this was an interesting piece. It brought up a lot of interesting points that made me think about privilege. This piece was easy to read, which I liked :) Like I mentioned before, in the third quote, This piece reminded me a lot of Delpit’s rules. When reading this piece a question that arose was how do we view the differences in men/women and white/black privilege? Which one do we find to be more socially inacaptable?
I really like your quotes and explanations of them. I agree this piece was easy to read and understand. I agree that we are not groomed to feel that we are privileged and if we were we could bring the gap between us and minorities closer together. I also liked how you made the distinction between white privilege and racism. Never thought of it to be two different things, but after reading your quote and thinking about it I see that they are different things and should not be confused. Overall good quotes and explanations. :)
ReplyDeleteI liked all the quotes and explanations that you used in your blog. I agree with the first quote where men will admit women are at a disadvantage and have less power than them, but they will not do anything to give women more power because that means their power will be lessened.
ReplyDeleteI like how you picked quotes that can be interchangable with other privileges, not just male or white. The second quote you chose was, as you said, helpful in clarifying the difference between white privilege and racism. I didn't even realize it until you pointed it out actually. Additionally, I agree with your point about needing to be able to see how we are privileged in order to solve the problem.
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