Really Enjoyed This- QUOTES

For this post, I read “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh. I was unsure which reading to blog about until I read the first line of McIntosh’s piece. She says, “Through work to bring materials from women’s studies into the rest of the curriculum, I have often noticed men’s unwillingness to grant that they are over privileged, even though they may grant that women are disadvantaged” (1). This quote spoke volumes to me because I am not black, therefore I do not understand how it feels to be discriminated against due to my skin color. However, I can relate to this statement which states that men are held to higher standards than women. This quote says that some men view women as both over privileged and disadvantaged which is a contradictory statement. Yet I do agree with that statement because as women we can fall into both categories.

                The next quote that caught my attention is in the section Earned strength, unearned power. McIntosh writes, “Privilege can look like strength when it is in fact permission to escape or to dominate” (4). This quote spoke volumes to me and is one of the most crucial points McIntosh makes in this reading. It is true that privilege can look like strength due to the fact that one essentially “earns” what they achieve. However privilege and strength are not the same things. Privilege is something you are born with while strength is something you work hard and fight for. The part of the quote where McIntosh says it is permission to escape or to dominate represents that those who are privileged are faced with a choice. They may either pretend that the issue of racism does not exist or they may stand up for what is right. Either way, this privileged choice is not a sign of strength.

                Finally, McIntosh says that, “Many, perhaps most, of our white students in the United States think that racism doesn’t affect them because they are not people of color; they do not see ‘whiteness’ as a racial identity” (5). This is a very powerful quote because it is unfortunately true and sums up the entire reading. McIntosh brings to light the fact that “racism” is mostly interpreted as discrimination against black people and those who are white can never be affected. Although white people are not of color, they are still a race and still vulnerable (although less common) to be discriminated against. It is important to keep this quote in mind because if Americans do not realize “whiteness” is a racial identity, the world will be an ignorant place. 

 

QUESTION: (Directed toward white students) Have any of you ever felt discriminated against?