White Privilege - McIntosh
This author argues that privilege can be just as harmful as racism. You barely ever here "oh i am privileged" it is always "There is racism." People do not realize not only is there racism in the world but there is also an unearned sense of privilege for many. Just like being black and having racism is how it is to be white and have privilege. Both are unearned, not fair, and wrong. People tend to not realize how it all works, especially the privilege aspect. Not only is privilege is race but also in sex. Men seem to be more privileged over women. Men have the upper hand in most situations. Race and gender are just two areas in society that have privilege issues. Most of these privilege issues are engraved into society and the culture of everyday life that people are oblivious to it. Or people that do see it want to get rid of racism and sexism but still do not seem to admit to being privileged or wanting to change their privileges. Privileges can be so camouflaged that they are easy to forgot or not realize. Many times people are not taught to see there privileges, and I can totally see what McIntosh means by this. Before reading this article I would have never looked at society is this way. As a white individual I take everything for granted, not realizing the other perspective of things. This brings up a new problem of who is actually going to want to get rid of their privileges after all. A lot of people would have to change their ways of thinking and active for that to occur. With all this being said the first and most important step to start progressing into a positive direction is to stop denying the problem.
Question: Does anyone else agree with me that they have never thought this way about white privilege before and it has really altered there way of thinking?
This author argues that privilege can be just as harmful as racism. You barely ever here "oh i am privileged" it is always "There is racism." People do not realize not only is there racism in the world but there is also an unearned sense of privilege for many. Just like being black and having racism is how it is to be white and have privilege. Both are unearned, not fair, and wrong. People tend to not realize how it all works, especially the privilege aspect. Not only is privilege is race but also in sex. Men seem to be more privileged over women. Men have the upper hand in most situations. Race and gender are just two areas in society that have privilege issues. Most of these privilege issues are engraved into society and the culture of everyday life that people are oblivious to it. Or people that do see it want to get rid of racism and sexism but still do not seem to admit to being privileged or wanting to change their privileges. Privileges can be so camouflaged that they are easy to forgot or not realize. Many times people are not taught to see there privileges, and I can totally see what McIntosh means by this. Before reading this article I would have never looked at society is this way. As a white individual I take everything for granted, not realizing the other perspective of things. This brings up a new problem of who is actually going to want to get rid of their privileges after all. A lot of people would have to change their ways of thinking and active for that to occur. With all this being said the first and most important step to start progressing into a positive direction is to stop denying the problem.
Question: Does anyone else agree with me that they have never thought this way about white privilege before and it has really altered there way of thinking?
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