Monday, September 21, 2009

After reading White privilege by Peggy McIntosh I feel that I have a better understanding and acknowledgement of white privilege and exactly what it entails. The most interesting part of the reading was the list of daily privileges that white people have. I was shocked at how many I deal with each day and at the expensive of others. It kind of scared me. I found myself becoming very uncomfortable and angry when reading the list because I agreed with most of them if not all. But I know that McIntosh did not write this to bad mouth white people but rather to state the issue and the issues with the issue and some possible solutiosns.
"The silences and denials surrounding privilege are the key political tool here."(pg 6) This line is very true an seemed to be the yeild in the solution. what I feel that McIntosh is saying here in this reading is that as white people we are aware of our privileges yet we are in denial about using them. I liked how she compared white privilege to other privileges to maybe help her readers identify that its not just about race but many other factors and also use them to compare. Like male privilege, race privilege is an everyday thing for example. But McIntosh believes that most men say they are nto at any advantages but are aware that women are at disadavantages.
I find it very interesting when she says that "i think that whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege...i have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets that i can count on cashing in each day."

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