Sunday, September 18, 2011

Talking Points # 1

1. White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack By, Peggy McIntosh

2. Quotes
Pg.1 "I have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was "meant" to remain oblivious."

I think that this describes the invisible power possessd by the white people, based solely on the color of their skin. White people have a privilege that they don't really earn.

Pg.1 "White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack."

In society white people are thought to have special privileges because they are white. Without having to put in any additional effort, being white is like possessing a special ID that gets you special things.

Pg.4 "Whiteness protected me from many kinds of hostility, distress, and violence, which I was being subtly trained to visit, in turn, upon people of color."

Being white protects us from and against hostilities because whites are represented as the dominent race.

 3.   It's sad that white people are given privileges based solely on the color of their skin. Society has established that being white is superior and therefore privileges are given to whites over other races. Even though there is no basis for the difference in skin color. These are just many examples demonstrating the challenges that black students can face in schools, because they feel hositlity when amongst their white peers.

1 comment:

  1. i totally agree with you. I also feel like others think white people have a special "privilege" because they are white. I disagree with this statement. Just because I am white, doesn't mean that I have a "special Privilege" and I can do whatever I want.

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