Saturday, February 1, 2014

Privilege?


My first official blog on a reading for class is the reflection response. When I finished the readings for this week, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” by Peggy McIntosh really stood out to me. I agreed with a lot of the points the author made and actually started to think about the “white privilege”.  As I read further I started to think and compare, as McIntosh did, all of the things that could be thought of as “skin color privileges”.  Point six on the list stating, “ When I am told about out national heritage or civilization, I am shown that people of my color made it what it is”(2). This point made me think how all this time of learning about our nations history, the white civilization has been told as this somewhat glorified group starting this country and establishing the land of the free. There were never any lessons learned about any of the shameful things done, or wrong, if anything they were briefly mentioned and the lesson moved on. Another point I found interesting was number 26, “ I can choose blemish cover or bandages in flesh color that more or less matches my skin”(3) I had no comment for this but was stunned that this truly is the “ norm” when looking for makeup cover-up. Flesh color or beige, is the basic cover-up and foundation.
In class we discussed how we look through a pane of glass and when “tapped” and a tiny “crack” forms, we begin to see what is right in front of us. McIntosh reminded me of that discussion when she stated, “ 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).  Many people, not just students, take the “privilege” as she described, and somehow look beyond what is actually happening in front of them. McIntosh’s whole article explaining the white privilege is actually a very valid argument to make. Many people including myself sometimes over look that and after reading this article I couldn't agree more at how this has become a “norm” in society.



It makes me wonder what people define as privilege and what is power?
After reading all the points McIntosh made and her explanation of privilege, what can we define in society that people use as privilege, but use as a form of power. Whether it is job opportunity, speaking in a group or where someone spends money, why do these daily norms have more of a privilege for one group of people over another? These are some things we can discuss in class!
I was also reading online some different articles on racial profiling and came across this! It's from the Huffington post, makes you think about race and privilege. I was shocked.

6 comments:

  1. I really agree with everything you're saying! Like the band aid point stood out to you, it stood out to me too. I've always thought about that when going to the market or someplace like that and the fact that Mcintosh made it public along with other great points that might be hard for some people to read is good in the way that it will become easier to talk about the more and more we read about it. I like everything you said and as I said before I can completely relate to how you feel! :) Great job

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  2. Hey Jackie, You make good points. We may be so conditioned from a young age to not think about our "whiteness" that subconsciously we are far more aware of it than we realize. For instance, as a woman going to a home improvement store, if I "dress up" and look "feminine and helpless" I get a salesperson. If I don't want to be bothered I wear clothes covered in paint. The sad reality is that it does make a difference in how you are perceived and treated. Good luck at your swim meet!

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  3. Hey! I can totally say that I agree with what you posted, especially with what you mentioned about learning about our nation’s history. I can say that at least I did learn how this nation was founded, by reading for example about the great leaders that formed it such as our founding fathers, which were all white. Their flaws or mistakes were quickly reviewed or at times ignored. This article really did make me think about skin color privilege, to the extent that as we know the majority of people in power are white, it makes me wonder if that has to do with the fact that in our schools, especially public schools we learn about our nation’s history in a way that makes the white people seem flawless or as you said “glorified”.

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  4. Hey, I agree everything you talked about in your post. I really liked that you pointed out that when we are taught about the history of our country it seems to be glorified and nobody talks about the bad things done. It's true nobody thinks about what terrible things people in our pasts have done in order to establish the country we all live in now. Everyone just commends them on their noble acts. One person in particular I thought about when you talked about this idea is Christopher Columbus. Nobody taught us about how terrible a person he was when we learned about him. We just learned how great he was for discovering America. You made some really good points.

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  5. Hey! I have to say, i pretty much like 100% agree with everything you've stated. When I read McIntosh's piece this week I too stopped and was slightly shocked at #6 and #26 on the list of privileges as well. It's just like Stacey said above me, no one told us how terrible Christopher Columbus was when we were learning about him. So overall, great job, loved reading your thoughts and I agreed with them completely.

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  6. Hey Jackie! I loved reading your post. You took the words right out of my mouth. I was shocked just like you and Alex when I read the band aid reference. I never thought of it before, and I really like how you mentioned that. Your use of pictures went perfectly with your comments, and the link definitely made me think. Thanks for sharing it!

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