White Privilege and Male Privilege

In her piece, Peggy McIntosh deals with a very current and pressing issue that has always been a part of our society--racial issues. She writes, however, about the opposite side of racial issues. Upon a closer look at her composition, it becomes clear that she is not only making a point about race differences between black and white, that blacks suffer in the face of white "supremacy," but that whites themselves are constantly making an active effort to ensure that their race does not make them appear to behold this superior status. In addition to this, McIntosh points out that the more whites make this obvious effort to ignore the benefits of their race, the more of an issue it becomes. Essentially, it is the fact that whites do not have to think about the things blacks do, do not have to worry about or consider the details that blacks do. In this sense, privilege has a certain air of obliviousness to it; the more we do not have to think about issues such as the ones listed in McIntosh's piece, the more privileged we are. 

One interesting parallel that McIntosh makes in her piece is that of men vs. women compared to whites vs. blacks. She points out that white people do not think of their whiteness as a racial identity, just as men do not see themselves as involved in women's studies, even if they endorse the practices. For example, while there are countless men who are either neutral of or in support of the women's movement, feminism, and female empowerment overall, there are essentially no men who would ever try to lessen the power of men. Likewise, most white people have been taught and would therefore never partake in racial discrimination, but at the same time do not go out of their way to promote minority interests within their society or community. The grander idea of these two paralleled concepts results in one conclusion that there is always a more superior figure or group in the binaries of human existence; in this case, white and black, men and women, and that nobody ever looks to the other side of what is happening. Whites avoid confrontation about racial differences for fear of offending anyone, but the effort to raise black social, economic, and political status within our society is extremely lacking and also un-thought of. McIntosh illustrates this again by saying, "Obliviousness of one's privileged state can make a person or group irritating to be with."

The image of the knapsack, in which white privilege gives whites special provisions such as tools, clothes, codebooks, passports, visas, and other items brings to mind a more materialistic point of view on the subject in which the author makes it clear that the corporate and professional parts of society also contribute to the existence of white privilege. 

The seventh item in the list, "When I am told about our national heritage or about 'civilization,' I am shown that people of my color made it what it is." This detail is a hardcore one--it goes back to the beginning of our country, and American history has not always favored blacks. Futhermore, the twentieth item in the list implies that those member of the black community who are successful and professional people are "a credit to the race," something different, special, or unique. This idea is also damaging to positive racial relationships. 

In the end, the racial barriers that exist between people can be forever analyzed and considered, but it becomes more and more clear that their true meanings can never be determined, and that the privileges of a race only worsen the issue.