By: Peggy McIntosh
Argument
***First of all, Peggy McIntosh needs to re-read what she types before she posts because it was annoying to have to keep on reading the same sentence(s) because of her grammatical and spelling errors. She is very well educated (has a Ph. D.) so there is no reason for these types of errors. Sorry for the bashing, but there is no excuse for it.
One main point that McIntosh states is that being white is a privilege. She continues by listing 50 things that are in favor of white people. Just like her, "I repeatedly forgot each of the realizations on this list" until I read and understood all of them. White people are unaware of these facts until they are brought up and questioned. A lot of the items on the list occur everyday for white people. Most of them definitely occur in a white person's lifetime. As white people, we are unaware of these everyday occurrences because we were brought up that way. People who are not white, live through the items on the list everyday and are not given the same opportunities all because of their skin color. That is a harsh fact...because of a person's SKIN color, they are denied many things and end up living in fear. Being white, you do not have to fear because you are "privileged". That is wrong. We have "been taught about racism as something that puts others at a disadvantage, but had been taught not to see one of its corollary aspects, white privilege, which puts...[us] at an advantage". At the end of the article, McIntosh says that "obliviousness about white advantage, [is] like obliviousness about male advantage". This statement is true and if it is taking forever to change the "male advantage", then it will take even longer to change the "white advantage". We know this is a problem so we should start trying to solve it.
Questions/Comments/Points to Share:
This problem will not solve itself on its own nor will it get solved quickly. We are still fixing "male-ness" and the fact that women are getting paid less for having the same qualifications and doing the same job as a man. As McIntosh says, "What will we do with such knowledge? As we know from watching men, it is and open question...". The fact that this is getting so out of hand that there is a movement called "Black Lives Matter" is getting too much because they are basically getting targeted because of their skin color.
I completely agree with your argument. (And that McIntosh should have reread her article, haha). Your picture is shockingly true and it scares me that even though a person is white "they are the good people." And it is completely upsetting that even black people can't get a job even if they have a clean record. It is way out of hand that white people seem like they have power over anyone, why is it that white people where raised as the "good people" and but people the compete opposite.
ReplyDeleteNice argument Ariana!
I agree with what you said about the problem not going to solve itself and it takes a lot to try and conquer it. I also enjoyed the picture you posted because as sad as it is, its true, people don't value the traits and abilities other people carry, they look more at where they grew up, their skin color and what other people of the same race are like. Lastly, I like how you mentioned that if "male-ness" is trying to be changed and trying to be stopped, then how much longer will it take to stop "white-ness or white privilege".
ReplyDeleteHi Ariana :)
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to read these things, feel like a culprit or part of the problem, want to do something to change it and feel like your hands are tied. We've got a race problem, a sexuality problem, a gender problem ... and a huge class problem in this country, that is larger than any of these issues combined, isnt that something!? I hope in our lifetime we can see some of this change. #Sanders2017 lol....
I completely agree with your argument. The problem will not solve itself or get solved quickly. I really like the picture you picked, its shocking to see that a white male with a record will get a job over a male of color with a clean record. It is like what Kamryn said, white people are looked at as "good people".
ReplyDeleteHi Ariana! Your argument in this post is very strong, and I completely agree with you! Until we realize that there is a problem, there is no way that we are going to be able to fix it, and the white population is not willing to admit that they have so much privilege over other races! You did a good job summarizing the authors argument!
ReplyDelete