In Peggy McIntosh “White Privilege:
Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” it is discussed about white privilege and how
whites do not always see the privileges they have. White privilege is seen through today’s
society as an advantage compared to people of color. McIntosh states in this article,
“As a white
person, I realized I had been taught about racism as something that puts others
at a disadvantage, but had taught not to see one of its corollary aspects,
white privilege, which puts me at an advantage.”(1)
Reading this statement completely
opened my eyes as a young white woman.
We, as whites, do not always see the privileges that we have as
whites. Some people take the advantages
to whole other level, trying to take too much advantaged of certain situation
when they should not. White privilege is
compared to male privilege, men are taught not to acknowledge they privileges
that they have over women. After reading
the different privileges that whites have but are not always able to see it was
a complete eye opener. As a white person
you never truly realize that even going shopping you do not face the same
circumstances as people of color face.
No one should have to worry about going into a store and worrying if
they are going to have an uncomfortable shopping experience.
I
have several friends and even family members who are of color. Reading this article made me realize how
whites receive a lot of privileges just for being white. There are some white people out there in the
world who abuse these privileges. One
place that I notice the white privilege is in my work place. I work at a supermarket and majority of the
workers are of color, my best friend included.
When we are cashing people out at the register we are sometimes faced
with problems on the register. We both
have had our fair share of mess-ups because we are fairly new. There have been customers who have accused
and yelled at her for not giving her the right amount of money or of bagging
certain items incorrectly. After reading
this article it made me realize that when I messed up on things similar I did
not have that happen to me. It blows my
mind that just because I am white people automatically are nice to me. Hell I could be a pretty awful person but
that is why you cannot judge a book by its cover. Skin color also known as the “flesh” color, is not everything in this
society. When I look at my best friend
she is no different to me than to my friends who are white. When we look at brands such as make up,
bandages when someone gets injured and even band aids are all the same famous
“flesh” coloring. We live in a diverse
society and over the past several years things have changed drastically especially
with having more people of color in the spotlight such as Beyoncé, Kanye West
and our president Obama.
In "Data show racial bias persists in America" by Salim Muwakkil the discussion of how race plays into jobs. It is stated in this aricle that people who have "white-sounding names" were fifty percent more likely to recieve a call back from a job than someone who has a "black sounding name". This to me is insane. It is crazy to think that certain job locations will not call a person back for a specific job just by looking at their name. Coming from a person who works with people of color I cannot imagine being in their shoes when it comes to applying for jobs. It breaks my heart knowing that our society is no where close to everyone being equal. Over the past few years from being in both high school and college I can honestly say that I have made good friends who are of color and to me they are just as equal to me. Skin color does not define who you are, that is what our society should keep in mind.
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