Week 2: White Privilege

"White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" by Peggy McIntosh and "The Complexity of Identity: Who Am I?" by Beverly Daniel Tatum led me to take a much deeper look into my own identity and analyze the privileges I personally take for granted every day. I, being a white female, agree with McIntosh when she says, "whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege." This implicit instruction conditions us into oblivion about the existence of oppressiveness, which is completely terrifying, infuriating, and inequitable. It is difficult to call myself an oppressor, but if I have been taught to view my life as ideal (which I have), I ultimately place myself in the dominant group and "others" in the subordinate group (or rather, society has done it for me). There were several privileges McIntosh listed that I can relate to and I listed a few of my own. Tatum's piece made me reflect further on the seven categories of "otherness": "race or ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, age, and physical or mental ability." It was interesting to connect with my multiple identities and the ways in which I am both dominant and targeted at the same time. When Tatum began to talk about how dominants do not really know what the experiences of the subordinate is, it made me think of the media and how often targeted groups are portrayed with stereotypical depictions in order to reinforce to the dominants that "everything is as it should be." This problem desperately needs solving. There was much I took away from both articles, and I am eager to further expose my blind ignorance and learn how to give up some of my unearned privileges to the oppressed.

1 fact that really stood out to me and I consider to be a real problem in society is this: Colorblindness will NOT end racism. "Pretending racism doesn't exist is not the same as creating equality. Race is more than stereotypes and individual prejudice. To combat racism, we need to identify and remedy social policies that advantage some groups at the expense of others."
Dominant groups generally do not like to think about or identify with inequality. However, ignoring the fact that white privilege puts others at a disadvantage will only make matter worse. Change can only occur when we, including myself, can recognize and own up to having unearned privileges that keep dominants in a position of power, therefore exhausting the opportunities of those that need them. Then we must take responsibility of "acknowledging our complicity in the oppression of others" and take steps toward healing by offering up our privileges.