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Essay on White Privilege in American Society
Peggy McIntosh (1992) coined the concept of "White Privilege" which is strongly influencing multicultural understanding. McIntosh suggests that prejudice is more than active discrimination; it is also an undeserved status coming from unearned privilege. Powerful benefits come with membership in a dominant group. For example, men do not worry about the possibility of rape when traveling in a new environment, but this is an ever-present concern of women. In this nation founded by European Americans, few whites feel they risk rejection each time they enter a typical classroom, but such stresses are common to those of other cultures.
McIntosh provides the following example of how white privilege affects her life: “I have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was "meant" to remain oblivious. White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, assurances, tools, maps, guides, codebooks, passports, visas, clothes, compass, emergency gear, and blank checks.
Other examples of white privilege abound: “If I am white, I can, if I wish, spend most of my time in the company of people of my race. I can be fairly sure that my children will not come home from school devastated by racial harassment. I can be pretty sure that my children's teachers will tolerate them without concern about their race. When I see police, I am usually certain that they are here to protect me.” McIntosh suggests that we cannot understand the barriers faced by "minorities" unless we first understand the benefits of whiteness. (McIntosh, 1989)
Racism and the exploitation of peoples considered to be ontologically inferior to European Americans have always been historical allies to the White supremacist, capitalist, and patriarchal hegemony that characterizes the United States. Procedural, difference-neutral democracy does little to challenge the taken-for-granted White privilege that undergirds it......
