Privilege is a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group of people. It is an issue that has been occurring throughout the world since the dawn of time. It is a heavily debated topic and still continues to be a problem in today’s society. An example of past privilege is On the Road by Jack Kerouac. It is a Beat Generation historical fiction novel published September 5, 1957. It takes place in the U.S. right after WWII. On the Road demonstrates how privilege can promote the glorification of prejudice and poverty.
The group of people who have held the utmost privileged position throughout U.S history is that of the white male. Sal, the protagonist of the novel, uses his privilege as a white
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This novel is separated into three ‘parts’. Each section tells of one of Sal’s travels from New York to the West. The sections are ordered chronologically, and arguably by importance to the development of Sal’s ignorance. He stumbles blindly into his first trip chasing unrealistic dreams of the western world. As his travels continue, he learns how to ignore how people live across the continental United States and in Mexico. Each trip is anti-climactic for Sal, as well as the reader, as he is never satisfied with what he finds. He chases cheap thrills and never finds the true contentment that he was searching for. Beginning with a clean palette however, each ‘part’ encourages the reader to think that he will find his true west, but that it just hasn’t happened yet. Structure provides interest to the story as well as draws out the anticlimactic ending to each story …show more content…
The only way this novel should be used in curriculum is to teach about privilege and how it can have a positive impact on very few individuals, but an extremely negative impact on far more. Kerouac uses characterization, a specific style and tone, and structure to show how Sal lives his life as a privileged white male in the late 1940s. Each of these topics help to prove how his privilege becomes ignorance, and how he glorifies the unfair lives of the less fortunate and those of color. The story is very unique and helps to provide insight on these topics, but often does so in an unsuitable way. Overall, this novel portrays privilege in a way that exposes how it can cause the romanticization of the unfair and impoverished life of those who are oppressed or a
Peggy McIntosh's "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Backpack" addresses the issue of acknowledging whites' unaware privileges, thus weakening the systems of advantage to reconstruct power systems in the society from 1989 to the present. For instance, men are unconscious about their privileges in a patriarchal society while women are oppressed in the society. White people are unaware of the privileges which they take for granted while non-white communities are discriminated against repeatedly. McIntosh identities her privileges from daily life, which she also relates the patterns of white privilege and assumptions that passed down.
Bennett, Jacob. "White Privilege: A History of the Concept." (n.d.): n. pag. 11 Apr. 2012. Web. 12 Apr. 2016.
Peggy McIntosh’s “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Backpack” addresses the issue of acknowledging whites’ unaware privileges, thus weakening the systems of advantage to reconstruct power systems in the society from 1989 to the present. For instance, men are unconscious about their privileges in a patriarchal society while women are oppressed in the society. White people are unaware of the privileges which they take for granted while non-white communities are discriminated against repeatedly. McIntosh identities her privileges from daily life, which she also relates the patterns of white privilege and assumptions that passed down.
A privilege is an aspect that people will rely on to have an advantage over another, which can be completely unjust. Dr. King states in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” that “It is a historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture, but groups tend to be more immoral than individuals.” I strongly agree with this implication. Even to this day groups will not give up their privileges willingly, consequently exhibiting exactly how unjust and inhumane these groups of people that have this “advantage” are and can be. Due to the numerous amount of circumstances leading to this accusation, like political leaders acting selfishly or
-Some other examples of experiencing privilege is religion. I feel that Christians and Catholics have the privilege since the US is predominantly Christian and due to that muslims and jews get looked down upon because of politics and
Right on the first page in chapter six it discusses the privilege groups discomfort about discussing privilege. Yes, it is true for so many and for those who don’t feel discomfort, I call you brave and open minded. But, it is a hard thing to discuss especially with a non-privileged group of individuals. I, for one also feel discomfort and defensive sometimes in those situations, and that could be from a number of different reasons. Whether it is because I feel guilty, ashamed, judged, etc. For this I will talk about race, for those who are white, we are born this way, we didn’t choose to be white and there’s nothing you can do about it. You were born into the privileged group here in America. But, it is something that we need to accept and admit to, we are the privileged group but, we don’t because of this nasty stigma about race. Race has turned into this sharp word that scares people when it is mentioned. We, as educators need to change the stigma of that word. We need to make it so people of privilege and non privilege can discuss privilege and race with out discomfort or being offended. In this class, our race discussion had brought up white privilege and at first it was not comfortable but, as you admit to it, the easier it is to discuss.
Privilege is an unfair distribution in which a particular group, goods, services and equity ratio is higher than another group.
Privileges are things that a person receives that gives them an advantage over most people (Merriam-Webster). These are benefits that only certain people receive for being in a certain group or discourse. Peggy McIntosh, director of the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women, wrote “White Privilege and Male Privilege” and states “I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privileges, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege” (605). She argues that whites and males receive certain privileges, yet they do not even notice them. This shows that different races and women are still put at a disadvantage, but the people who receive the benefits are blind to the problem. Many people will argue that she is correct
The issue of race has been present in America's history since before slavery, and continues to be an issue in today’s society. The fight for equal rights between African Americans and white Americans is one that is dependent on the involvement of both parties. The two articles that I will be analyzing focus on the topic of white privilege in America and what it means. The everyday genre that I will be discussing is a Huffington Post article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson, and an excerpt from a book written by Francis E. Kendall Ph.D.
Peggy McIntosh concludes white privilege is, “an invisible package of unearned assets which I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was meant to remain oblivious.” The writer came to this conclusion when observing male privilege initially in America. McIntosh discusses the lack of acknowledgement of men when it came to addressing their own advantages over women even if they could admit the position of disadvantage of women. This shed light on how white privilege is curtailed; In the United States, foundations of our society are interlaced with institutionalized privilege creates unethical levels of dominance; dominance of males over females, whites over people of color,
At its core, white privilege is described to be an “invisible package of unearned assets” (McIntosh, 2002, p. 33) for white people. There are many layers explaining the manifestation of white privilege and even more explanations pertaining to its dominant presence in today’s world.
The concept of white privilege helps to highlight the hypocritical nature of the American ideologies of democracy and meritocracy. Ask yourself: Do we live truly in a democratic system if the voices of our nation’s disenfranchised people are not heard? Or are we truly a nation that functions on a meritocratic system if every person-- regardless of socioeconomic background or race-- is not given the same opportunities for development? The concepts of white privilege and male privilege, as used by McIntosh, are meant to unveil the hidden schemes of American ideology.
Collins, L., & Barnes, S. L. (2014). Observing privilege: Examining race, class, and gender in
In the novel On the Road by Jack Kerouac, Sal is constantly trying to find a new beginning. In search of it he goes all the way out West going through many adventures and making many friends along the way. Everywhere his travels lead him problems rise, yet Sal still follows his dream and goes out West. The West offers a lot of new opportunities to Sal and that, along with the encouragement of his friends, is the cause for his trip. In Jack Kerouac’s novel On the Road the West signifies Sal’s search for adventure, his dream, and new opportunities.
Privileged students from upper class backgrounds experience the utmost respect of the school and simultaneously never have to worry about an empty future. Specifically, Jeff Purcell is one of the characters in the novel who comes from a long line of privileged heritage and is proud, stubborn, and judgmental of every other student. In the opening of the novel, the narrator notes that class is “a depth of ease in certain boys, their innate affable assurance that they would not have to struggle for a place in the world,