Privilege: Video Analysis

This article was written by Peggy McIntosh. She talks about how white privilege is often times overlooked and not recognized by whites themselves. We take the privileges we get for granted and most times don’t realize that a lot of the things we are able to do aren’t just handed to other people, especially people of color. This article also explains that these privileges can sometimes have a positive effect or a negative one. McIntosh explains how now that we can recognize what white privilege is, we can try to spread the positive types of advantages and work to get rid of the negative ones.

Other course texts such as “A Girl Like Me” suggest that very young children are also learn about and experience difference and equity in age-specific ways. Explain how children and/or youth in your school might be experiencing the issue in conversations with families, things they overhear or see on the television. How might you help them process these issues emotionally in your

Privilege is often seen as special rights granted to individuals either on behalf of merit or through unwarranted means. In their writings, Johnson (privilege, oppression, and difference) and Peggy McIntosh (White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Backpack) discuss their views on the impact that privileging specific social groups has on society. The concept of whiteness in America is often overlooked or unaffiliated with discussions concerning racial dilemmas. Whiteness and white privilege perpetuates racism due to its normalization in society which in turn serves as an agent of how other non-white people are treated.

I recently read a news article that almost seemed like satire to me. It was about how a Connecticut town’s diversity council held an essay contest and its prompt was to discuss how white privilege had impacted the lives of people in the town. As you could expect from a predominantly white, suburban town, the essay contest received backlash. The public was outraged and became defensive. One of the people in the town is quoted in saying, “‘There are no barricades here. Nobody says if you are black or whatever, you can’t move here’” (Theroot.com). The sheer oblivion and refusal to discuss the existence of racism in a primarily white town is the epitome of white privilege.

In White Privilege and male privilege by Peggy McIntosh, the author compares male privilege to white privilege. It is often difficult for some to recognize this type of privilege as an advantage instead of a disadvantage of the other race. While the person may have whole-hearted intentions, not recognizing your own privilege can sometimes be frustrating for the person on the other end, as McIntosh points out: "At the very least, obliviousness of one's privileged state can make a person or group irritating to be with." (McIntosh, 2010) while it can be difficult to see racism, it is imperative that we do all we can when recognized.

In this course I have learned about different social problems in societies worldwide. Some of these include poverty, social inequality, discrimination of race and culture, urbanization, and more. After learning all these subjects and more, I have decided to do my final on social inequality and minorities in the United States. I chose this particular topic because I have seen this in almost every place have lived. I find it appalling that minorities are still not treated 100% equal. We as Americans know what inequality is and know how it is used in our everyday society. I want to explore this topic and show how real and big this

This paper examines how white privilege continues to be constructed today within schools and how teachers have a large role in it. In today’s society, many can go through their lives without understanding what it is or how it effects other people. White privilege is how a person’s lighter skin color benefits them directly from birth and that person doesn’t have to do anything in order to gain these privileges. These privileges are good and usually don’t have any negative consequences for the person receiving them. However, those who do not have white privilege face discrimination and end up paying the price in the future. This paper will uncover the hardships that people face when dealing with white privilege in schools, how it continues to be constructed in society, and how we as a society can become more aware to this problem.

Educating white children on white privilege is not as straightforward as it may seem. One study in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology suggests that when presented with evidence of white privilege, white people actually respond with denial on the basis of personal hardships (Phillips, Lowry 12-18). The study also stated that understanding privilege, “requires a comparison to someone of another group membership with the same life circumstances” (Phillips, Lowry 12-18). If white children feel that

At the end of the exercise I was only nine steps away from the wall, making me one of the individual’s with the most unearned privilege. As I was looking around the room, I felt embarrassed to be one of the ones so close to the wall. I feel as though I have not done anything in my life to have earned this much privilege. I know that is why it is called unearned privilege, but until now I never realized how much unearned privilege I have had handed to me throughout my life. I also felt embarrassed to be so close to the wall because I know that the individual’s in the back with unearned disadvantage had done nothing to deserve it, and they had just as much right to have as much unearned privilege as me.

According to Webster a leader is something that leads, which is not very descriptive considering the word lead is in the word leader. If you look further to find out the true meaning, to lead means to guide on a way especially by going in advance, to direct on a course or in a direction, or to serve as a channel for. You can interpret it many ways, you can think of it as in a person leading people in a direction of where to go, or something that isn’t alive, such as a a pipe can lead the water in and out of the house. In all cases, a leader is a crucial aspect to the function of the system. Now most people have participated in an activity before, whether it be a sport, band or club.

Thesis: In the United States, racial privilege affects societies everywhere. It especially has a large effect on young adults, such as those in the workforce, because it prevents them from obtaining and reaching their preferred professions.

In the novels Being There and The Bloody Chamber there are several examples of characters constantly changing throughout the telling of the novel. Many of the characters of The Bloody Chamber are creatures who are half-human and half-beast, or else undergo some change from beast to human or vice versa. In Being There, we see Chance transform from a simple gardener to a man who is respected and loved by the whole country seemingly in a blink of an eye.

Prior to taking this class I only thought about the differences related to race. The main reason I only thought of racial differences in relation to power and privilege is due to my experiences. According to Johnson (2006), there are six characteristics that allow us to have power and privilege. These six characteristics include: age, race, ethnicity, gender, physical abilities/ qualities, sexual/ affectional orientation (Johnson, 2006). Reading this chapter allowed me to reflect on where I stand in each of these characteristics. I am a heterosexual Latina female, in my early twenties with no disabilities. Before reflecting on the privileges I hold I did not see myself as holding any privilege,

There is no short cut to get ready the existence of privilege, its practice by human being and it can only be solve by mankind. Often topics of discussions are racism, sexism, hetaerism, and gender discriminations. Many people have fought and die for equality in workforce and social living. People have normalized privilege, in our society we don’t like to get involved situations that we fear it will have implications to us even when we know that it’s wrong doing, however; until folks are ignoring when they witness discriminations of any type due to fearing or ramifications they are actually participating and being part of the privilege bubble.

I feel that there is a great divide within my life at its current point. I live in two different spaces depending on the time, and while they are a great distance from each other geographically, they are at an even greater distance culturally. I grew up in a small town in New York State that was majority conservative and I now live on a college campus that is extremely liberal. Before I arrived at college I felt that I had already grasped an understanding of my various privileges as an individual on the micro level. However, being here and having to face them head-on through the meso level Swarthmore community is a completely different experience. Because I identify as a pansexual, neuroatypical woman there are certain power structures such as patriarchy and heteronormativity that I tend to concern myself more with. However, despite my various privileges (or perhaps because of them), I should focus an equal amount of attention on those power structures that benefit me. It would be foolish and hypocritical of me to call out men or heterosexuals to fight against their own privileges without in turn doing the same of my own. Therefore I would like to reflect on those privileges in order to better understand how they interact in my daily life on the micro, meso, and macro levels in order to better understand myself and to “think not only beyond privilege, but beyond the sense of self that claims privilege.”