PEGGY MCINTOSH- UNPACKING THE INVISIBLE KNAPSACK

After reading the article on McIntosh’s piece titled White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, I thought that overall it was a very interesting read. This article was mainly about how white people are born with privileges in which they are not even really aware of, that people in other races may not have. Peggy McIntosh also corresponds this with men and how they have this effect over women when it comes to having more privileges over women naturally.

In McIntosh’s article I could relate to when she mentioned some of the different advantages that whites have during an everyday lifestyle, compared to some other races. For instance when she mentions getting pulled over by cops. Personally I know that in my town, which is not a very diverse town, people who have windows that are tinted, or people driving that are not white usually get pulled over faster than someone who happens to be white. Some white people do not realize this but it is true and it is absolutely horrible. Just because someone is of a different skin color or does not have the nicest car does not mean that they are any different from the more expensive car. This also goes a long with people carrying backpacks. If a white person is carrying a backpack the police will not do anything where I live, if it’s someone of a different race they may be questioned. Stereotypes in this world today are worse than ever.

I could also relate to the advantage of when McIntosh mentions opening the paper or turning on the television and seeing a white race. In today’s society I do not think that it is right that blacks and whites have to have television stations that have our races mentioned in them. For instance BET (Black Entertainment), why does this station have to be named this as though whites are not in some way allowed to watch because it is not their skin color. People need to stop thinking that we need to be separate and are not privileged enough to watch the same stations as each other so we need to  make separate ones.

Overall I did agree with Peggy McIntosh in this article. I feel as though people do not see these privileges.  In the world today all races need to be equal from the minute they are born, not just one race. If not, this world will never end up changing.

Talking points : I like how McIntosh corresponded race with women and men. She is completely right and she made this article easier to understand when mentioning that. Men are naturally born to be better than women, we are starting to change this and hopefully we can do the same with race.