My White Privilege

The following is a summary/reflection on White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh, a white, American feminist, anti-racism activist, and Founder of National SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity) Project.

A pdf of this article can be found here.

I originally read this piece a few years ago when I served as an AmeriCorps member with City Year Seattle-King County, and have not looked at it since (also to reiterate, I was TWENTY-TWO before I really saw my skin color and the privileges it afforded me). I knew that I had to start somewhere with this blog, and picked the first article on this list (Thank you Dr. Dé Scipio, and I think a few others I can't remember, for sharing - I've been saving all the resources people have been sharing on Facebook with the intention of going through them all eventually, and there are so many I can't remember who shared what).

In this piece, McIntosh talks about how white folks are taught that racism is something that puts others at a disadvantage, but rarely are we taught how racism gives us an advantage. She explains how white privilege “is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools, and blank checks.” They are things that we as white folks often take for granted unless we actively seek out how we are advantaged.

Reading through this article again made me think of David Foster Wallace’s “This is Water” speech. While he is not talking about racial equity in his speech, there are pieces of it that resonate with the work we, as white folks, must do. In it, he tells a short parabe-ish anecdote: “There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says ‘Morning, boys. How’s the water?’ And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes ‘What the hell is water?’” Our white privilege is the water we swim in but don’t recognize until we intentionally notice it.

At the end of his speech, Wallace explains how we need to keep reminding ourselves “This is water. This is water.” As a white woman, I have recently been thinking a lot recently about the privilege my skin color gives me, especially the privileges that let me bike across the country during the pandemic, and this is something I need to think about every day and keep reminding myself of.

McIntosh lays out 50 ways that white privilege presents itself, and if you are white, I implore you to look at this list and see how your privilege manifests (and think of other ways too). These privileges go beyond less risk from police brutality, and while perhaps not as physically damaging, they are incredibly pervasive in our society and damaging in other ways. Some of the ways white privilege presented in this article that I have not been actively thinking of include:

18. I can swear or dress in second hand clothes, or not answer letters, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty, or the illiteracy of my race.

21. I am never asked to speak for all people of my racial group.

29. I can be pretty sure that if I argue for the promotion of a person of another race, or a program centering on race, this is not likely to cost me heavily within my present setting, even if my colleagues disagree with me.

30. If I declare that there is a racial issue at hand, or there isn’t a racial issue at hand, my race will lend me more credibility for either position than a person of color will have.

These last two aspects of my privilege, which encompass working to remedy racists systems and structure are ones that I have not considered much before, but do not take lightly. As a white woman who has been conditioned to not recognize my race and the privileges that come with it, I am probably one of the least likely to perceive racial issues, especially if they are nuanced, and yet the color of my skin lends me credibility in addressing or dismissing them. While working towards a world where this particular white privilege is diminished (so that folks of color’s perspectives are valued as highly), it is my responsibility to work within this system to ensure that I am calling out and working to remedy racial issues. I see this as something I do most intentionally in my work (education), and something I need to be as intentional with in my everyday interactions (which I hope to document in this blog). Another way I can do this is by amplifying BIPOC voices, which I hope to do regularly through this blog - thinking through the best way to do this.

31. I can worry about racism without being seen as self-interested or self-seeking.

I wonder how the idea of being a white savior plays out as white folks take action to be anti-racist. Can anyone be truly anti-racist, or are these actions self-serving? (to be seen as someone who is “doing the right thing” - it makes me think about learning about altruism in an animal behaviors class and if there is such a thing as genuine altruism - article about this here)

McIntosh ends by talking about systemic racism versus individual racism. She explains that she “was taught to think that racism could end if white individuals changed their attitude. But a ‘white’ skin in the United States opens many doors for whites whether or not we approve of the way dominance has been conferred on us. Individual acts can palliate but cannot end, these problems.” As I write this first reflection, I know that I am doing an individual act that may make a small difference down the line (maybe in how I interact with individual people, both BIPOC and white), but that I need to expand this to working on dismantling racists systems within the organizations and communities that I am involved in. While I educate myself more on whiteness, alternative histories, and being an anti-racist educator, I will also be diving into strategies to work on making systemic changes. I don’t feel satisfied with writing this summary/reflection (is it even enough of a reflection? It's hard to be reflective after biking and working all day) and in future reflections/posts want to focus on more actionable items, but I think with the limited resources I currently have, it’s a good enough place to start. Also I know that posting once will kick start me to post more regularly, and even this post has me thinking about the directions I want to take in my process of learning, unlearning, and re-learning.