1. In your own words, but using McIntosh’s writing, please define “White Privilege.”
“White privilege” is not seen as something people do or create, but as an innately acquired advantage over others drawn from in everyday experiences without even the slightest thought. This privilege is something that people have become accustomed to and is almost unavoidable for those who possess it. Race is part of the social identity, and those who draw from “white privilege” do not even realize that there could be anything different. To McIntosh, it is like a survival kit, or tool box from which the entitled extract a menagerie of resources that gives them the upper hand in any given moment or situation. Though done unconsciously, those with “white privilege” are often oppressive to those who are different from themselves. To her, it is an “elusive and fugitive subject”, one that is avoided due to the harsh realizations of its oppressive existence. White people are often of the mind view that they are neutral and hold no advantage over others.
2. In her writing, McIntosh states that, “white advantage…is kept strongly inculturated in the United…show more content… We are better to recognize the faults in others, and this thought process has been ingrained in us from our conception and is therefore nearly impossible to eradicate. To name and admit to this societal complex is to lose power and advantage. This can be seen all over, and one specific place I have noted this is in children’s books at the library. The shelves can be picked from one end to the other, and only a miniscule percentage of books about black race, history or culture can be found – all the books overwhelmingly cater to white topics. Those with “white privilege” hold a higher place in history above others. Both the authors and the content are unquestionably dominated by those endowed with “white
