White Privilege Article

(Quotes) 

“Whites are taught to think of their lives as morally neutral, normative, and average, and also ideal, so that when we work to benefit others, this is seen as work that will allow “them” to be more like “us.”” This quote came from Peggy McIntosh’s article titled “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” That quote was the first quote that stood out to me when I started reading. Growing up in a public school system, learning the history of our country, it stands out to me that us whites are who started the land of the free and us whites who made history, history. When I read this I thought of our SCWAAMP activity in class. “W” which stands for “whiteness”

we wrote under it “face of leaders.” If you look back on our presidents, they are all white. Most of our leaders of the government are white. You nearly ever see a black leader in our government. This is why whites are looked at to having more privileges. Are we trained to think we are average and live the ideal lifestyle?  As I read more into this article I found it really interesting how the author mentioned many of the white privileges we do have. I never thought I had so many more privileges than a colored individual. When I read the comment “ I can chose blemish cover or bandages in “flesh” color that more or less matches my skin.” Being a young girl who buys make up, this never crossed my mind. I can always find a color that matches my skin without any problems. But a young color girl cannot do the same? “Many, perhaps most, of our white students in the United States think that racism doesn’t affect them because they are not people of color; they do not see “whiteness” as a racial identity.” This quote I can connect to the previous quote I mentioned because many white young students don’t realize how bad racism is. It’s as bad a finding a tint of color in make up to getting followed in a store.

At the end of this article I thought to myself…. It’s not fair that I am white and have these privileges. How do we make racism go away? We have to realize that we live in a different society now and racism should not be this bad anymore. We should accept people for who they are not for the color of their skin. So the question that stays in my head is... Will it ever go away or will we continue living our lives judging people on their color?

-When I seen this picture I thought to myself, kids at a young age don't realize their pairs are different colors. I work in a daycare where half of the kids are of color. The children still play together and get along and color isn't an issue with them. But are their parents the same way? How are they being brought up? Do the white parents care if their child is playing with a black child? These are questions that I wonder... It all comes back to what the child is being raised to believe.