"I was taught to see racism only in individual
acts of meanness, not in invisible systems
conferring dominance on my group"-Peggy McIntosh
^ Exactly how I felt before reading this article. The reason I chose this article to write about was because it really began to make me think of the meaning of "white privilege" and what that term means to me. Most of the points that Peggy McIntosh made are relate-able for me but I have never realized that before. She made me think about how everyday situations in my life could possibly be very different if I was a different race. There were a few numbers on McIntosh's list that really caught my attention:
6.When I am told about our national heritage or about "civilization", I am shown that people o fmy color made it what it is.
12. 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.
26. I can chose blemish cover or bandages in "flesh" color that more or less matches my skin.
These three points that were made in this article stood out to me the most. They really made me think about how different my situation is when seeing or dealing with these examples on an everyday basis. I can go to the store and buy cover-up or band-aids and know for sure that they will match my skin color. I can swear, wear what I want, and write what I want and get judged on my personality, but not on my race. And lastly, the fact that I have been taught that the people of my color have made civilization what it is today. This is what really makes me realize how unaware and oblivious people can be about the idea of "white privilege" because it is apart of their everyday life, not because the chose it to be that way, but because that is how society just is, which it shouldn't be.
Morgan Freeman on Black History Month:
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