Hmmm. I read through her article and I disagree with a great deal of what she says. Granted, I was 6 when she wrote it, and it has been 20 years, but I still don't know how accurate this all is. Perhaps being a white male living in a large metropolitan area, I am exposed to a more culturally diverse experience than most, but I don't feel that a great deal of this was relevant to me. In fact, I can say I have found many of these statements by her to be the exact opposite of reality. Now I'm not playing the victim, and I'm certainly not looking for a fight when I say these things -- just pointing out what I have seen/experienced.

There is a reverse stigma that I have experienced. I come from a very lower-middle-class blue-collar home, I do not have a 4 year degree, I am not wealthy, I do not own a home, I do not have some grand job that requires no work. Yet, beyond all of this, I am told that I have it made.

I just find it easier to believe that everyone has a one-up on someone else for some reason or another. We all have to deal with someone being unfairly accepted over another for any number of reasons: be it race, sex, sexual orientation, friends, family, money, looks, weight, the list is endless.

"I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed."

Wow. Just wow. I can't imagine that a woman could ever write this. Ms. McIntosh must not go shopping alone much. Heck, I've been followed and harassed even when I had my kids with me.

Excuse me, but you can't just add pictures with Joseph Gordon Levitt in them if you want your blog post to be read.

Race, ethnicity, white privilege, blah blah blah...OMGJGLISSOHAWTANDIWANTZOEDESCHANELSDRESS!

In the future, please try to cater your blog posts to my needs.

I read this essay a few years ago, and then I finally "got" the concept of privilege. It's amazing.

That said, I do think some of her points have racial facets, but are stronger reflections of other kinds of privilege: being able to move to a place you want to live, for example, is more of a middle-to-upper class privilege. But since race is often really closely tied to class, I think it's fair to include it.

And I really, really like when someone brings attention to the ridiculous reality of being harassed for being in a public space: "I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed."

In America/Canada, that is definitely a white/male privilege, and it tends to boggle the minds of those protected by that privilege. Urban living is unkind to those who don't pass the "default" white, abled man test; by being on the street alone, you draw all manner of calls, suspicious stares, or unsolicited meetings just for daring to be alone in a public space: http://kateharding.net/2009/10/08/guest-blogger-starling-schrodinger%E2%80%99s-rapist-or-a-guy%E2%80%99s-guide-to-approaching-strange-women-without-being-maced/

And here's an example of treatment even incredibly important people go through for daring to be brown and in an airplane: http://gawker.com/5628227/pakistani-delegation-mistaken-for-terrorists-quits-us-trip

I only found Unpacking the Knapsack about two years ago and it just broke my heart when I read it. And was in fact, reminded if it in a big way this week.

I work in film and TV and every time I watch the Emmys, Oscars or Golden Globes, I am always inspired and discouraged.

As a black woman, I see basically no one who looks like me getting an award (yes, there was Halle and Mo'Nique, recently--I'm always reminded that out of the hundreds and hundreds of folks who get these awards, who are nominated for these awards and who are lauded at these events, that you know a *few* people who look like me have gotten awards).

And I was trying to explain why it matters that there are so few prominent people of color in that level of the industry. I was trying to explain that these are the people who are setting the tone for the way peoples are described in very powerful media.

I was told by more than one person that I was "looking for an argument" and being sensitive.

I might just repost this essay to them. :)

I try to recognize my white privilege - at least, I see how it helped me for the first 23 years of my life. But after I came out and moved to a rural town, I have trouble seeing it. Because it's still semi-acceptable to gay-bash. Now, I do see that if I were a *black* gay woman I would have it even harder. But when I leave my car at the park-and-ride (with its rainbow sticker... I don't want to be silenced out of fear), I am relieved every day that I come back and see that it hasn't been vandalized. I prefer to get gas on the days I drive into town because I am afraid that someone will say something to me, or ignore me completely, or corner me in the parking lot, when I stop to get gas in the rural area where I live - looking, as I do, not very straight. My neighbors whom I have met are friendly, but there are also houses on my way to work with "Take Back Vermont" signs (replacing the "Yes on Prop 8" signs from living in California).

There was a story (I linked it in a comment on another article here) about a black man near here - Hartford, VT, I think - who was beaten by police in his own home. But I didn't have white-privilege thoughts about how I didn't even realize that happened anymore, or that I am glad I'm white so I don't have to worry. I thought, if it can happen to a black man today, it can sure as hell happen to a gay woman. I have to worry about discrimination against my future kids, who will be the children of 2 women, as much as I would have to worry about it with biracial kids.

I DO understand that being white made it a heck of a lot easier for me to get where I am today. And I don't suppose to know what it feels like to be black in this society. But when I read... somewhere, maybe here... about how being a POC, you are seen by the white majority as a representative of your race - you ARE people of color. And I think it's the same with other minorities - I feel like I have to behave, be a model lesbian, take homophobia in stride without being angry, because I don't want to act in a way that makes ALL lesbians look bad (to people who live in a secluded, mostly-straight community, I might be one of the only gay people they know).

I think discrimination is discrimination, no matter what it's about.

I love the Knapsack essay, and the featured postcard is heartbreaking. However, some of the quotes, just as they are listed here, are incredibly near-sighted.

"If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area which I can afford and in which I would want to live."

What does that mean? It seems extremely classist and simplistic to assume that white people occupy only one area on the social class system, or indeed that there's really any cultural group that can be be sure of renting or purchasing housing when they need to, full stop.

"I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed."

As gxm has amply pointed out, this is not true. Women of all races and identifications get followed and harassed while shopping - or indeed doing anything - alone.

I am not trying to imply that white privilege does not exist, or that we don't all need to be aware of the systems of oppression that work behind what we can assume is the natural order of society. I really do try to understand that. But the above points are really not excellent examples of McIntosh's point.

I have substantial issues with the idea of "White Privilege". The idea implicit in the concept is that all white people are racist or, by benefiting from White Privilege, part of the problem. If you don't accept the premise, as Ronnie did above, you are accused of being racist. The line is "You can't possibly know what it's like to be X, because you're white." While it may be true that it is not possible for one person to know what it is like to live like another, it does not follow that benefiting from this "Privilege" makes you racist.

I see this is sort of a horrible mental virus, one that is fundamentally unhealthy for those who subscribe to it. Essentially, white anti-racists paint themselves as the only virtuous group because they have accepted the guilt for their 'original sin' of being born white and benefiting from all of these 'privileges'. Anyone who does not accept this guilt is therefore a racist. The only way to be accepted is to admit your guilt. It is basically a form of martyrdom.

This meme is what Eric S. Raymond refers to as a "Kafkatrap":
http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=2122

Don't get me wrong, I do believe that the symptoms of "White Privilege" do exist. I see truth in some of the knapsack items. I have a hard time accepting that these are due to the 'privilege' of a group - I'd just call them cultural racism. It's true, most whites don't see these because they don't experience them - but it doesn't mean that all whites participate in them. Being color-blind IS the correct response and, I believe, a sufficient defense against the charge of 'white privilege'. Only when we are all color blind will this privilege cease to exist. I just don't see that happening for another 30-40 years.

I offer as an example the plight of the Irish at the turn of the last century. The Irish were discriminated against, mocked, marginalized, ghettoized, and otherwise kept from participating in mainstream society. Over time, as the second and third generation integrated, that faded, but the stereotypes and cultural 'racism' (the "Irish Race"?) persisted for long after they were integrated. How many people here grew up with the common cartoon sight-gag of the drunk Irishman? It was common for movies and TV shows from the 50s to have the Irish Policeman, or the Irish town lush. Today you'd be seen as insane to discriminate against the Irish . . . but it took a long time to get here.

Here is a much more eloquent argument against the anti-racists from a member of the Unitarian Church:
http://archive.uua.org/ga/ga99/238thandeka.html

I think the best solution is to stop pushing the alienating idea that all Whites are racist and instead seek to educate with examples. I see nothing positive coming from labeling and stigmatizing the very people you need to convince. Being smug and condescending - "They just don't realize what they're doing" - doesn't work for children and it sure as heck won't work for adults.

- AWM

well, the being in the Canadian Prairies for nearly nine years i would say some the concept "white priviledge" does exist (esp to those who spends generation in Canada already) but it would work only to a certain extent.

being PoC myself, i've studied in white-majority high school (and nearly all white junior high). but a reasonable proportion of my classmates are not born in Canada (landed immigrant themselves or their (grand)parents once landed immigrant) or simply have connection to non-English or non-French community, "white" looking Metis, and whatnots.

So of course thse people from this background would enjoy white priviledge. i suspose they would gain automatic trust from others or maybe get the place they want to live and have the "deafult neutralness" of being "White". And they might not get mocked by their skin colour like a suspected PoC would. But otherwise they face the same discrimination like other PoC would (language, culture, education, religion, not being "Canadian", being immigrant). And sometimes these invisible minorities might not recieve the right support like other PoC immigrants because, well, they are "invisible".

In another word, say Mr.A is a 20yr slavic-language speaking white male who only have been in Canada for three weeks; and Mr.B a 20 yr English as first language South Asian male who have been in Canada his entire life. Both Mr.A and Mr.B will face discrimination, only in different ways.

(I am not too sure if similar things would happen in the States, but of course the above would be my very own observation.)

This is ludacris, do yall know that the rest of the world lives on 2 dollars a day. Homeless people make more than that, I personally think were missing the point altogether. In america no matter what race you are, you can rise to the top. I think we need to stop bickering about little discrepensies here and end genocide in Africa, ending the thousands of people dying of starvation daily, the list goes on. I'm not observing here I'm doing. I run a transitional living house, I am white, I'm a guy, 2 sememsters of community college, and I'm going to be a missionary in the Amazon where the need is real. Where what's at stake is life and death, not an attitude problem. We need to get over this issue and actually DO something. I gotta get back to work. Later ppl

I full accept that white privilege exists. Is it generally accepted that there is POC-privilege, as well?

I can understand why white people might get hostile when the concept of white privilege comes up. Just because you have certain privileges that result from your white skin colour (particularly in a predominantly white country), doesn't mean that you couldn't possibly be disadvantaged in other ways, like for example, you might be short, poor, or fat. But no one is saying that because you are white, your life must be sunshine and roses. By the same token, being short, poor, or fat does not negate your white privilege.

Being a white female, I've been surrounded by a group of men who were claiming that women have it so much better than men that women make up sexual harrassment suits, and they are "pussyfying" the world and "castrating" men. I was very aware of male privilege at that time.

But I've also been surrounded by a group of white people talking about how all natives are drunks and thieves, and there are far too many black people and arabs coming into the country. I was no longer the outside in this conversation - the "other" being discussed. I had the privilege of being part of the majority group - white privilege.

That said, I could have been in Chinatown surrounded by chinese people dissing white people. Sure I would have been a minority in that specific community. But in my country, white people dominate the media, the institutions, and the political scene. So actually, there is a big difference. White privilege really does exist.

To Anony-White-Guy,

Personally, I think you're misunderstanding the term "privilege". Nobody's saying that the *act* of walking into a store and not being followed suspiciously is something above and beyond what any person should expect when walking into a store. Taking people out of it and just looking at the act in itself: everyone should expect that if they walk into a store to buy something, then they are treated like a person who wants to buy something and not a person who wants to steal something, right? Nobody's saying that white people are shameful, shameful creatures for expecting like they'll be treated like a customer when they walk into a store - in a perfect society, everyone would expect that when they walked into a store. Neither is anybody saying, "from now on, all white people should be treated like potential criminals when they walk into a store!" in some misguided attempt to make them "equal" to people of colour in that situation.

White privilege, if I am understanding it correctly (and please, somebody correct me if I have it wrong), can be demonstrated as such: if a white person walks into a store, and a person of colour walks into a store, then *everything else being equal* - gender, degree of able-bodied, sexual orientation, clothes, demeanour, etc. - chances are the white person will walk into that store expecting they will be treated like a customer, whereas the person of colour will not know what to expect - they may be treated like a customer, or (based on past history, and/or the history of others) they may be treated like a potential criminal. The person of colour will experience to some degree any of the following things - anger, fear, mental stress, anxiety, self-doubt, painful recollections, etc. - in that moment which the white person (again, stressing that all other factors remain the same) would not typically experience at all, or not to the same degree. The fact the white person can expect and has often gotten a better experience than the person of colour in that situation, *solely due to the fact that they are white and not a person of colour*, is white privilege. It doesn't mean the white person did something wrong; it doesn't mean that they are racist; it doesn't mean that they wouldn't try to fix things if they only knew how. It means white people get a free detour around a bunch of roadblocks in life that people of colour don't get to detour, and that experience is all due to a genetic/phenotypic factor that none of us can help. The fact some people are being disfavoured due to their being people of colour, by default, becomes favour for white people like me.

It's like we're all playing our own games of solitaire, and we white people have been given a regular deck of cards while people of colour have to play with a deck with some of the cards missing. It's not that there's something wrong with us having a regular deck, because solitaire is supposed to use regular decks - but that means all of us should be getting regular decks, and people of colour are not getting them, and that automatically gives us white people an edge in playing and finishing solitaire satisfactorily that people of colour don't get.

"Isn’t the goal that people will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character (ah la MLK)? Doesn’t that translate directly to 'colorblind'?"

In a perfect world, it would. But the world isn't perfect. MLK, I think, was looking far ahead at a society we have not been able to achieve as of yet.

Think of "goal" as "destination", and look at it this way: if where you wanted to go was due east of your starting point, and you've been going north, it isn't going to do you any good to go east now. You've got to go back south first; then you can go east. Being colourblind now, in the current state of society, would be like going east to reach that destination when it's actually somewhere south of us because we've veered so far off course. We have to go south first - then east. I think "south", in this instance, would be acknowledging the differences of people in colour and race *insofar as how it will affect the experiences of people in life* - not to make value statements about colour and race. That is, I should recognize not only that other people are of a particular colour or ethnicity and this will mean their journeys in life will be different than mine, but that I am a colour myself - I am white. While I am not a "person of colour" and should never claim to be, white is a colour rather than a "non-colour" or default. Being white means I can't assume my experience is the experience of all. I will experience life a certain way, and that way won't be the ways that people of colour will experience it, and my life will probably have been a hell of a lot easier in many ways than theirs are for that reason. Maybe then, in my own small way, I can try to listen to their experiences and be more aware of what this society is really like - for all people, not just me. I can learn from them what I can do and should be doing to avoid creating imbalances myself, and to help correct imbalances I may encounter which were created by others - or, alternatively, what I should refrain from doing and what problems are not mine to correct (i.e. don't be "the white saviour"). Finally, I can use whatever power I have or can gain to influence the imbalances in the system that either directly favour me or automatically favour me by disfavouring people of colour, and work to make those more equal for all.

If people of colour continue to do their part, and if white people can learn their part and do it as well, then maybe we really can achieve that society MLK envisioned, and we can then be truly colourblind without it hurting anyone. But society is definitely not there yet.

This list and the subsequent discussion of class made me think of this blog post by author John Scalzi:
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2005/09/03/being-poor/

Well worth the read and is every bit as eye opening as the Knapsack list.

Wow. I need to read this essay. Thanks for posting this.

I also use this essay to help my gerontology students think about the privilege of being young.