So hello, there have been some diaries about race lately on this site. They've provided a lot of interesting discussion, but it's also drawn out a lot of whiney white people who can't believe anyone would ever consider anything they say or do racist! This also includes white people who insist their skin color does not give them any kind of privilege due to growing up in a tarpaper shack by the railroad station or whatever. As a white person, these things give me a sad, because I would like us to do better than that. So today, I'm pulling out an oldie but a goodie: Peggy McIntosh's Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, which has become one of the go-to articles to really describe how white people are privileged in a society that discriminates by skin color. If you're white, and you're scoffing and saying that doesn't apply to you, you need to read below the jump more than anyone else.
The following are examples of ways white individuals have privilege because they are white. Please read the list and place a check next to the privileges that apply to you or that you have encountered. At the end, try to list at least two more ways you have privilege based on your race.
_ 1. I can arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.
_ 2. I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.
_ 3. I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.
_ 4. When I am told about our national heritage or about "civilization," I am shown that people of my color made it what it is.
_ 5. I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.
_ 6. I can go into a music shop and count on finding the music of my race represented, into a supermarket and find the food I grew up with, into a hairdresser’s shop and find someone who can deal with my hair.
_ 7. Whether I use checks, credit cards, or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial responsibility.
_ 8. I am not made acutely aware that my shape, bearing, or body odor will be taken as a reflection on my race.
_ 9. I can worry about racism without being seen as self-interested or self-seeking.
_ 10. I can take a job or enroll in a college with an affirmative action policy without having my co-workers or peers assume I got it because of my race.
_ 11. I can be late to a meeting without having the lateness reflect on my race.
_ 12. I can choose public accommodation with out fearing that people of my race cannot get in or will be mistreated.
_ 13. I am never asked to speak for all of the people of my racial group.
_ 14. I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk with the "person in charge" I will be facing a person of my race.
_ 15. If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven't been singled out because of my race.
_ 16. I can easily by posters, postcards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys, and children’s magazines featuring people of my race.
_ 17. I can choose blemish cover or bandages in "flesh" color and have them more or less match my skin.
_ 18. I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.
_ 19. I can walk into a classroom and know I will not be the only member of my race.
_ 20. I can enroll in a class at college and be sure that the majority of my professors will be of my race.
Sound familiar? Think about this and remember it the next time you're about to tell a person of color that "it's not about race" and "you're being too sensitive," or that, God help us, they're "racist against white people." Whatever problems white people may face due to their skin color just don't begin to compare. And the sooner we realize that, the more effectively we can begin work to minimize our own participation in institutional racism.
Edit: While it's nice to be at the top of the rec list, I hope diaries written by people of color continue to get the same amount of attention that this diary and Tim Wise's diaries do. It feels a little like white people are dominating the discussion of race around here, and I feel a little weird being a part of that.
