Below is a response paper that I wrote on November 9th for a seminar that I am in. Read this with an open mind, and realize that my opinion may not be your opinion. In all, I want to express that this may be the crux of the problem, that is, all of the hate that is present in our nation.
In her article, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, Peggy McIntosh grapples with the unconscious nature of white privilege. Through this, she asserts, “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”” (McIntosh 2006: 2). To this point, I agree, but also want to add that white people, although it may be unconsciously, perpetuate what is defined as “white privilege”, in that they use such supremacy to their advantage, as they generate a damaged culture for people of other races.
The problem with white privilege is in the fact that it is so constant in our everyday lives, even though the perpetrators do not even realize it. McIntosh, in listing some of the daily effects of white privilege in her life, shows how white people do not even realize the advantage that they have in society. This is where I find the word “privilege” to be misleading and almost inaccurate. Rather, “supremacy” is a more accurate way of describing the dominance in which white people believe that they are entitled to in our society; “Such privilege simply confers dominance because of one’s race or sex” (McIntosh 2006: 4). At the same time, I believe that white supremacy better encapsulates the fact that race and gender are used to some people’s advantages, while to others, it generates unjust inequality that we cannot seem to get rid of.
I believe that white supremacy is overly relevant today, since although we have done so much to reach a point of equality, the election has revealed that this progress is far less than what we equated it to be. As we saw through this past Election Day, white supremacy still, in 2016, sweeps through this nation, thus perpetuating the hate that is all too present in our everyday lives. McIntosh writes, “It seems to me that obliviousness about white advantage, like obliviousness about male advantage, is kept strongly inculturated in the United States so as to maintain the myth of meritocracy, the myth that the democratic choice is equally available to all” (McIntosh 2006: 5). The question here is how oblivious are white people? Do they truly know the harm that they are doing to society? Or is it merely the dominance that comes along with the supremacy that keeps these unequal social structures going? To these questions, I do not have an answer, but I do know that time and open minds is the only way that the problem can be fixed.
The lack of acceptance in our nation, in my opinion, is due to white supremacy. The power that lies in being white, specifically in being a white male, is why our nation is still filled with hate and prejudice. From here, I argue that the only way to rid ourselves of white supremacy is to be consciously aware of the damaged culture in which we are living in. If we are not willing to address the problem, then the problem will always be there. As McIntosh points out, white privilege is unearned, and to this point, I agree. Unfortunately, the narrow-minded world that we are living in does not seem to understand the notion of equality, nor do they seem to understand the white supremacy is causing drastic harm to the well being of our nation.
