Talking Point #1: McIntosh and Muwakkil

White Privileges: Unpacking The Invisible Knapsack
By: Peggy McIntosh


Author's Argument:
In this article McIntosh argues that privileged people are taught not to recognize their privilege. Also, that white privilege comes in the form of an "invisible knapsack" full of "unearned assets" or "special provisions" for only those white people to use.

Quotes:

1. "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 is saying that white people are brought up to think they are "normal" and "average"and when they participate in charity or do work to help others it is seen as them trying to bring people up to their level, or the "ideal" way to be. This quote stood out for me because I can agree with it, most of us in the white culture are brought up to see ourselves as average and nothing more, unless we are either taught that we are 1. a better race or 2. equal and we can't bring anyone up to our level because they're already at it.

2. " I can choose blemish cover or bandages in "flesh" color that more or less matches my skin".

• Things are made in "flesh" color, which is a white tone. When the word flesh is used it is reflective of or saying that that is the normal, average, or right skin color.

3. "I was taught to recognize racism only in individual acts of meanness by members of my group, never in invisible systems conferring unsought racial dominance on my group from birth".

• Most people are brought up to view racism as individual acts of hate by "racists", they aren't taught to see racism and hate through bigger institutions looking for dominance over other races, not just to hurt individual people.

Questions/Comments:

I really enjoyed reading this piece by Peggy McIntosh. I honestly hadn't considered race and privilege in the light that she brought to it in this text. One point that really stood out for me in this piece was the third paragraph on the first page. I feel this paragraph/quote highlights the theme of the whole piece "The Invisible Knapsack". In the third paragraph McIntosh talks about unpacking said knapsack and says "I have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets that i can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was "meant" to remain oblivious. White privilege is an invisible, weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, code books, visas, clothes, tools and blank checks". This quote was incredible to me. Who ever thought of white privilege as an invisible set of tools that gets carried around and used to our advantage?



Data Shows Racial Bias Persists In America
By: Salim Muwakkil


Author's Argument:
In this article Muwakkil argues that although the conservative opinion is that racism is over, it is far from over in America. Muwakkil also includes a lot of studies done and statistics showing that racial bias and profiling still happens in our country.

Quotes:

1. "The researchers sent fictitious resumes in response to help wanted ads; each was randomly assigned either a white-sounding name (Emily Walsh, Brendan Baker) or a black-sounding name (Lakisha Washington, Jamal Jones). The study found that applicants with white-sounding names were 50% more likely to get called for an initial interview than applicants with black-sounding ones. What's more, higher-quality resumes provided little advantage for black applicants".

• This quote was only somewhat surprising to me. It was just a study for further solidify how racist our country really is. These companies hiring only saw names, and they couldn't even see past the names to see the importance of better qualifications in the African American applicants.
  

2. "Not surprisingly whites without drug busts on their applications did best; blacks with drug busts did worst. However, white applicants with prison records were still more likely to be hired then black men without them".

• This quote shocked me. How is this even possible? A white man with a prison record could get a job before a man without one just because the other man is black? That makes me sick. I think sometimes you don't want to think our country and the people in it are that low, but this makes it really hard to ignore.
  

3. "The study found the greatest disparity in Illinois, where blacks were jailed for selling or using drugs at 57 times the rate of whites. The report also found that blacks comprise 90% of the inmates imprisoned for drugs".

• This quote to me says racial profiling all over it. Blacks are jailed 57 times more then whites are? Are the police not even seeing the white people? Are they invisible? This is insane. And blacks comprise 90% of the inmates imprisoned for drugs, are you telling me that they're the only ones using drugs? Or the only ones getting caught? No. They're being targeted.
  

Questions/Comments:

This piece by Salim Muwakkil was an interesting read. Racial profiling is a well known practice in America but some of the statistics in this piece still surprised me. The parts about the fictitious resumes wasn't very surprising because whites being chosen over African Americans even when the African Americans are sometimes more qualified is a huge part of racial profiling. But the statistics stating that whites with prison records were morel likely to get hired then African Americans was shocking. How is that even possible? Also the two quotes "Blacks constitute about 13% of Americas drug users but make up 58% of those sent to prison for drug possession" and " "The study found the greatest disparity in Illinois, where blacks were jailed for selling or using drugs at 57 times the rate of whites. The report also found that blacks comprise 90% of the inmates imprisoned for drugs" totally astounded me. If those studies don't scream racial bias then what does? But what can be done?