White Privilege Hyperlinks

        Peggy McIntosh wrote an article "White Privilege Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" that dove into how our country has a way to overlooking privileges that might not be directly thrown in our faces. Her article while have a terrific point in my opinion was extremely repetitive during the paragraphs that she was setting up to list her privileges. She basically just kept repeating that white privilege is something that we do not see if we are white, and that we take for granted the things that others might not. Her examples and her point however are none the less great, I just wished she would take out some of the filler and just cut to it. With that said white privilege is something that most white Americans do not like to talk about and if they do they tend not to admit too much which perpetuates the cycle of nothing being changed to stop it. 

Scrubs.wikia.com

          In our society it is easy for white Americans growing up to not realize the struggles of others in our country. Everything that we see around us as McIntosh points out reflex what we thing is the “norm”. Every magazine we pick up, every add on television or even the shows themselves, all have white people as the majority cast members or front cover headlines. I do not think McIntosh or anyone else for that matter would make the claim that every single show or magazine is this way however, the vast majority of them are.

This is a popular television series from 2001-2010 called “Scrubs”. The show would air multiple times a day and would primarily feature this core group of actors and actresses. “I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, just as males are taught not to recognize male privilege.”(McIntosh 4) What McIntosh is trying to say in her article, that relates here is that while we grow up watching shows like this, it never crosses the minds of young white Americans that there are only two main character that are not white. So to the white views this is just the “norm”, but in this case to young African American or Hispanic views, they have the one person in the show that looks like them. This is a perfect example of how Americans experience the “Invisible white privilege”.

          The in this case you can also take a look into the fact that shows will throw in the “token” black character. In fact one of the most ruthless shows on television even tries to show us this through a comical point of view. This is South Park, one of the most popular animated shows ever created. They make a living off of ripping into cultural issues of all kinds. In this case they literally name the one black child in the town Token.

Glidemagazine.com

           Another issue that McIntosh brings up in her list is how white privilege also affects things in the justice system. While many do not wish this to be the case our justice system is flawed in major ways. "If a traffic cop pulls me over or the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven't been singled out because of my face."(McIntosh example 25) Every day we have police pull people over simply for looking different in areas that they personally think those people have no reason to be in. They do not stop to think that maybe they just moved in, or maybe they are visiting friends, or maybe they are just cutting through. They do it because they think it is helping others when really it’s just white privilege kicking in again. They aren't getting pulled over for any other reason than the color of their skin not fitting the "norm" of the area. In 2011 a study was done by the Bureau of Justice Statistics that showed black drivers where pulled over at a higher rate than white or Hispanic drivers.

          Finally in one recent event a Brock Turner a student attending Stanford University raped a young woman behind a dumpster in an alley while she was unconscious. He was caught in the act by two other men walking by and when approached by the men Brock fled. After being caught and brought to trial Brock basically got off completely for his actions. The issue this brought and why it relates to McIntosh's article is that Brock received a lesser sentence then most convicted rapists. Most rapists receive years of jail time instead Brock received months. I'm not trying to say that the same judge would have rendered a different verdict if Brock were not white for sure, but statistically with eye witness testimony there should have been a higher conviction.

         With everything that McIntosh is telling us we really need to make a better effort to acknowledge white privilege in order to top if from continuing in the future. Then as generations go by with no changes that just more and more of a barrier to overcome. We need to change the way we advertise, the things that are presented on all channels of television, the way we run our justice system, and the way we raise our kids.