McIntosh

Quotes:
"If these things are true, this is not such a free country; ones life is not what one makes it; many doors are open for certain people through no virutes of their own."

I completely agree with McIntosh on this point. This country is not free, not even close, it never has been. We are inching now closer to completely free, but most of the policies only work in theory. Being white and working class myslef I know I have had priviledges. I have never been in the minority, I have no idea what it must feel like to be unrepresented by your government, or any other system of authority, these huge systems which ultimately controls your life. I can't image what life must be like for someone outside the cultural of power. I can read books on how my culture was treated poorly, as less than human, but I have never experienced that. I think that my lack of experience with this is why I have been so blind to it, I thought we were overcoming this Culture of Power, I thought society had move passed that. I was wrong.

"I did not see myself as a racist, because 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."

Wow, thats what I was taught, I never looked at it that way before. I was taught racism was white southerns doing whatever harm they could to scare blacks into not registaring to vote in the 1960's. I have never thought of it any other way. But like McIntosh says its not even just with race its with everything, with sex, with sexuality, with age, with religion. Maybe its not blatant hate anymore, now its hiding, its a huge pink elephant nowcowering under the table. But its still there.

"I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege,"

I don't know about carefully taught, I mean I am not agrueing against, I don't have enought information to do so. But I think that she is right, maybe its carefully taught or maybe we don't realise we are teaching this to white children, but we are. I think that this is if no the most then one of the most destructive occurences in our society. Very rarely today do you hear about lynchings and abuse, its still out there but less then there was. In today's America the problem is those who claim ignoance while flaunting white privilege. Its why gay marriage is even an issue.

I really liked this article by McIntosh, I liked how she pointed out the obvious, yet hidden facts. I liked her as a writer but also as a sociologist(?). She gave me a new way to look at an old fact and I can do nothing but respect her for that.