McIntosh; White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

                                        

<----Theorist Althusser(One of the hardest to understand. Bless the professor who had to teach me theory! I am forever grateful!)

                 

    “We don’t see ourselves that way…”

Argument: In Peggy McIntosh’ essay, she argues for the awareness of white privilege and to ultimately make one accountable for their role in social class.

Throughout McIntosh’ essay she uses the ongoing metaphor for white privilege as an “invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, code books, visas, clothes, tools and black checks.” She also uses Male privilege as a contrast her theory of white privilege. She describes whites as being taught to think of their lives as “morally neutral, normative and average, and also ideal…” This is an ideology that the white race is taught but become so inscribed into our lives that we don’t even realize that that is what we think. Dr. Bogad’s glass metaphor works here also.

As I was reading McIntosh, I feel as though I have read about some of the theory before that she was incorporating into her essay. Specifically, Altuhusser’s definition of ideology, that works to sustain power to the “higher classes” and also his process of interpellation.

 In thinking of Dr. Bogad’s metaphor of ideology being glass that we usually can’t see through and determine our visions of the world, Althusser says ideologies are “the imaginary relationships of individuals to their real conditions of existence.” “Imaginary" is like that clear glass that blocks our awareness of the “real” conditions of life. McIntosh is trying to get you to see through that glass and become responsible for your place in the realm of white privilege.

McIntosh also talks about power in the social structure that reinforces the white privilege in the United States.  On an earlier page she says, “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.” Later in the essay she says, “We might at least start by distinguishing between positive advantage, which we can see work to spread, and negative types of advantage, which unless rejected will always reinforce our present hierarchies.”

I quote these specific sentences because Althusser sees these ideologies for the functions as mediator between systems of power and individuals. It allows the people, racial group, class, etc to remain in power.  This theory can be seen in the quotes above as she explains white privilege and the difficulties of reversing its effects.

 McIntosh ultimately works on herself to realize her role in white privilege and concludes with her solution which is to raise the consciousness of white privilege daily, create awareness.

(really striking article that proves McIntosh' entire theory, associated w/this picture.) 

Comments: In thinking of how this directly connects to teaching in classroom, I think we see a lot the same ideas in Lisa Delpit’s, The Silenced Dialogue. When teaching there are going to be children of different race and social class but it is our job as a teacher to be aware of that glass and see others for who they are and have an awareness of the world around us.