Unpacking The Invisible Knapsack Summary And Response

In 1988 Co-director of the S.E.E.D Project (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity), Peggy McIntosh, wrote "Unpacking The Invisible Knapsack", an article that addresses and challenges the universal denial but underlying acceptance of white privilege. McIntosh does this by first setting a foundation of how privilege of any sorts has come about, starting with the idea of male privilege and how that moved and became white privilege.The author shows that although white privilege is not preached, or even acknowledged, it is still very prevalent and are inherited indirectly from the generation before. McIntosh goes on to describe white privilege as an " an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools and blank checks", these being things that are not seen as advantages over the other race but are still not completely accessible by someone of color. McIntosh creates a list of fifty situations, ideas, or economical standings that play out differently for her, because she is white. The list illustrates moments that are taken for granted daily by whites, but not because they choose to, but rather because these are problems they have never had to face because of their race.



　

I completely agree with the ideas of Peggy McIntosh and felt her argument was strong and well supported. The situations from the list are moments that are shared universally but are resolved in a multiplicity of ways, with many coming from the bases of race. Me, being a man of color, found it was all too easy to relate to the message and the situations that were presented by the author. What I thought was most effective about the article, was how well McIntosh captured the smaller moments that are often overlooked simply because they are everyday moments that are still very impactful and it all revolves around race. This made it easy for me to think of situations like being followed around in a store, or having an event reflect or be attributed to my race.

　

McIntosh even addresses the idea that race still matters. Although it may not be something that is said openly, it still determines how you interact with others, what you do and do not say, and how we handle everyday situations. McIntosh even shows how the mindset of a person is somehow related back to race. Although people are not, for the most part, intentionally biased or impartial due to race, but rather it is how we have been conditioned and as a result it is a problem that we can not ignore, but together we must find a way to solve.