According
to Golash-Boza, white privilege is defined as "advantages associated with
being categorized as white" pg 51.
In the
1930s W. E. B. Du Bois wrote about the "wage of whiteness." But the
concept really came into its own in the late 1980s, when Peggy McIntosh, a
women’s-studies scholar at Wellesley, started writing about it. In 1988,
McIntosh wrote a paper called “White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences Through Work in Women’s Studies,”
which contained forty-six examples of white privilege. (No. 21: “I am never asked to speak for all the
people of my racial group.” No. 24: “I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk
to the ‘person in charge,’ I will be facing a person of my race.”).
She came up with these rules as she would ask herself daily what did she have that she didn't earn? These
examples have since been read by countless schoolkids and college students.
At age 79, McIntosh still works at Wellesley and is founder of organization called SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity).
Two different histories: one of the existence of white privilege which, of course, occurred the moment that "race" was seen and given meaning; the history of the concept--when and why did we start talking about it. DuBois' statement is so powerful. I recommend that all of you read it.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting read. I feel as if it is something that needs to be addressed but will take generations to minimally erase the white privilege. Whites have been so dominant in society for centuries but I think that every generation has it's preference. I said it in class, when my generations grows up exposed to the privilege, things will begin to change. But, white privilege is not as common as it used to be. Diversity is in and people are beginning to realize the benefits of equality, politically and economically.
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