Peggy McIntosh / "All Lives Matter" Post - Reflection

In "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack", Peggy McIntosh discusses the issues surrounding white privilege and how many white people are unaware of its existence. McIntosh describes white privilege as, "an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day". McIntosh begins to "unpack" this invisible knapsack by listing "ways in which [she] enjoy[s] unearned skin privilege and [has] been conditioned into oblivion about its existence". By doing so, McIntosh attempts to remove the silence surrounding white privilege by creating this list and sparking a discussion that creates consciousness about white privilege and power.

In correspondance to McIntosh's suggestion to eliminate silence surrounding race power systems, the Black Lives Matter Movement has prompted more discussion and consciousness regarding these systems and the racial equality imbalances. In an article from Fusion titled "The next time someone says 'all lives matter', show them these 5 paragraphs", Kevin Roose accessibly defines the issue with responding "all lives matter" to the black lives matter movement. His conclusion is that the black lives matter movement is saying that "black lives should also matter" and that by responding with "all lives matter" ignores the problem and "falsely suggest[s] that it means "only black lives matter".

The black lives matter movement is fighting to say that black lives matter also because their lives are currently undervalued and don't receive the same privileges as white lives. Therefore, the response "all lives matter" to the black lives matter movement is in accordance to McIntosh's conclusion that "obliviousness about white advantage...is kept strongly unculturated in the Unites States so as to maintain the myth of meritocracy...Keeping most people unaware that freedom of confident action is there for just a small number of people props up those in power and serves to keep power in the hands of the same groups that have most of it already". Ultimately, the black lives matter movement is an incredible example of the discomfort most white people feel acknowledging their advantages and power because it means they will have to begin to either lessen it, share it, or eliminate it so that all lives can truly be and matter equally.

After reading McIntosh's list of her own privileges, I attempted to create my own and realized my list could be more extensive because of my advantage as a male. Until this reading, I hadn't realized all of the daily privileges I carry with me because I've never been without them before. I've also noticed that I have never paid as much attention as I should to the black lives matter movement and that I have once been a participant in the "all lives matter" side of the argument. I now understand how problematic supporting "all lives matter" is and I'd like to continue to address and unpack my own privileges by ending the silence surrounding white privilege, and continuing to engage in discussions regarding racial power and privilege.

I also found this HuffPost article that discusses white privilege and the "white guilt" people feel when they begin to acknowledge and address their own white privilege. I found this really interesting, because I've felt this guilt before and the author does a good job of explaining what it is and what it means in relation to identity and culture: