White Privilege in Everyday Life

Header Photo: “White Privilege” a Useful Concept in the Current UK Context?, Andy Gregg.

Atlin Cuncic, a mental health author with a degree in psychology from the University of Western Ontario, describes white privilege as a concept that highlights the "unfair societal advantages that white people have over non-white people. It is something that is pervasive throughout society and exists in all of the major systems and institutions that operate in society, as well as on an interpersonal level" ("What is White Privilege?"). This explanation shows how in an everyday life those who are white have been given a societal advantage. The picture to the side best illustrates this as we can see how the illustrated white person has been given a head start and motorized scooter to help them reach the finish line before the others can. This section will explore a bit more about the daily advantages that a white person has that can be classified under white privilege.

Photo One: Cuncic, Arlin. “What Is White Privilege?”

How is White Privilege Seen in Daily Life; According to Peggy Mcintosh

Photo 2: "White Privilege, Diversity, and the Media", Miranda Bush.

I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me.
When I am told about our national heritage or about “civilization,” I am shown that people of my color made it what it is.
I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.
I can go into a music shop and count on finding the music of my race represented, into a supermarket and find the staple foods that fit with my cultural traditions, into a hairdresser’s shop and find someone who can cut my hair.
I can arrange to protect my children most of the time from people who might not like them.
I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.
I can remain oblivious of the language and customs of persons of color who constitute the world’s majority without feeling in my culture any penalty for such oblivion.
I can criticize our government and talk about how much I fear its policies and behavior without being seen as a cultural outsider.
If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven’t been singled out because of my race.
I can choose blemish cover or bandages in “flesh” color and have them more less match my skin.

Citied From: “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack' and 'Some Notes for Facilitators'"

These are only 10 highlighted points out of the 26 McIntosh listed in her article "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack."

McIntosh best stated her discovery of the realism of white privilege in her article: "In proportion as my racial group was being made confident, comfortable, and oblivious, other groups were likely being made confident, uncomfortable, and alienated. Whiteness protected me from many kinds of hostility, distress, and violence, which I was being subtly trained to visit, in turn, upon people of color" (“White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack' and 'Some Notes for Facilitators").

"For this reason, the word 'privilege' now seems misleading to me. We usually think of privilege as being a favored state, whether earned or conferred by birth or luck. Yet some of the conditions I have described here work systematically to over-empower certain groups. Such privilege simply confers dominance because of one’s race or sex" (“White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack' and 'Some Notes for Facilitators").

Photo 3: Smith College. "‘Unpacking the Invisible’: Peggy McIntosh Speaks on Impact of White Privilege."