White privilege: unpacking the invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh, was very interesting to read. It is kind of obvious that a lot of white people don’t realize the privileges and advantages they have just because of the color of their skin. They don’t see a problem with them being held at a higher pedestal compared to people of color because of the simple fact that it doesn’t affect them and they benefit from it.
Seeing the list of the things Peggy could do as a white person that people of color couldn’t really open up my eyes on just how unfair this world really is. It is seriously messed up that on the list was “ I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed” because many black people and other people of color deal with the opposite on a daily basis. A black person walks into a store and many owners automatically assume we came in there to steal. Or when she says “I can choose public accommodation without fearing that people of my race cannot get in or will be mistreated in the places I have chosen”. This is something that happens so often which is so unfair because we really try to just kind our business and do what we have to do in peace but that doesn’t always work out in our favor.
It is sad we live in a world where people of color have to live in fear of being pulled over by a cop or being arrested for something they didn’t do just because of the color of their skin. When it comes to white people and people of color being in the same situation, white people usually always get off with a simple warning while there are many people of color who lose their lives because police see them as people to fear. This will constantly be something that continues to happen and something that never goes away because it will take every single person in this world to realize that the way things are now aren’t right, which will never happen.
Just like the first reading, “Oppression” by Marilyn Frye was also very interesting to read because she talks about the oppression women experience. I really loved that she mentioned “It is common in the United States that women, especially younger women, are in a bind where neither sexual activity nor sexual inactivity is all right”. In today’s society, a women is a whore because she is sexually active but men are seen as cool when they are sexually active. And when a women is sexually inactive, then she is boring or men are uninterested in her because one of the main things they look forward to when talking to women is sex. I also liked that she mentioned “If a woman is raped, then if she has been heterosexually active she is subject to the presumption that she liked it”. A lot of men find it hard to believe women when they say they have been raped because they believe in some type of way they gave off the impression they wanted the person to do it. They always assume that maybe the woman led them on in some type of way and regretted it after so they claim it was rape which is not the case.
I really loved Magaly Garcia’s snapshot 3 because it shows that men and women can be doing the same exact thing but women would almost always have way more obstacles to get through to achieve it while men get the easy way to it.
