White Privilege

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Does anyone know if (and where) I can find a copy of Peggy McIntosh's
wonderful essay on "Unpacking White Privilege" online?  Thanks, Susan
Koppelman, <<huddis  AT    aol.com>>

You will find McIntosh's article under
http://216.190.45.48/ccrr/packet/article.htm

If you are interested in Whiteness Studies, I suggest you look at this
website: http://www.uwm.edu/~gjay/Whiteness/

This site contains links to other sources on Whiteness as well as lists
books and articles.


Daniela Hrzan
University of Leipzig, Germany

I receive WMST-L in digest form, so I apologize if someone else has already
made this point.

The web site version of McIntosh's article is an EDITED version of her
original piece (the web page does disclose this).  The entire original
includes 46 [not 26] daily advantages of whiteness and MUCH more extensive
analysis.  To my knowledge, it is not available on the web, but must be
ordered from the Wellesley Centers for Women for $10:

http://www.wcwonline.org/title108.html.

McIntosh's paper includes a memo for "further discussion," that includes
some of the reactions - positive, negative and clueless - that she received
to the paper.

Also on the Wellesley site you'll see McIntosh's 1990 follow-up paper,
"Interactive Phases of Curricular and Personal Re-Vision with Regard to
Race." ($7)

Kate Waits
U. of Tulsa College of Law


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Kathleen (Kate) Waits
Associate Professor
University of Tulsa College of Law
3120 East 4th Place
Tulsa, Oklahoma  74104-2499

918-631-2450 (voice)
918-631-2194 (FAX)

E-mail: kwaits  AT    utulsa.edu

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<< > You will find McIntosh's article under
> http://216.190.45.48/ccrr/packet/article.htm >>

Excerpted from the above:

>2. If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing
housing in an area that I can afford and in which I would want to live.
3. I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral
or pleasant to me. <


This piece is well worth reading, and I am sure the more extended article,
for which one must pay, would be also. But I want to make one little quibble.

While I can identify in all 24 other items McIntosh lists regarding white
privilege, these two do not apply to me as a white person  on a tiny, fixed
income. They most definitely don't apply to other whites on limited incomes,
either.

McIntosh does briefly state much later in the piece "In addition, since race
and sex are not the only advantaging systems at work, we need similarly to
examine the daily experience of having age advantage, or ethnic advantage, or
physical ability, or advantage related to nationality, religion, or sexual
orientation." Terrific--but there's no mention of the disadvantages of having
a low income, or being in poverty, which can, in some situations, overwhelm
the advantages of race.

Of course, higher income does not necessarily confer the privilege of living
comfortably where one wants to live -- if one is not white (or, in some
cases, not Protestant or Christian, or heterosexual, etc.), and I'm sure
that's the point McIntosh was trying to make. But I am troubled by the lack
of acknowledgement that the privilege of living where one wants to is NOT
conferred on ALL whites, nor even all middle class whites. (I am using
"middle class" here as a cultural designation. Although I am currently living
well below the poverty line, I am "middle class" by virtue of my education,
the cultural repetoire provided by my parents, and having had, at one point
in my life, a middle class income and upward mobility.)

I currently live in a very bad neighborhood. Almost every night, I observe
drug deals going down on the street from my bedroom window. (The police will
do nothing.)  I have watched (after calling 911) a woman being beaten over
the head with a hammer and shoved out into the street in front of oncoming
cars, which, fortunately, swerved around her. I have also observed street
fights with large numbers of men.

The area is about 90% black--a fact that I don't mind, per se, having moved
into this apartment after losing ownership of a home in a predominantly
black, middle class neighborhood, which I loved and of which I was proud.
However, my current neighborhood is an extremely high crime rate area and it
is very difficult to know whom to trust. (My middle class black friends tell
me they wouldn't trust anyone in my neighborhood, either.)

My car, which I have to park on the street, has been vandalized three times,
leaving it pockmarked with dents, bumps and deep scratches. I don't even
bother getting it fixed because it will most likely happen again. I don't
know for sure why this keeps happening, but I do know that my black
neighbors' cars are not bothered. It is of frequent concern to me that I
might be targeted because I am white. Fortunately, I have never been
personally accosted.

As a racial minority in THIS neighborhood, I am constantly aware of my race
and concerned about how my actions might be interpreted by virtue of my race.
I am also aware of ways in which our racist culture is still deeply embedded
in my psyche.  I feel that my survival in this neighborhood depends on not
offending my neighbors--something I would never do consciously but could end
up doing unconsciously, so I am constantly policing my reactions to
everything.

I do not in anyway believe my suffering in these circumstances is the
equivalent  of growing up and living black in a white world, nor do I think
of this as a problem of "reverse racism."  Whatever prejudice there might be
against me as a white person in this neighborhood would not exist if
Anglo-European culture had never been racist in the first place.  I know I
have many privileges that my neighbors do not have, including the fact that
it is unlikely I will be unfairly treated by the police or automatically
suspected of being a criminal (though they HAVE perceived me as something of
a nut, as my presence and willingness to be a witness is totally out of
character with their expectations). I know that once I leave the
neighborhood, so long as I dress well out of my dwindling professional
wardrobe and no one making decisions about me sees my beat-up car, I will
re-enter the world of middle class white privilege -- at least, on the
surface.

Nonetheless, I do NOT have the privilege of simply picking up and moving to a
nicer neighborhood, regardless of my white face and my PhD. And this gives me
great pain and a sense of powerlessness. There are plenty of other people out
there who are in similar circumstances. I can see how working-class and
poverty-class whites might have great difficulty seeing themselves as
privileged by their whiteness, especially when having to endure the
humiliation of applying for social services. I am sure it is probably even
worse for black applicants, who bear the burden of racist assumptions about
welfare, but it's the difference between horrible and more horrible.

White academics (except for those rare few whose working class roots are
still very present in their lives) tend to be as deeply unconscious of their
class privilege as they are of their white privilege.

Georgia NeSmith
gnesmith  AT    aol.com

What is most amazing is that within fewer than twelve hours after I sent in
my request I received fifteen responses.  Many offered multiple sources for
finding McIntosh's wonderful essay online.  I want to thank all who responded
and request that no others respond since I have what I needed.

Over the years, I had bought a number of copies of the essay and loaned them
to people who wanted/needed/agreed to read it.  I never got it returned.  Now
instead of lending it, I can offer URLs.

 Thanks again.  Susan Koppelman <<huddis  AT    aol.com>>

><< > McIntosh's article

>>2. If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing
>housing in an area that I can afford and in which I would want to live.
>3. I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral
>or pleasant to me. <

I also have a negative reaction to this part each time I read the article,
because it of the way it assumes middle-class economic status. I understand
from personal experience how painful it can be to confront, in the midst of
an extremely important and valuable essay, a viewpoint that negates the
reality of living with limited resources, assuming  that all whites have
those resources. A revision could address that fact along with a more
nuanced exploration of the way white privilege operates even in low-income
circumstances.

Thanks to Georgia for raising this point, and for your thoughtful
exploration of the impact of economic hardship and its intersections with
race dynamics.

>there's no mention of the disadvantages of having
>a low income, or being in poverty, which can, in some situations, overwhelm
>the advantages of race.

Or rather, take a big bite out of those advantages. As you have pointed
out, race privilege affects how a white person is treated by the police,
store owners, etc. Another example: it also is a very real factor in access
to housing. Where I live (San Francisco bay area) housing costs are
sky-high, and large numbers of whites (not even only poverty or
working-class) have been forced out of apartments by doubled rents. But in
this racist society, we still get preferential treatment over people of
color in competing for apartments, at whatever income level. Many landlords
are biased toward whites, and the same goes for banks, real estate
companies, and employers. Working class people of color are having a very
hard time finding housing and being forced out to more remote areas.

(The other factor I reacted to in #3, above, is that some lesbians or very
fat women -- to give a couple of instances -- do not feel confident they'll
get a neutral or pleasant reaction from their new neighbors. What they
confront is not the same as race prejudice, but IMO if it is not taken into
account, the statement loses its power to convince them. Which would be too
bad.)

Max Dashu   <maxdashu  AT    LMI.com>
<www.suppressedhistories.net>
Global Women's Studies

The disadvantage of having a low income is a double burden for a black
person.  While a white person may just suffer the disadvantage of the
low income the black person have to suffer both, a low income and
color.  Even with a high income a black person will have difficulty
choosing where to live. When I worked in New York I was amazed and
totally shocked at how I was rejected, as a black person, in that city.
Apparently real estate owners and/or agents have decided the demography
of the city.  A white woman who earned several thousands less than I did
was able to find a place before me.  (Note that I started to look before
her).
Asma Abdel Halim
aa114488  AT    ohiou.edu

Peggy McIntosh's work has been adapted to examine male privilege and
heterosexual privilege.  I've been thinking for some time that class privilege
needs to be examined as well.  Of course, each of these privileges overlaps in
some way, so doing separate lists may not completely address that.

Christine Smith
Dept. of Psychology
Minnesota State University Moorhead
Moorhead, MN   56563

On the subject of housing, I just heard--a couple of weeks ago?--on NPR,
the results of a study.
They had black and white people call prospective landlords/ladies to
inquire about a rental unit.
In something like 80% of the cases, when the black person called, the
rental was no longer available. Apparently, the sound of an
African-American "accent" was all they needed to exercise discrimination
against them.

If anyone was paying closer attention and knows the name of this study or
the precise data, would you please post it here?

Thanks.

Rosie
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Rosa Maria Pegueros, J.D., Ph.D.
Women's Studies Program &       Washburn Hall, 217C
Department of History           E-mail:
University of Rhode Island      <rpe2836u  AT    postoffice.uri.edu>
80 Upper College Road, Suite 3  Telephone: (401) 874-4092
Kingston, RI 02881                    Fax: (401) 874-2595
<http://www.uri.edu/personal/rpe2836u/>
<http://nick.uri.edu/artsci/wms/pegueros.htm>

"I have learned from my teachers and from my colleagues. But
I have learned the most from my students." --Rabbi Hanina

I believe that Doug Massey was doing some work like this at Penn.
********************************************************
Heather Laube
Department of Sociology
University at Albany
hlaube  AT    nycap.rr.com
518-442-5849

"Silence has never brought us anything of worth."
             Audre Lorde
----- Original Message -----

http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/current/2001/040501/research.html

Doug Massey research site.

Pam Hogue-Sudzina

<< The disadvantage of having a low income is a double burden for a black
person.  While a white person may just suffer the disadvantage of the
low income the black person have to suffer both, a low income and
color.  Even with a high income a black person will have difficulty
choosing where to live. When I worked in New York I was amazed and
totally shocked at how I was rejected, as a black person, in that city.
Apparently real estate owners and/or agents have decided the demography
of the city.  A white woman who earned several thousands less than I did
was able to find a place before me.  (Note that I started to look before
her).
Asma Abdel Halim
aa114488  AT    ohiou.edu >>

I am not arguing with this at all. I am aware of the various studies on this
issue (though I cannot cite them). And I observed this personally, in my own
family, when my sister married a black man, and they tried to find housing
together. My sister ended up using her white privilege to secure their
various rentals, and her husband would show up later (much to the dismay of
the landlords). There is no question in my mind that race makes a huge
difference when one is choosing (or trying to choose) a place to live.
However, income/class ALSO makes a huge difference. For instance, black or
white, try finding a decent place to live when you have a Section 8 subsidy.
Even though in some areas a Section 8 subsidy can provide enough support to
*pay* for decent housing in a moderate income neighborhood, nobody will rent
to you.  Landlords who accept Section 8 mostly have properties in the bad
parts of town, where they *have* to accept Section 8 or go out of business.
And people with income but without cultural middle class capital are also
discriminated against in housing, though perhaps not to the same degree. (It
would be nice to know if there have been any studies on this--I only know it
from my own observations and memories of "something I read somewhere.")

And (to my knowledge anyway), there's no legal protection against class
discrimination.

I am not concerned here with any sort of "one upmanship" over anyone else's
disadvantages. I am only trying to raise awareness. I did acknowledge that I
still have white privilege, and culturally I have middle class privilege --
i.e., my cultural capital allows me to "pass" (though "passing" can provide
its own suffering, e.g., when your friends assume you can attend a
conference, or pay for lunch). I am not trying in any way to trivialize the
suffering involved with being a person of color in a white world, which
pertains regardless of income.

My point is that middle class whites tend to be oblivious of the advantages
of BOTH their race and class. It is both income AND race that gives them the
privilege of choosing where to live. And I think it is very important for
them to recognize that they are "doubly privileged." Maybe triple or more if
they are Christian (especially Protestant), English-speaking (without an
accent), heterosexual, able-bodied, young,   "beautiful," Anglo-European,
acculturated to white middle class "manners" and values, professional, and so
forth.

I might add, however, that middle class people of color who have gained some
distance from lower class roots (perhaps 2 or more generations beyond) are
also sometimes oblivious of their class privilege (which, I re-emphasize, is
NOT the same as middle class white privilege). Clarence Thomas and Shelby
Steele come to mind here, along with many others whose names I don't recall,
and people I know personally who aren't famous. Money DOES confer important
advantages even on people of color--regardless of the fact that these
advantages are much fewer compared to those of middle class whites.

When someone dies of malnutrition or other disease because they were unable
to buy the proper foods, or dies because they were unable to pay for the
proper medical treatment, or gets killed in a drive-by shooting because they
can't afford to live in a low crime neighborhood--black or white (or any
other "race"), they are equally dead. Yes, the probabilities of that
happening are less if you are white than if you aren't. But statistics don't
make the suffering any less for the person who dies, nor for the families who
lose a loved one. The statistics don't ease the sense of rage and
powerlessness, nor the depression that derives therefrom.

Georgia NeSmith
gnesmith  AT    aol.com

I don't remember the name of the researcher, but I heard the same piece.
The research was being done in support of a law case in which the plaintiff
said he was discriminated against because of race, and the defendant said,
"That's ridiculous -- how could I discriminate when I didn't even *see* the
guy?" and the plaintiff's response was that it was because he "sounds
black."  The researcher himself was a black man with a well-cultivated
middle-American accent, but good ability to code-shift.  He started the
research by doing calls himself, using his "black" and "white" speech
styles, and recorded the results.  (Apartments his "white" voice was invited
to view of course mysteriously turned out to be already rented when he got
there in person).

There was also an interview with a judge uneasy about allowing evidence of
this kind to be introduced in courts.  He called the assumption that you can
tell a person's race on the phone a kind of "profiling."  The point of the
research was that the average person believes that certain speech styles are
"white" and "black" (and so can use them to discriminate), even if they
occasionally make mistakes and assign somebody to the wrong category on the
basis of speech.



-----Original Message-----

At the NWSA Conference in Mpls. I gave a paper that is a reapplication of
McIntosh's various work on privilege entitled, "Teaching About Being an
Oppressor: Some Personal and Political Considerations," wherein I list 25
largely "negative advantages" I can count on as a white male in our society.
The piece is forthcoming in next month's issue of Men & Masculinities, so I
would be happy to forward a copy of it then to any interested parties.
Please contact me privately.

Cheers,

Steve

SPSCHACHT  AT    AOL.COM

Georgia NeSmith <gnesmith  AT    aol.com> wrote:

>2. If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or
purchasing
housing in an area that I can afford and in which I would want to live.
3. I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be
neutral
or pleasant to me. <

This piece is well worth reading, and I am sure the more extended
article, for which one must pay, would be also. But I want to make one
little quibble.  While I can identify in all 24 other items McIntosh
lists regarding white privilege, these two do not apply to me as a
white person on a tiny, fixed income. They most definitely don't apply
to other whites on limited incomes, either.  --------- This is why I
use this article as a teaching tool with an exercise. I provide
students with the shorter list version. Then I ask them to get into
groups and come ups with a list of five other "privileges" in the
categories McIntosh discusses, as well as privileges around ability,
and economic class. This gives us an opportunity afterwards to discuss
the integration of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and
ability in processes of oppression and privilege. I also then tell the
students some of the other privileges McIntosh lists in the longer
version. I find it is an excellent tool if used with this kind of an
exercise, but of course it has to be supplemented with other material.

******************************************
Heather Howard-Bobiwash
University of Toronto

<<As you have pointed
out, race privilege affects how a white person is treated by the police,
store owners, etc. Another example>>

Though this may be a regional situation, I think it should be pointed out
that money is far more the issue, in my experience...  having sat recently on
a grand jury and observed police behavior towards numerous individuals, there
was a clear bias locally against *rednecks* which seems to be any white
person with an appalachian drawl and reddish-blond features along with
indications of poverty...

The other really disturbing observation was the unrestrained bias against
poor women, totally regardless of color...  color made absolutely no
difference...  and it wasn't just reserved for the accused -- witnesses and
victims --  nor were the judgements those of whites alone...

At least in some parts, the list does not hold water....   lack of money and
any hint of pregnancy (or risk thereof) were the determinants in a month's
worth of cases...
J. H. Raichyk, PhD