Persuasive Essay On Invisible Knapsack

1118 Words3 Pages

I would explain the “invisible knapsack” to a friend as, an invisible bag full of guaranteed privileges. The privileges that mainly only white people get to access at any time such as jobs, classes, credit, housing, the ability to walk into to the store and not be followed around because they think you are going to steal the clothes, the ability to walk into a restaurant and be served in a efficient manner and not poorly because they think you are not going to tip them. You are able to pull any privilege out of your invisible knapsack to use at anytime. However, this invisible knapsack is mainly for the whites and males to use more freely than others in my personal opinion. Do not get me wrong everyone has an “invisible knapsack”. I as a single half black mother I have recently been awarded some privileges that married mothers are not able to access such as the pell grant, calfresh, calworks and four C’s. In the past I was not awarded many privileges because I was married and we made too much money; but in reality we were living paycheck to paycheck and could really use some help with food and child care expenses. If I had to explain to friends and family why it is important to examine your own invisible knapsack. …show more content…

I would say you need to be aware of your invisible knapsack because you are so oblivious to the privileges you are awarded based on your class, race, sexuality, gender that you do not realize that you can see yourself as being oppressed when you are really the oppressor or vise

Show More
Related

  • Essay On Post Racial Society

    1009 Words  | 3 Pages

    “White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools and blank checks” (McIntosh, 172). White privilege is all around us, but society has been carefully taught

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Scott Sanders 'The Men We Carry On Our Minds'

    485 Words  | 1 Pages

    In “The Men We Carry On Our Minds,” Scott Sanders uses binary thinking to perceive things that affect him from a holistic perspective; however, he fails to take into account that his position as a white male grants him unearned privilege. Sanders essay addresses multiple identities, unearned privilege and binary thinking. Thesis?

    Read More

  • White Privilege Unpacking The Invisible Knapsack Analysis

    460 Words  | 1 Pages

    In her article, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” Peggy McIntosh writes about the privilege white individuals get without noticing it. McIntosh talks about how whites are taught to not recognize their privilege. McIntosh having a background in Women’s Studies, she also talks about how men have more privileges than women, yet they rarely recognize it. In the article McIntosh claims that “After I realized the extent to which men work from a base of unacknowledged privilege, I understood that much of their oppressiveness was unconscious.”

    Read More

  • Unpacking The Invisible Knapsack Summary

    733 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dr. Peggy McIntosh looks at white privilege, by “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” She describes white privilege as almost a special check or coin that she gets to cash in on. Dr. McIntosh tells that white privilege has been a taboo and repressed subject – and that many white people are taught not to see or recognize it. However, she is granted privileges (McIntosh 30). Dr. McIntosh goes on to describe twenty-six ways in which her skin-color grants her certain privileges. In example twenty, she describes how she can buy “…posters, postcards, picture books…” and other items that “…feature people of my race” (32). Additionally, in her first example, she talks about being able to be in the “company of people of my race most of the time” (McIntosh 31). Instances in which a privilege person would not even recognize unless they were looking, show evidence for white privilege. People take these advantages for granted because they simply expect them. Due to the lack of melatonin in her skin, she was granted privileges and her skin served as an asset to her. Dr. McIntosh conveys how her privilege is not only a “favored state,” but also a power over other

    Read More

  • Jonathan Kozol's Still Separate, Still Unequal

    1074 Words  | 3 Pages

    Money is something that ties in with white privilege because they have access to better schooling which means better jobs and more money. A poor African American or a minority person who lives in an urban setting has to take what they get because they do not have the money or the resources to pick and choose which school they would like to attend, so they are already one step behind the privileged kids. In addition, Peggy McIntosh article “White Privilege: The Invisible Knapsack,” she states “As a white person, I realized I had taught about racism as something that puts others at a disadvantage, but had been taught not to see one of its corollary aspect, white privilege, which puts me at an advantage” (537) McIntosh is saying that throughout her youth she realizes with resources or not, the privilege is given unto her whether she earn it or not because of her race. What she means is that society’s look on race and not their background and think that white people gain more privilege than black people which is

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Nickel And Dimed

    1019 Words  | 3 Pages

    Millions of Americans work full-time, day in and day out, making near and sometimes just minimum wage. In 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them in part by the welfare claim, which promises that any job equals a better life. Barbara wondered how anyone can survive, let alone prosper, on $6-$7 an hour. Barbara moved from Florida to Maine to Minnesota, working in the cheapest lodgings available and accepting work as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing home aide, and Wal-Mart salesperson. She soon realizes that even the lowliest occupations require exhausting mental and physical efforts and in most cases more than one job was needed to make ends meet. Nickel and Dimed reveals low-wage America in all of its glory, consisting of

    Read More

  • The American Dream In Ann Petry's The Street

    1185 Words  | 3 Pages

    Take McIntosh’s “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” into account. McIntosh describes white privilege as invisible things that we are taught not to see. For example, Mrs. Chandler, who employs Lutie as her maid. Mrs. Chandler has an advantage over Lutie, which puts Lutie at a disadvantage. People of the dominant society like the Chandlers have a “pattern running through the matrix of white privilege” (McIntosh), a pattern of assumptions that were passed on to them as a white person.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Crooks Loan Money

    1945 Words  | 4 Pages

    Lenders loan money. They try not to give it away. Places that give it away are called charities. If you fall behind on your payments, you will learn quickly that banks aren 't charities. Lenders also like to look at your payment history. Some people pay every payment on time. Banks love these people. They are considered low risk. Their credit scores are high. Everyone smiles when they think about these people. Some people pay every payment. They 're just not really very picky about when they get it paid. Banks kind of like these people because they get their money and make a little extra from late fees. They create extra work for the bank employees, but at least they get more money for their troubles. Other people eventually pay the loan,

    Read More

  • Imagine A Country Summary

    688 Words  | 2 Pages

    The two articles that had a profound impact to my understanding of race, class and gender in the United States was White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh and Imagine a Country by Holly Sklar. McIntosh explains the keys aspects of unearned advantage (a privilege that one group hold over another) as well as conferred dominance (the act of voluntarily giving another group power) and the relationship that these factors hold when determine power of a social group. Additionally, the purpose of McIntosh’s article was to demonstrate the privilege that certain individuals carry and how that translates to the social structures of our society. Furthermore, conferred dominance also contributes to the power of the dominant group

    Read More

  • White Privilege Essay

    941 Words  | 2 Pages

    White privilege is a concept that many people are unfamiliar with, but not because they do not benefit from it. In the paper “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh, argues that white people have an advantage over those of other races, though most are completely unaware of it or simply take it for granted. Her recognition of white privilege came from the concept of male privilege. She says that she looked at that concept and realized there was certainly something similar to it in regards to race (McIntosh, 1988, 11). This paper has great importance to the function of society.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Finder's Keepers

    331 Words  | 1 Pages

    What would you do if you found $100 on the street? Would you keep it or try to find the owner? The December 2017 and January 2018 Scholastic Scope debate “Finders Keepers?” was written to see the opinions of the readers. Two kids happen to find $100 on the street, Jack says that keeping the money is the right thing since they didn’t steal it. But, Leah on the other hand would like to find the owner of the money. Therefore, it is wrong to keep the money and the owner of the money is probably concerned. We must try to find the owner, if we don’t try it might be against the law. Even though people would “keep” the money that doesn’t make it right.

    Read More

  • Ethics In Interpersonal Communication

    1602 Words  | 4 Pages

    I try to be self-aware. I know that though I am a member of several marginalized groups, I still have privilege. I have privilege since I am heterosexual, able-bodied and right-handed. I am an American citizen, fluent in English. I have had the opportunity to go to college. I have medium brown skin which gives me privilege over someone with darker skin.

    Read More

  • Women In Invisible Man

    758 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Invisible Man, White men take advantage of societal inequalities to retain their power and strip away the identities of inferiors; therefore, both women and African Americans suffer from oppression and invisibility due to White men’s infatuation with control.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Identity Theft

    710 Words  | 2 Pages

    Over the last ten years people in the United State and around the world have heavily relied more on their debit or credit cards to process transactions of their purchases. In the old days it used to be when you would get your paycheck on Friday and rush to the bank during your break or lunch in order to cash withdraw your funds or deposit them into your account. It used to be where you carry cash to buy groceries, pay bills, and go shopping. Now some people don’t even set foot inside their bank branch because they are paid using direct deposit or the funds are loaded into a debit card provided by their employer. Many employers from around the globe don’t even issue paper check anymore. Bills are often times paid online, babysitters are accepting electronic payment such as PayPal and even food trucks now take electronic payments. According to a Washington Post column by Michelle Singletary society and businesses embrace using cashless ways to pay for things than the old time traditional “cold hard cash”. In my opinion there should still be cash circulating out in the world. My first ...

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Poverty

    1213 Words  | 3 Pages

    Poverty is in our own backyard. Poverty isn’t turning around a globe and looking toward third world countries for an example. Poverty is everywhere. Poverty is the children down the street who go to bed hungry each night filled only with emptiness. Poverty is my neighbor who had her heat shut off this past winter. However I believe that poverty is preventable.

    Read More

More about Persuasive Essay On Invisible Knapsack

Open Document