Thesis: Although Wente provides compelling arguments in favor of the steady of deterioration of white privilege; her argument is lack of generalizability and cannot be taken into account outside of Canada.
1.Wente’s article The Original Sin of White Privilege uses logical reasoning, anecdotal and a statistical example to argue that the concept of white privilege is deteriorating in Canada.
a)Arguing that Canada has been working hard and doing an effective job at enacting educational policies that provide minority groups with equal opportunity.
b)Quoted writing: “Canadian schools have long been preoccupied with social justice. As the schools became secularized, they replaced the old doctrines of morality and Christian duty with the new
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She only provides three examples, only one of which is statistical to back up her point, which does not seem like enough to discern white privilege as “a thing of the past”. Three examples are normally enough.
b.Canada is an example of a country that prides itself on its multiculturalism, enacting policies that promote equality on all fronts. Her argument only accurately applies to Canada, which makes the generalizability of her argument rather weak.
c.Not only is her sample size very small, but using Canada as an example demonstrates the use of “clustering bias”. As she is over estimating the significance of a few examples. This also lends to the lack of generalizability, affecting the credibility of her argument.
Concluding remarks: Ultimately, Margaret Wente’s article “The Original Sin of White Privilege” is a missed opportunity. Had she decided to present this information with more statistical evidence and less anecdotal evidence her argument would have been stronger. This is a highly controversial topic that calls for the use of several examples in order to provide the reading with a clear and compelling
“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
Growing up as an African-American you are always taught to be twice as good. Twice as good as the white people to receive the same treatment as them. I grew up hearing this same phrase constantly but never really understood exactly what it meant until I got old enough to actually see the kind of world we are living in. The author of the article, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” Peggy Mclntosh, took as step into shoes of black America and found that white privilege not only exist, but many whites are blind to it. She gives a clear argument about how white privilege is harmful to our society and how we can work together to fix this.
Peggy McIntosh wrote this article to identify how her white privilege effects her life. Each statement is written as a privilege that Ms. McIntosh does not need to consider or fear as a white woman. From financial credibility to national heritage, this article makes a valid point regarding the way white people can be arrogant and naïve when the same treatment is not being given to their neighbors, coworkers, and peers. There can be two responses when reading this. The first would be a person of color. They will appreciate the attempt at realization of what white people take for granted. The second would be the reality that smacks the white people in the face when they realize how true all 50 statements are. Once this begins to sink in, many will start to broaden their competence realizing the unfair treatment of the people in this world. Moving down the timeline, we can see how the acknowledgement can mend broken relationships. Owning the reality and doing something to change it can give the people of different races the treatment they deserve (McIntosh,
The Indian Residential schools and the assimilating of First Nations people are more than a dark spot in Canada’s history. It was a time of racist leaders, bigoted white men who saw no point in working towards a lasting relationship with ingenious people. Recognition of these past mistakes, denunciation, and prevention steps must be taking intensively. They must be held to the same standard that we hold our current government to today. Without that standard, there is no moving forward. There is no bright future for Canada if we allow these injustices to be swept aside, leaving room for similar mistakes to be made again. We must apply our standards whatever century it was, is, or will be to rebuild trust between peoples, to never allow the abuse to be repeated, and to become the great nation we dream ourselves to be,
Systemic discrimination has been a part of Canada’s past. Women, racial and ethnic minorities as well as First Nations people have all faced discrimination in Canada. Policies such as, Charter of Rights and Freedoms, provincial and federal Human Rights Codes, as well has various employment equity programs have been placed in Canada’s constitution to fight and address discrimination issues. Despite these key documents placed for universal rights and freedoms Aboriginal and other minority populations in Canada continue to be discriminated against. Many believe there is no discrimination in Canada, and suggest any lack of success of these groups is a result of personal decisions and not systemic discrimination. While others feel that the legislation and equality policies have yet resulted in an equal society for all minorities. Racism is immersed in Canadian society; this is clearly shown by stories of racial profiling in law enforcement.
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
In the featured novel “Crimes of colour: racialization and the criminal justice system in Canada” the authors, Wendy Chan and Kiran Mirchandani illustrate their view points of Canada`s Criminal Justice System and how race and crime are connected. The first chapter, “From Race and Crime to Racialization and Criminalization,” addresses the connection that ‘race’ in Canadian Criminal Law is not really defined but rather it is viewed as a ‘trait’ possessed by individuals and groups (12). The authors want to argue the shift from “race” to racialization and “crime” to “criminalization”. They want to focus on the process of race and “highlight the historical influences of colonization and conquest in shaping the ideological frameworks developed around categories of race” (12). This concept of racialization allows one to understand racial meanings and other social forces like political, economic, religious factors. Also defines groups that were not previously defined as ‘races’ are now are able to consider the various
Doing research about the existence of white privilege, I found two articles with the opposite point of view on related information. Although both authors are Caucasians, they have completely opposing opinions about the existence of the white privilege. While Peggy McIntosh is trying to spread awareness to Caucasians in regards to their own privilege, Duke wants them to understand that they are in the same position as all other races. He explains that the awareness of “white privilege” is only a fallacy that causes feel of guilt without foundation.
Welsh et al. (2006) used data from the research focus groups of Canadian women to discuss the issue of sexual harassment among Canadian women and how the white Canadian women, who are mostly heterosexual, define sexual harassment and rape (objective) versus how the women of color define their experience of rape and sexual harassment in workplace (subjective). According to Welsh et al. (2006), he discussed how race, gender and citizenship are important factors in how Women of color with and without citizenship right define sexual harassment and rape. Sometimes as race and sometimes sees it as an experience they will pass through at some point or the other in their lives and most times they failed to report because of their legal statues, fear, pity, guilt, love, ignorance, lack of education. He also discussed how they fail to pay attention to the interlocking aspect of race and citizenship and how the legal system failed to give as much attention to the few reported case of rape by women of color because of their passed sexual history. While on the other hand, the white Canadian Woman defines her experience of rape and harassment not as a race but as what the author failed to discuss. The white Canadian woman knows when the boundary is crossed and most times do not contemplate to express her legal rights.
White privilege is real in America. In a country built by the white man for the white man, It is hard to say it doesn’t. I do believe white privilege is something that we are accustomed too. We have lived with it for so long, we tend to ignore. It is up to each person individually to try and make society equal. We need to stop acting like these issues are not real problems in our society.
Tim Wise’s book White Like Me provides a picture of what it is like to be white in America. A main topic covered in White Like Me is white privilege. On pages 24 and 25 Wise illustrates what white privilege is and shares his opinion regarding how to address white privilege in society today. Wise’s plan for addressing white privilege is one not of guilt, but of responsibility, a difference Wise highlights. The concept of feeling guilty for white privilege lacks reason because white privilege is something built up through generations and its existence is not of any one person’s fault.
She also recognizes them as being “invisible”. They don’t realize that they have this advantage over everyone else. Even though the majority of the text is about white privilege, she does also reference male privilege. She states that “. I saw parallels here with.
Fleras, A., & Elliott, J. L., Unequal Relations: An Introduction to Race, Ethnic and Aboriginal Dynamics in Canada.1996. Scarborough, Ontario: Prentice Hall.
White people have been known to have an “advantage” in today’s society. One of these advantages
The United States of America has a long history in dealing with racism as both a main and underlying conflict in its society. This has led to the development of “White Privilege”, the concept that people considered “white” by American society get preferential treatment merely based on skin tone (Russo). Those that disregard the existence of “White Privilege” believe that civil behavior, academic achievement, and stable homes, not skin tone, bestow privileges upon individuals (O’Reilly). However, this is untrue, as a recent report from Young Invincibles, an advocacy group geared towards young adults, found it was easier for white college graduates to receive jobs when compared with colored college graduates.