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The P Word. Privilege that is. The word that no one really wants to talk about. Or knows how to talk about it. Privilege is defined broadly as “a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group.” But privilege can take many different forms and benefits or disadvantages varying across identities. In my project, I’m going to be exploring mainly my White privilege as a White woman living in the United States. White privilege is similarly defined as societal privilege that benefits white people over non-white people in some societies or how Peggy McIntosh defines it, “an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was "meant" to remain oblivious” (McIntosh, 1988). I’ve increasingly become aware of my White privilege and simultaneously uncomfortable with it. I was first properly introduced to the concept of White privilege Sophomore year of college when I took a course by one of my favorite professors, Jamie Moshin, labeled Whiteness in the Media. However, my family and I have benefited from White privilege ever since I was born. I just didn’t know the official word for it.
Over Winter break, I read a truly eye opening book called Just Mercy. It was about the mass injustice incarceration that we currently have in the United States. I learned about individuals who were getting a life sentence, the death penalty, or were wrongfully convicted. Individuals who were put in adult prison at the ages of 8 or 13, who had been living their entire lives behind bars or were sentenced to be executed. I became more keenly aware of the racial injustice balance in the prison systems. One of every three black boys and one of six Latino boys born in 2001 will go to jail or prison if current trends continue. I was also so unsettled that I had never heard of the atrocities of our criminal justice system. Yes, I would see the work Kim Kardashian was doing via Instagram or learn about prison reform vaguely in a sociology class, but I had never truly understood the depth of this problem. When figuring out what to do my project on, this topic stuck with me and I couldn’t shake it. I realized that due to my White privilege, and social class I hadn’t been personally affected by these policies and problems ingrained in our legal system. The theories and lessons of White privilege, White fragility, and White guilt from Jamie Moshin’s course began to percolate into my reasoning as to why Just Mercy had such a profound impact.
In Professor Moshin’s Communications course, I read Peggy McIntosh’s renowned essay titled “White Privilege, Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” I was inspired and uncomfortable when reading it, realizing that many of her daily effects of White privilege were actions that I resonated with. If speeding, I’m usually not worried to get pulled over and if I do, I don’t fear for my life. When I look at movies, tv shows, or commercials I can most definitely count on seeing my race showcased on the media type. I increasingly became aware of the privilege I had in the U.S. solely based on the color of my skin.
For my project, I decided to write a set of personal essays inspired by a couple of Peggy McIntosh’s 50 Daily Effect of White Privilege. Each of my personal essays begins with one or two of her daily effects that inspired that piece. I wanted to delve deep and begin to understand my position as White woman in American society and how that identity has benefited me. I plan to analyze mostly my race, but as you will see throughout my pieces many different identities shine through including gender, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic class. This is purposeful and inevitable because privilege and White privilege take on different meanings for different people. In these essays I am solely writing about my experiences as I know privilege is going to look and sound very distinct for every individual. I hope to reflect on my experiences and also educate others about White privilege through the power of storytelling. My goal is that my audiences leave this site feeling more aware, empathetic, compassionate, and able to educate others in the process. In order to break the molds of White fragility and guilt, we must strive to learn. As uncomfortable it can be, this is the first step in this process.
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