Society’S Views Colored By Privilege Speaker Says Whites Can’T See They Receive Benefits Of Race

A middle-aged woman with a kind face and her hair in a bun spelled out a truth that made the crowd in the college auditorium rumble.

The woman talked about the advantages that come with being white.

She assumes her credit card will be accepted without question. She feels welcome and normal in public places and institutions. She doesn’t have to prepare her children for systemic racism for their own protection.

“When people of color make identical comments that I make, they are called `militants,’ `resentful,’ described as having a chip on their shoulder and not being able to get over the past,” the woman said.

That’s a privilege she was born into.

“I didn’t ask to be born with this color of skin,” said Peggy McIntosh, a nationally known educator. “The whole point has nothing to do with blame or guilt.”

Instead, she shows how others can use their privileges to change things.

McIntosh came to Spokane Community College Saturday to start a daylong “conversation about race,” organized by Churches Against Racism.

About 200 people attended, including church leaders, educators and community activists.

“I came because I’m very concerned about the increase of hate crimes in our area,” said Joyce Wright, a retired social worker and president of Church Women United. “This gives you a new way of approaching and thinking about it.”

“It’s about reseeing,” agreed McIntosh.

McIntosh teaches at the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women in Wellesley, Mass. That’s where, 20 years ago, she first realized the extent of white privilege.

Each spring, a fight would break out as the staff set the curriculum. She’d suggest classes on new areas of women’s studies. Her male colleagues would say there wasn’t room.

The men were nice. It didn’t seem oppressive.

Later, she read an article that discussed how black women considered white women oppressive. That didn’t seem right, McIntosh said, “because we’re nice.”

Then she made the connection. She began listing the privileges she had that black co-workers at her college lacked. She included the list with an essay titled, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.”

“I can talk with my mouth full without it being attributed to my color,” she said Saturday. “I can speak in public to a powerful group without putting my race on trial.

“I was raised to never see these points. Those who are privileged can see these the least.”

To identify these things as privileges undercuts the “myth of meritocracy,” she said. It attacks the notion that in our democracy the doors are open to everyone.

“Doors had opened for me due to no virtue of my own,” she added. “Whole groups have been given opportunities they haven’t earned.”

But in knowing that, McIntosh told the crowd, positive change can be made.

After her talk, people broke into groups to share their stories about race-related privilege. Sitting in the back row of the auditorium, Martina Whelshula, a member of the Colville Tribe, beamed.

“It was nice to see so many white Americans in there,” she said. “Usually when someone talks about race, mostly minorities attend.”