Sunday, February 2, 2014

Privilege's We Can't Control

I chose the article "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" by Peggy McIntosh.

Reflection: Just the other day I was at a store where I had to use my new debit card. My other one had been hacked and I was scammed out of almost all my money and it was a huge ordeal so I had to get another card. I had or thought I had activated the card prior to using it but apparently I hadn't and was so embarrassed when my card was declined but the lady was so nice about it after I explained what had happened and ended up just paying cash. After reading this article and all the privileges McIntosh talks I realized that had a been of a different race the women behind the counter probably would've judged the fact that my card was declined and wouldn't have believed my activation dilemma.  


This article really made me think about all the different scenarios I've been in where if I was of a different race I would probably have been treated differently. It's this white privilege that we are unaware about until we actually think about it and look at things from another persons perspective. If I was out to dinner I might get served quicker as a white human as opposed to people of other races and the waitress might be a lot nicer to me.  I know that's not always the case and I could be totally wrong but I guess that's because I am white and haven't had to experience people treating me worse because of my skin color.

The website where that picture came from is http://unfaircampaign.org/ and is actually filled with cool stuff!

3 comments:

  1. Kelly! I lovee that picture you found and that site is extremely interesting. Where I work many different races and cultures come in and some think we treat them differently. Just a few days ago was the First of the month which means the government puts money on all of the EBT cards. Anyways, there was a white elderly lady who used her EBT card and then her debit card for cash. Since she put her pin in I did not have to check the card. The next customer in my line was a twenty year old black male. He did the same and put his EBT card though and then his credit card for cash, except he choose credit so I needed to check his card and identification to make sure they matched. However, the man ended up screaming at me and saying I was "racist" since I did not ask the lady for hers. After trying to explain the situation he was still screaming, resulting in police coming. The police officer instantly went up to me when the yelling had been over for a while. So I asked the police officer why he would come up to me and he said "Hun, look around your the only white one in this entire place". For a police officer to say something like this surprised me to no end, and makes me realize how "screwed up" this world is. Back to you though, I love the post and hope your credit card starts working again! :)

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  2. Wow, it IS everywhere. I too work where I engage with people from all walks of life. Personally I really believe I make no judgements. My roll is to help my customers in any capacity required. What I do experience (and this is ongoing) is sexual harassment, that comes as second nature to a couple of men who work for different employers, but who's shifts frequently overlap with mine. What do I do about it? If they approach me physically I hold my hand up and get back to what I am doing. If' it's verbal I do my best to pretend I didn't hear them. The day I give notice? A tornado will hit.

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  3. Hey Kelly! I really like your blog and how it's set up! I totally agree with your post and I really liked the website you posted. It really connects with this article and has a lot really good information! Nice job! :)

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