Power and Privilege - Essay Example

There are two major problems with Ms. McIntosh's ideas. First, she projects her own world on that of everyone else. While her 46 conditions are insightful, they are not representative of whites; because whites, like every other race and culture, cannot be summed up into a generalized expression. If someone were to make such sweeping observations about Hispanics, they would be racists; yet apparently McIntosh believes that it is okay to racist as long as your prejudice is directed at yourself. Take some of the language of the list, e.g., arguments with colleagues absent advancement limitations based on race, and apply that to whites living in Appalachia; there is no comparison at all.

Under her analysis, McIntosh is failing to add the privileges relative to a highly-educated and moneyed academic. Secondly, McIntosh's own list evidences the contradictory nature of self-projection. For example, number 35 refers to employment. In reality, there are many places where the hiring of a white female academic would be complete tokenism; say, at Howard University in Washington, D.C. The point is that making racial generalizations, even on oneself, is an illogical and inaccurate approach to power or privilege.

That which is observable is not necessarily causative.Discussion Point Two. Barbara Flagg has a similarly interesting bias in her own discussion of white supremacy imposition. I find it ironic that, for Flagg, whites are "impos[ing] white norms without acknowledging their whiteness" while other groups (say, the Gay/Lesbian Alliance) are encouraged to impose their norms while celebrating their sexual orientation. While Flagg might argue that this is simply an out-of-power group fighting to get their place at the table, one afternoon spent at the parades in San Francisco would demonstrate neither an out-group nor a lack of privilege.

I just don't buy the "our-race-won-the-war-so-we-should-feel-bad-about-it" logic, and this is an interesting phenomenon associated primarily with white academics. I doubt you will find a Hasidic Jew in New York feeling guilty about how his community treats Gentiles; it would never occur to him to feel bad that his forefathers beat the Irish immigrants to Brooklyn. Yet, no politically correct white person would dare to call this an abuse of power or privilege. That only applies to them.