Thinking Point #1: McIntosh and Muwakkil Readings

Peggy McIntosh: White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack and Salim Muwakkil: Data Show Bias Pesists in America

Premise:

• White's vs. People of color
• Racism
• Advantages vs. Disadvantages
• Privleges
• Sex
• Dominance
• Oppertunities
• American lives
• Society
• Success
• Failure
• Studies
• Acceptance
• Jobs

Authors Argument:

McIntosh and Muwakkil argue that white Americans believe that racism is no longer an issue in today's society, even though there are still many everyday advantages given to whites.

Evidence:

1. McIntosh-- "As a white person, I realized I had been taught about racism as something that puts others at a disadvantage, but had been taught not to see one of its corollary aspects, whites privilege, which puts me at an advantage" (1).
2. McIntosh-- "I can easily buy posters, postcards, picsture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys, and children's magizimes featuring people of my race" (3)
3. Muwakkil-- "A study found that applicants with white-sounding names were 50 percent more likely to get called for an initial interview than applicants with black-sounding ones".

Questions/Comments/Point to Share:

I really enjoyed Paggy McIntosh's, White Pribilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, because it was not only an interesting read that was very detailed, but it also was easy for me to understand. Out of all the piece I have read (so far) in my FNED class this would have to be my favorite. McIntosh points out everyday situations in which most white American take for grandted. There was one particular example she gives that really opened up my eyes and it was, "I can chose a blemish cover or bandage in "flesh" color that more or less matches my skin tone" (4). McIntosh not only made her point but also gave a lot of examples the certainly helped me understand.

However, Salim Muwakkil's, Data Show Racial Bias Persists in America, I did not really enjoy his piece as much as I did McIntosh's. Muwakkil's piece is too straightforward. He just consistantly lists statistics but never really gives an everyday experience that his readers can relate to. It was certainly a good read and the two articles related to each other well, however, McIntosh's just seemed to grab my interest more.