White%20Privilege:%20Apparent%20in%20Society%20and%20Conveyed%20Through%20Film

1
White Privilege Apparent in Society and Conveyed
Through Film

• Slide Show by Drew Adams

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White Privilege Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

• Peggy McIntosh

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White Privilege Outline

• Peggy McIntosh Unpacking the Invisible
  Knapsack---Key Concepts (10 min)
• White Privilege in Film (8 min)
• White Privilege as apparent in America
  (5 min)
• Review and Questions (2 min)

4
McIntosh White Privilege

• I have come to see white privilege as an
  invisible package of unearned assets which I can
  count on cashing in on one day, but about which I
  was meant to remain oblivious.
  -McIntosh (71)

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McIntosh White Privilege

• Privilege is sometimes inherent and almost always
  unrealized
• In most cases oppressiveness is unconscious and
  unacknowledged
• Many silences and denials surrounding white
  privilege are key political tools
• Great pressure to avoid but in order to face
  privilege one must give up the myth of
  meritocracy

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Advantages Associated With White Privilege

• One can easily be in the company of members of
  the same race
• When moving into a new house one can be somewhat
  sure neighbors will be pleasant
• Most likely not get hassled by store security
• See people of same race positively represented

• Pride that your race created national heritage
• Children will be taught of the existence of their
  race at every grade level
• Easier to perform simple business aspects from
  white to white
• Can find culturally traditional foods

7
Advantages Associated With White Privilege (2)

• Skin color does not work against financially
  reliable appearance
• Can protect children most of the time from people
  who may not like them
• Able to see police as allies
• Able to swear or wear second hand clothes without
  it being attributed to bad morals or poverty

• Can speak in public without having race play an
  issue in audiences minds
• Can do well in a situation without being
  considered a credit to my race
• Never asked to speak on behalf of entire race
• Can remain oblivious to other cultures without
  being looked upon harshly

8
Advantages Associated With White Privilege (3)

• Can criticize government and society without
  being seen as a cultural outsider
• Person in charge is generally of the same race
• Generally do not get singled out because of race
  (traffic tickets or tax audits)
• Can easily buy objects featuring own race
  (posters, greeting cards, dolls, etc.)

• Generally do not feel isolated in organizations
• Can feel free to take a job without it being
  suspect that it was only acquired do to
  affirmative action
• Easily seek public accommodation without fear
• Race will not work against legal or medical help
• Do not have to worry about situations containing
  racial overtones

9
McIntosh White Privilege

• I did not recognize myself as a racist because
  I was taught to see racism only in individual
  acts of meanness by members of my group, never in
  invisible systems conferring unsought racial
  dominance on my group from birth.

• Keeping most people unaware that freedom of
  confident action is there for just a small number
  of people props up those in power and serves to
  keep power in the hands of the same groups that
  have most of it already.

10
McIntosh White Privilege American Freedom

• Some of the power which whites come upon in
  society is thought of as being a freedom
  possessed by all Americanshowever it is still
  laced with unearned advantage and conferred
  dominance

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McIntosh White Privilege

• Whiteness is not seen as a racial identity
• Our daily lives are affected more by unearned
  power than any other silent condition.
• More must be done in order to identify where
  lives are effected the most so that changes may
  slowly begin

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McIntosh White Privilege

• Disapproving of the systems wont be enough to
  change them. I was taught to think that racism
  could end if white individuals changed their
  attitudes. But a white skin in the United
  States opens many doors for whites whether or not
  we approve of the way dominance has been
  conferred on us.
• --Peggy McIntosh (73)

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McIntosh White Privilege

• Whites are taught to think of their lives as
  morally neutral, normative, and average, and also
  ideal, so that when we work to benefit others
  this is seen as work which will allow them to
  be more like us.

14
White Privilege in America

• White privilege, like any social phenomenon, is
  complex. In a white supremacist culture, all
  white people have privilege, whether or not they
  are overtly racist themselves. There are general
  patterns, but such privilege plays out
  differently depending on context and other
  aspects of ones identity.

15
White Privilege in America

• When whites seek admission to a university,
  apply for a job, or hunt for an apartment, they
  don't look threatening. Almost all of the people
  evaluating people for those things are white.
  They see a reflection of themselves, and in a
  racist world that is an advantage. Even when
  whites voice critical opinions, they are given
  slack.
• --Robert Jensen

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Guess Whos Coming to DinnerRacial Stereotypes
and White Privilege
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Guess Whos Coming to DinnerRacial Issues and
Stereotype

• In the film, it appears generally more acceptable
  for a white family to live in a large home
• In the 1960s it is uncommon and a basis for
  stereotypes when a black man becomes a
  prestigious doctor
• Generally judged on skin color not character

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Guess Whos Coming to DinnerRacial Issues and
Stereotype (2)

• Inter-racial marriages looked down upon by both
  races
• Whites generally say one thing about privilege
  and stereotypes, yet often act another way
• Wide spread belief that inter-racial children
  would grow up without a race and live a rough
  life
• All blacks are grouped together, something one
  does effects the way another one is viewed

19
How Hollywood Portrays White Privilege

• Movies can and do portray many varied views
  dealing with white privilege and stereotypes
• Movies can reflect any and all stereotypes not
  necessarily that of society
• Hollywood directors are predominantly white,
  therefore white privilege has a large effect on
  our views
• Movies are one of the most commonplace sources
  for instilling unrecognized white privilege into
  society

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White Privilege in Film (2)

• The way race in the movies is dealt with has
  changed drastically throughout the years
  
  
• The numbers of minorities involved in the film
  industry has been on the rise for years
• Filmmakers are now dealing with and embracing
  white privilege and stereotypes in a forward way

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For example, in The Battle at Elderbusch Gulch
Indians are portrayed as

• Hostile outsiders
• Barbaric savages
• Always shot from a distance
• Portrayed so that audience feels no sympathy or
  compassion towards them

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More Recent Filmsthat take a forward approach to
stereotyping and privilege
23
White Privilege is often viewed as a/an _______
oppressiveness

• unconscious /straightforward/ conscious

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The comparison of white privilege to unpacking a
knapsack simply means whites are equipped with
________

• hate/ assets/ fear/ disadvantage

25
White Privilege Is Greater Depending on Other
Factors Such As Sex and Social Status True or
False?
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White Privilege in Society is _______

1. Earned through years of struggle
2. Inherited at birth and dependent upon parents
3. Granted by society for social status

27
Whites purposefully use their status to
discriminate upon minorities and place them lower
in society.

• T/F?

28
Will All Members of Society Ever Truly Be on an
Equal Playing Field and If So Is It a Question of
Time?