2/18 toolkit response

The toolkit I chose was “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” In this reading, Peggy McIntosh discusses the ways in which white privilege is crafted into our way of life and culture. Some ideas she discussed that I found to be most interesting or new compared to concepts or ideas of white privilege that I have previously been introduced to, was the idea of how we have learned that racism is referring to outwardly racist or “mean” acts of hatred. We learn this because we do not hold ourselves accountable or responsible for things that we perceive are in the past, while failing to recognize that the same foundational racism that created America, has never left, and will not until we are able to dismantle racism as a principal part of the way in which white people thrive in our society, with little to no effort, comparatively to people of color. McIntosh discusses how her education played a large part in her understanding of racism at an early age. I was able to infer a lot about her education and her target audience. For example, in the first paragraph she introduces the topic of sexism and women’s rights. This was definitely introduced first on purpose, leading me to believe her target audience is white women, who for the most part are interested in white feminism (I am aware that that is a large generalisation, however when considering movements such as the Women’s March, where the majority of marchers were white women who are not the majority at Black Lives Matter marches, I think it is safe to say that these women who care about women’s lib, prioritize their own rights over the inequalities other people face, specifically in racial inequality). McIntosh knows the way to ensnare these women’s pathos is to bring up gender inequality and in this case, use it as a microcosm for systemic racism.