RUNNING HEAD: White Privilege

White Privilege Reflection Paper

Nonnie K Jones
Ivy Tech Community College

RUNNING HEAD: White Privilege

INTASC Standards Page

Standard #2: Learning Differences
The teacher uses understanding of individual differences and diverse cultures and communities
to ensure inclusive learning environments that enable each learner to meet high standards.

Name of Artifact: White Privilege Reflection Paper

Date: September 6th, 2015
Course: Education 255
Brief Description: For this assignment I had to complete a reflection paper on what I understand
after learning about whites privileges. In the reflection I will point out specific things that Peggy
McIntosh spoke about that helped me better understand that topic. I also include in the reflection
paper about the four different sources that I used in order for me to receive my information on
the specific topic.
Rationale: To document my understanding of the INTASC Standard #2, Learning Differences I
have completed a reflection paper about the privileges white people had. I will speak about all
the privileges that the whites were provided and what little privileges people of color was
provided. I will also speak about the emotions that came with whites receiving privileges.
Emotions from the whites and even emotions from the people of color.

RUNNING HEAD: White Privilege

INTRODUCTION
For this specific assignment, I was responsible to watch two video clips regarding Peggy
McIntosh. I was also responsible for reading a specific section of our class book, and an article
titled White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. I was responsible to do all those things
in order to do this assignment. With all the information from the various sources above would
allow me to complete a reflection over a serious issue, white privilege. I honestly never thought
too deep about this specific topic. It is obvious that in the past that white people had more
privileges however, I did not think this would be a current issue. It is clear to me after reading the
book, article, and viewing the videos there is something important to be learned on the topic.
RESOURCE SUMMARIES
1.) One resource I was required to use was the article by Peggy McIntosh, White Privilege:
Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. Peggy speaks a lot about white privilege in this
article. Peggy McIntosh is an obvious older white woman. However, in her article she
makes it extremely clear that she does not believe that she is a racist. She came to that
conclusion because she states that while growing up she was basically taught about the
issue. Peggy McIntosh was not mean to those around her that was considered different
however, she did get the same privileges that other whites received. Does that in fact
make her the same as all the other whites with privileges?
2.) Racism and White Privilege pages 18-20 section in the book speaks a lot about what
white people believed. For example white people truly believed that if the color of your
skin was white then that was the norm, but if it was a different color than white that
would be considered different. Also the whites had no remorse for how they felt or how
they were treated with privileges. In fact they took advantage of their privileges and did
not care to learn about multicultural teaching. A sentence that really popped out at me

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with this topic was, People of color already know that we dont live in a colorblind
world because they are never allowed to forget that they belong to a group that isnt
White. Pg. 20.
3.) My next source was actually a YouTube video. The video was called - How Studying
Privilege Systems Can Strength Compassion by Peggy McIntosh. Again Peggy McIntosh
is an older white woman. She speaks about a lot of knowledge on this specific topic in
this video. She speaks about this imaginary line, also called the hypothetical line of
justice. The line itself is fair however there is a below and above. Being above that line is
an advantage and below the line is a disadvantage.
4.) My last source for my reflection paper was another YouTube clip. This clip was called
White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. This was another clip by Peggy
McIntosh. In this video it was pretty much the same as the article from my above source.
However, this time instead of reading about her story I was able to actually hear it from
her. It was fascinating because Peggy decided to write down the effects on white privilege
every time one popped in her mind. She came up with exactly 50 effects and wrote them
all down. The majority of this video is that list that she wrote down.
PERSONAL REFLECTION/OPINION
This was an awesome topic to learn about. I am currently 21 years old and I did not live in that
generation where there was a lot of racism. I believe there is still racism in this generation but
definitely not as big as it was in the past. Growing up I had friends from all different races and I
was never taught that we were different. I only noticed that our skin colors were different but at
the end of the day we were all still human. I find this topic to be extremely important to be taught
and learned about for all generations, even those to come. However, as a future teacher I do not
want to be that teacher that is teaching colorblind. After reading this part of the book, Often

RUNNING HEAD: White Privilege

teachers will explain that they dont see race (or other differences) when they look at their
students; their teaching is colorblind. Pg. 19. Personally I do not believe that is the right way
to think as a teacher. I believe teaching colorblind makes you not see the differences each
student has and you should want to see the differences in your students. Not everyone is the same
so teaching colorblind is a terrible way to think to teach.
SUMMARY/CONCLUSION
In conclusion, learning about this topic has been amazing. Coming into this topic I did already
know a little knowledge, however it has definitely expanded with all the information and sources
that has been provided to me. I realize that I am privileged to be able to live in this generation
where there is so much more equality through all races. Yes, there still are issues but they are
definitely not as bad as it could be. I am thankful to have all the freedom and equality that I have.
I am excited as a future educator to educate other people on this same topic. I believe all this
information on white privilege gives me a better understanding and will in return help me
educate others on this topic.

REFERENCE PAGE

RUNNING HEAD: White Privilege

Tiedt, P., & Tiedt, I. (2010). The Changing Face of Multicultural Thinking. In Multicultural
teaching: A handbook of activities, information, and resources (8th ed., pp. 18-20). Boston:
Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.
McIntosh, P. (1998) White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.
Various Artists (2008, April 26) Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack [Video File]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRnoddGTMTY
TEDx (2012, November, 05) How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion
[Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-BY9UEewHw