I understand what Peggy McIntosh is explaining in her article, "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack." A lot of them are things I have taken for granted like most movies, dolls, toys, etc. representing white people. However, the problem I have with the term "white privilege" is I feel like it carries this negative connotation that all white people are completely ignorant when it comes to race, and all white people have easy, perfect lives because they are white. This is not an accurate definition of the term "white privilege," but it is the same reason many women refuse to identify as a "feminist" because they think being a feminist means they hate men. Then I started to think of the "Who Am I?" exercise we did and why I did not say I am white, and I realized it is for this very reason. I feel like there is shame in being white in today's society. Partially because of our history and partially because of this implication that because we are white we are ignorant to racial issues and we simply don't care because they don't affect us. However, for me personally, this couldn't be further from the truth, but I often feel that people who don't know me tend to make that assumption about me.
The fact that was most interesting to me in the sorting people activity was "Colorblindness will not end racism." I agree that we need to identify and remedy policies that advantage certain groups at the expense of others, but I feel we should do that because we are all humans, not just based on color, but based on the fact that we are all equal as humans. Maybe this statement that it is ignorant to be colorblind is true for the time being, but I really believe within the next 20 to 50 years so many different races are going to mix together that it is going to be virtually impossible to even accurately guess someone's race based on looks alone. If this occurs on the scale that I believe it will, I feel like then we may truly live in a colorblind world.
I agree that many people attach feelings of guilt and shame to to the term "White Privilege". Being white provides some advantages in our society but certainly doesn't guarantee an easy life. Especially in today's society, other factors like social class are eclipsing race. Unfortunately with regards to feminism, many people think that if you are pro-woman then you are anti-man. I think most feminists would agree that it is not about being "better" than men, but equal to men. I also definitely agree with you that it is hard to judge a person's race- especially if they are mixed race.
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