Talking Points #1

Article #1

Peggy McIntosh

White Privelege: Unpacking the Invisable Knapsack

McIntosh argues that white people are taught to think of their lives as normal. They consider themselves average and benefits to people will allow "them" (colored people) to be more like "us" (white people).

1. "I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege." Page 1

I think that this quote pertains to the article because it basically sums up the entire article. White people are taught to see that nothing is wrong in the world because they are white and therefore are not without privileges. By this I mean that, white people could never say they had no privileges because they were taught that they have them and people of color do not. The same goes for men and women.

2. "If these things are true, this is not such a free country; ones' life is not what one makes it; many doors open for certain people through no virtues of their own." Page 4

I like this quote because it shows that people get "lucky". If a white baby is bron into the world they almost automatically have more opportunities that when a black baby is born into the world. This is due to the simple fact that white people do not have to deal with the hardships that a black person would have to endure.

3. "In my class and place, I did not see myself as a racist because I was taught to recognize racism only in individual acts of meanness by members of my group, never in invisible systems conferring unsought racial dominanc on my group from birth." Page 5

This is the last quote I picked because it also sums up the entire article. White people are simply not taught to see a difference in whites vs. blacks. A white person will never consider themselves as a racist because they only think that a racist person has to do with someone showing meanness to an individual of a different race. That is not always the case and this quote shows that whites cannot understand that.

I liked this article because it really allowed me to understand why some white people just cannot fathom the idea that they might be a little bit racist. They cannot understand that they don't have to act in a mean way towards someone to be racist. It can just be a small comment that a couple of guys call each other. It's still a form of racism. I just don't think its appropriate because it is racism in a nutshell.

Article #2

Salim Muwakkil

Data Show Racial Bias Persists in America

Muwakkil argues that racism is not over and that the claim that is it over was made by conservatives of the civil-rights movement.

1. "'Do you feel that racial minorities in this country have equal job opportunities as whites, or not?' Fifty-five percent of whites polled said yes. Other polls have revealed similar numbers"

This is crazy! I can't believe that the majority of white people think that there is little to no racism in the world anymore! Are people that ignorant? Apparently yes!

2. "The 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. What's more, higher resumes provided little advantage for black applicants."

I truely am not surprised at this statement. Things are still not right in the United States although many think that this does not exist anymore, RACISM STILL EXISTS IN THE UNITED STATES!!!! If I was a black person, I would give my newborn baby a white sounding name for the simple fact, it may give them a headstart in the world. Am I wrong to say this? Or is it a great idea?

3. "Those who assert we've arrived at a colorblind society are blinding themselves to reality."

I found this a little confusing because I did not know how to really read this statement but what I think it says is that, people who believe that racism doesn't exist anymore are really only blinding themselves from the truth of the matter.

I thought this article was good but it made me mad. I just cannot understand how people, mainly white people, think that racism doesn't exist anymore. As a race, they have blinded themselves from the truth and become ignorant adults. Maybe this is why the world is the way it is. People refuse to see the TRUTH OF THINGS!!