White Priv­i­lege: Unpack­ing the Invis­i­ble Knap­sack, is an arti­cle by Peggy McIn­tosh on the invis­i­ble priv­i­leges of being white.

I was taught to see racism only in indi­vid­ual acts of mean­ness, not in invis­i­ble sys­tems con­fer­ring dom­i­nance on my group.

  • I can do well in a chal­leng­ing sit­u­a­tion with­out being called a credit to my race.
  • I can crit­i­cize our gov­ern­ment and talk about how much I fear its poli­cies and behav­ior with­out being seen as a cul­tural outsider.
  • I can worry about racism with­out being seen as self-interested or self-seeking.