In her now-famous essay White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, (Links to an external site.) feminist scholar Peggy McIntosh shows how the continuity of white supremacy is helped along by a toolbox of invisible privileges (unearned benefits) that white people mostly dont see because they dont have to. In some cases, people of color are keenly aware of their lack of access to these privileges; in others, they may have been exposed for so long to the dominant white supremacist paradigm that they may not be aware of the extent of the inequalities (this phenomenon is a key component of internalized racism and internalized colonization).

After reading through the list, which of these privileges were obvious to you? Which had you not considered before? How do you think your own racial and/or ethnic identity contributed to what surprised or didnt surprised you?

(By the way, I’m asian and an international student)