We're Not Running the Same Race: White, Male Privilege

Credit: Emanu 

When it comes to discussing intersectionality and marginal identities, race plays a huge role in many of the topics that we've explored throughout the semester. Along with discussing race, the topic of white privilege has also come up. White privilege can be described as the unearned advantage that benefits white people over non-white people. (McIntosh, 1989). While the discussion of white privilege in the media has become more prominent today, the topic still needs to be discussed due to newer movements, such as the new white nationalist movement. 

The cartoon above is succinct and clear, as it illustrates white privilege by acknowledging the centuries of the inherited privilege advantage that white people have over non-whites. While the man's lane is almost completely clear and has little hurdles, the woman's lane is covered in difficult obstacles that could injure her. She even has a shackle around her ankle, which symbolizes slavery. This could also become a metaphor for the ways in which non-whites feel in society today: still being held down by institutional and systematic racism that happened hundreds of years ago. 

The fact that the man is basically downplaying the woman's track also plays into male privilege. According to McIntosh, male privilege is the advantage that benefits males over females. (McIntosh, 1989). It's difficult enough for someone who is non-white to navigate the world as we know it today, but multiple marginal identities, like being an African American woman, make it even more difficult due to the denial of white privilege and male privilege. Unless they have experienced these disadvantages, a gap of understanding still remains between someone who has these privileges and someone who does not. 

Artifact Type: Cartoon

Works Cited

McIntosh, Peggy. (1989). “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” Race, Class, and Gender: Intersections and Inequalities. Ed. Margaret L. Andersen, Ed. Patricia Hill Collins. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2019. 67-71. Print.