I find Dr. Peggy McIntosh's article "White People Facing Race: Uncovering the Myths that keep Racism in Place" very helpful in understanding how racism and white privilege are both denied and perpetuated. The five myths she discusses are: 1. "The Myth of Meritocracy is the myth that the individual is the only unit of society, and tha…
I find Dr. Peggy McIntosh's article "White People Facing Race: Uncovering the Myths that keep Racism in Place" very helpful in understanding how racism and white privilege are both denied and perpetuated. The five myths she discusses are: 1. "The Myth of Meritocracy is the myth that the individual is the only unit of society, and that whatever a person ends up with must be what he or she individually wanted, worked for, earned and deserved." 2. "The Myth of Manifest Destiny includes the idea that white people were intended by God to take the lands of indigenous people and others in order to possess the whole of what is now the continental United States." 3. "The Myth of White Racelessness is the notion that white people do not have race or racial experience. In this view we [whites] are just "normal." 4. "The Myth of Monoculture is that there is one American culture and that we all experience it more or less the same way." and finally 5. "The Myth o White Moral Elevation, also called internalized superiority." Here is the link to the entire article. https://nationalseedproject.org/images/documents/peggy/Peggy_McIntosh_White_People_Facing_Race.pdf What this tells me is that we won't address the biases in our systems - in the law, medical care, etc. -- until we face these myths and acknowledge their impact in distorting our society and culture. Here is Peggy's TEDtalk on How to recognize your white privilege — and use it to fight inequality. https://www.ted.com/talks/peggy_mcintosh_how_to_recognize_your_white_privilege_and_use_it_to_fight_inequality Whites as a whole do not recognize their white privilege.
In her TEDtalk, Dr. McIntosh’s description of a hypothetical, imaginary line of social justice above which is unearned advantage (privilege) and below is unearned disadvantage reminds me of another hypothetical, imaginary line that I have been using for years to guide my life.
I don’t remember who to credit or where I learned the analogy of using the airline pilot’s system of correcting flight course drift to an imaginary line. The essence is that when the plane drifts off course due to outside forces like wind, the pilot makes a conscious decision to turn the plane back on to the correct course - the imaginary line - thus always moving forward to the desired destination.
In our household we call this the squiggly path. You are never off the squiggly path. When you realize the current direction your life is taking is not in line with your desired destination, it is time to make a correction. You make a conscious decision to turn your life back towards that imaginary line and keep moving forward towards your desired destination.
Whether it’s losing weight, managing your career, raising children, selecting college classes, planting a garden, being kind - respecting the squiggly path and making the necessary corrections along the way will get you where you want to end up.
Seems to me that Americans (and people around the globe) are beginning to see the hypothetical, imaginary line of social justice and are working to make course corrections to get us where we want to be. And that’s a good thing. Not an easy thing. But a good thing.
I like your analogy, and it's something I wish was accurate. It seems to me, however, that like most analogies, it neglects the completely corrupt, hateful and immoral people who populate the party of Trump. The only way this Squiggly Path works for the Trumpery sort is if we accept their destination as desirable which, of course, it is not!
Myth #3 is the one that floors me. Many discussions with decent, intelligent people who think this way. My approach is to ask "how in the world do you make decisions then?" They generally ask what do I mean. "How do you know what kind of music you like, or what clothes to wear when? How do you know what foods to eat, or what kind of store to shop at? What to call your mother and father? How to carry a child? When it is appropriate to walk into a neighbor's house without knocking? How to define god/gods/whatever? I can go on and on, but at some point most people start to get it, and actually starting to realize that they do have a culture and that other cultures may have different answers. Or they get mad because they truly still don't get it, and therefore have no way to grasp how other people think and live.
Myth #3 is a good explanatory as to why white people are the only power structure that are racist. Because they “invented” the power structure and have never felt the effects of the affect they created.
One cannot accuse a person of color as being racist.
It’s a bit mind blowing. When I wrapped my head around it, it shut me up for awhile and got me listening a whole lot more.
"Myth #3 is a good explanatory as to why white people are the only power structure that are racist..." Really??? I must be misunderstanding what this seems to assert because this white who has lived in another culture that is not white, indeed has seen and experienced a racist power structure. Racism is not unique to the Caucasian race.
When I first moved to Alaska I was walking down the street one day and a car full of Native American men pulled up beside me and started harassing me. "HEY! WHITE GIRL! pick up your feet" and other taunts. It was shocking as I had never experienced it before. It was not particularly hurtful as I do in fact identify as a white "girl", they were laughing and having a bit of fun at my expense, and I didn't feel "threatened" as to violence. At one time it was called "reverse racism". Nothing reverse about it, and not limited to white folks. As shocking as a one time incident in my life was, can you imagine how hurtful it would be to be called N____ or Squaw, and being hated or bullied by people who do not know you at all as a person, but see you only through the lens of your race, and having this be a constant occurrence? Something I recently saw labeled as "racial gas lighting".
Racism is unique to the race that creates the power structure that is based not on equity or fairness.
My apology. For this discourse, I was referring only to this country.
The white race decided the black race was definitive enough by color to use that characteristic to create opposite rungs on the ladder of wealth and opportunity.
The race at the top do not experience that effect. Thus, white privilege.
This is true. In multi-cultural San Francisco, people seek out preschools that represent their culture and beliefs. In this city that is probably representative of every nationality, race and culture, I still saw groups of preschool children walking along the street consisting of only one race/nationality. People still choose to voluntarily segregate themselves by culture/race, and this applies to people of other nationalities and color, who prefer not to be with whites.
I agree with your thought re: culture/race and I’d add language and values. I find this true in may own life. I will not practice zen by sitting in an Asian temple, because it is culturally foreign to me. The most segregated time of one’s life in America is “Sunday mornings”, or the time of celebrating the spirit, which of course is universal. I’ve celebrated mass at a Mexican church, BUT without knowledge of Spanish and customs, I and my wife felt as outsiders. AND, I can empathize with ethnic families not wanting their child to be immersed with American children, especially young boys. My judgement here is that young American males adopt aggressive behavior of their male role models.
The desire to feel comfortable and safe is archetypal. We are tribal creatures.
I agree, especially with your statement that begins with "I can empathize with ethnic families . . . ." American children can seem wild to an outsider. Many American boys parrot anything they see on television, and emulate aggressive behavior. They may be too young to reflect or understand, but their parents are not too young. They seemingly accept this behavior as normal.
Without thinking, people accept whatever pervades their childhood culture, and accept it as normal and true. Myth #3, the myth of white racelessness, embodies the myth of white sameness. It fails to acknowledge differences in cultures among white people in America, and fails to respect cultural heritages of white people/POC who came from other countries, or whose parents/family came from other countries. It assumes that the "American way of doing things" is the right and only way. For example, the American legal system has an idea of how children should be raised, and it assumes that what are traditionally American beliefs are normal and healthy and should be applied to all white/POC cultures, and anything different from that is "wrong." - - Although every white culture is probably guilty of this.
This tension in the air we all breathe is indeed this dynamic of accepting the racism in our culture, history, family and one’s own life. As soon as I admitted I have a racist view (that ‘others’ are different and less than), I have been able to embrace this and open to loving the other.
I 've had the delight of being a guest in her a number of times. Yes, she is wonderful and amazing. Her husband is an MD at Boston Children's Hospital. In the 90s he coordinated all the world wide research on Aides in children. Good people making a big difference in the world!
If you absorb the written word better than the spoken word, like me, there's a link below the video of her TEDtalk for the transcript. Listening to a long discourse often results in mind wander; I find it a lot easier to backtrack and reread if/when I want to further consider something 'said'.
I find Dr. Peggy McIntosh's article "White People Facing Race: Uncovering the Myths that keep Racism in Place" very helpful in understanding how racism and white privilege are both denied and perpetuated. The five myths she discusses are: 1. "The Myth of Meritocracy is the myth that the individual is the only unit of society, and that whatever a person ends up with must be what he or she individually wanted, worked for, earned and deserved." 2. "The Myth of Manifest Destiny includes the idea that white people were intended by God to take the lands of indigenous people and others in order to possess the whole of what is now the continental United States." 3. "The Myth of White Racelessness is the notion that white people do not have race or racial experience. In this view we [whites] are just "normal." 4. "The Myth of Monoculture is that there is one American culture and that we all experience it more or less the same way." and finally 5. "The Myth o White Moral Elevation, also called internalized superiority." Here is the link to the entire article. https://nationalseedproject.org/images/documents/peggy/Peggy_McIntosh_White_People_Facing_Race.pdf What this tells me is that we won't address the biases in our systems - in the law, medical care, etc. -- until we face these myths and acknowledge their impact in distorting our society and culture. Here is Peggy's TEDtalk on How to recognize your white privilege — and use it to fight inequality. https://www.ted.com/talks/peggy_mcintosh_how_to_recognize_your_white_privilege_and_use_it_to_fight_inequality Whites as a whole do not recognize their white privilege.
In her TEDtalk, Dr. McIntosh’s description of a hypothetical, imaginary line of social justice above which is unearned advantage (privilege) and below is unearned disadvantage reminds me of another hypothetical, imaginary line that I have been using for years to guide my life.
I don’t remember who to credit or where I learned the analogy of using the airline pilot’s system of correcting flight course drift to an imaginary line. The essence is that when the plane drifts off course due to outside forces like wind, the pilot makes a conscious decision to turn the plane back on to the correct course - the imaginary line - thus always moving forward to the desired destination.
In our household we call this the squiggly path. You are never off the squiggly path. When you realize the current direction your life is taking is not in line with your desired destination, it is time to make a correction. You make a conscious decision to turn your life back towards that imaginary line and keep moving forward towards your desired destination.
Whether it’s losing weight, managing your career, raising children, selecting college classes, planting a garden, being kind - respecting the squiggly path and making the necessary corrections along the way will get you where you want to end up.
Seems to me that Americans (and people around the globe) are beginning to see the hypothetical, imaginary line of social justice and are working to make course corrections to get us where we want to be. And that’s a good thing. Not an easy thing. But a good thing.
Thank you for this… Golden Rule part two!
As a pilot this strikes home with me. I'll use this idea to keep my life on course. Thank you.
Fabulous thinking.
If I may, I'd like to adopt this great analogy into our household. Just brilliant!
Squiggly line. Perfect. Thank you.
I like your analogy, and it's something I wish was accurate. It seems to me, however, that like most analogies, it neglects the completely corrupt, hateful and immoral people who populate the party of Trump. The only way this Squiggly Path works for the Trumpery sort is if we accept their destination as desirable which, of course, it is not!
Two great posts in a row
Cannot help but embrace this way of thinking 💙
Myth #3 is the one that floors me. Many discussions with decent, intelligent people who think this way. My approach is to ask "how in the world do you make decisions then?" They generally ask what do I mean. "How do you know what kind of music you like, or what clothes to wear when? How do you know what foods to eat, or what kind of store to shop at? What to call your mother and father? How to carry a child? When it is appropriate to walk into a neighbor's house without knocking? How to define god/gods/whatever? I can go on and on, but at some point most people start to get it, and actually starting to realize that they do have a culture and that other cultures may have different answers. Or they get mad because they truly still don't get it, and therefore have no way to grasp how other people think and live.
Myth #3 is a good explanatory as to why white people are the only power structure that are racist. Because they “invented” the power structure and have never felt the effects of the affect they created.
One cannot accuse a person of color as being racist.
It’s a bit mind blowing. When I wrapped my head around it, it shut me up for awhile and got me listening a whole lot more.
"Myth #3 is a good explanatory as to why white people are the only power structure that are racist..." Really??? I must be misunderstanding what this seems to assert because this white who has lived in another culture that is not white, indeed has seen and experienced a racist power structure. Racism is not unique to the Caucasian race.
When I first moved to Alaska I was walking down the street one day and a car full of Native American men pulled up beside me and started harassing me. "HEY! WHITE GIRL! pick up your feet" and other taunts. It was shocking as I had never experienced it before. It was not particularly hurtful as I do in fact identify as a white "girl", they were laughing and having a bit of fun at my expense, and I didn't feel "threatened" as to violence. At one time it was called "reverse racism". Nothing reverse about it, and not limited to white folks. As shocking as a one time incident in my life was, can you imagine how hurtful it would be to be called N____ or Squaw, and being hated or bullied by people who do not know you at all as a person, but see you only through the lens of your race, and having this be a constant occurrence? Something I recently saw labeled as "racial gas lighting".
Racism is unique to the race that creates the power structure that is based not on equity or fairness.
My apology. For this discourse, I was referring only to this country.
The white race decided the black race was definitive enough by color to use that characteristic to create opposite rungs on the ladder of wealth and opportunity.
The race at the top do not experience that effect. Thus, white privilege.
No apology needed. I felt that I was missing something and you clarified it.
Thanks.
This is true. In multi-cultural San Francisco, people seek out preschools that represent their culture and beliefs. In this city that is probably representative of every nationality, race and culture, I still saw groups of preschool children walking along the street consisting of only one race/nationality. People still choose to voluntarily segregate themselves by culture/race, and this applies to people of other nationalities and color, who prefer not to be with whites.
I agree with your thought re: culture/race and I’d add language and values. I find this true in may own life. I will not practice zen by sitting in an Asian temple, because it is culturally foreign to me. The most segregated time of one’s life in America is “Sunday mornings”, or the time of celebrating the spirit, which of course is universal. I’ve celebrated mass at a Mexican church, BUT without knowledge of Spanish and customs, I and my wife felt as outsiders. AND, I can empathize with ethnic families not wanting their child to be immersed with American children, especially young boys. My judgement here is that young American males adopt aggressive behavior of their male role models.
The desire to feel comfortable and safe is archetypal. We are tribal creatures.
I agree, especially with your statement that begins with "I can empathize with ethnic families . . . ." American children can seem wild to an outsider. Many American boys parrot anything they see on television, and emulate aggressive behavior. They may be too young to reflect or understand, but their parents are not too young. They seemingly accept this behavior as normal.
Absolutely!
Without thinking, people accept whatever pervades their childhood culture, and accept it as normal and true. Myth #3, the myth of white racelessness, embodies the myth of white sameness. It fails to acknowledge differences in cultures among white people in America, and fails to respect cultural heritages of white people/POC who came from other countries, or whose parents/family came from other countries. It assumes that the "American way of doing things" is the right and only way. For example, the American legal system has an idea of how children should be raised, and it assumes that what are traditionally American beliefs are normal and healthy and should be applied to all white/POC cultures, and anything different from that is "wrong." - - Although every white culture is probably guilty of this.
It assumes America IS white, all the rest interlopers.
This tension in the air we all breathe is indeed this dynamic of accepting the racism in our culture, history, family and one’s own life. As soon as I admitted I have a racist view (that ‘others’ are different and less than), I have been able to embrace this and open to loving the other.
💞
I appreciate you sharing your summary and the link to the article. Thank you.
Thanks for that, Cathy.
I like her TEDtalk. She’s a warrior.
Thank you for this Cathy.
Myth #3 is “blow it out of the water” for me.
Ditto
Thank You fir this, Cathy! Peggy McIntosh is amazing! Legislators should require THIS in school curricula!!
I 've had the delight of being a guest in her a number of times. Yes, she is wonderful and amazing. Her husband is an MD at Boston Children's Hospital. In the 90s he coordinated all the world wide research on Aides in children. Good people making a big difference in the world!
WOW!! I can feel their goodness through and through!
If you absorb the written word better than the spoken word, like me, there's a link below the video of her TEDtalk for the transcript. Listening to a long discourse often results in mind wander; I find it a lot easier to backtrack and reread if/when I want to further consider something 'said'.