Descriptive Characteristics Of My Identity

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Merriam-Webster defines privilege as a right or immunity granted as a peculiar benefit advantage or favor specifically attached to a person or a group. I would say my faith in God has given me privileges over others. I would say my humble attitude gives me privilege over others I would go as far as saying just the way I speak gives me privileges over others. Yes the radiator the alternator the engine the interior design of a person may allow them to have privileges over others. However I would not categorize any of those traits as ascriptive characteristics of my identity. A black male that is the body the framework of this 1996 Chevy Impala known as Michael Williams. I am male but I am not black I am half African-American half Filipino and …show more content…
All kinds of people from every walk of life come in through Ellis Island they have been since 1776 and New York has never been a cheap place to live so they usually settle to the North or to the south in Jersey where Peggy McIntosh and I grew up. I say all this because maybe because of the diversity in New Jersey when I was growing up I have never experienced a lack of privileges that are mentioned in Peggy McIntosh white privilege. I believe Peggy McIntosh has the boundries of stereotypes and privileges a little diluted. For example I have been looked at as the common black kid for majority of my life based solely off of my framework. Although there are many common stereotypes about black men the one that always shows up specially during times of recreational activity is that black men are naturally exceedingly good at basketball. That would be a stereotype although I am very good at basketball it did not come naturally or because of my skin color. A privilege from that would be a guaranteed spot on the team which I did not get. My freshman year of high school our basketball team consisted of only four black males and the rest were other …show more content…
W e b Dubois speaks in great detail about the invisible system in The Souls of Black Folk. "The history of the American Negro is the history of strife". But even Dubois was starting to see the deterioration of the invisible system. "The South believed an educated negro to be dangerous and the South was not wholly wrong for Education among all kinds of men always has had and always will have an element of danger and revolution". I believe this is necessary to point out because it goes from being something dangerous when applied to a single ethnicity to something that is dangerous when applied to everyone. What I am saying is that America is progressing out of the invisible systems and racism is becoming more and more individual acts of meanness. In conclusion I have never experienced obligations privileges or lack of privileges due to physical characteristics that I may have now. I 'm not saying that those systems in which others were given privileges obligations or lack of privileges due to ascriptive characteristics never existed or do not exist in some small way

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