Peggy Mcinntosh White Privilege Analysis

Peggy McIntosh, author of the essay "White Privilege", gave a compelling argument and interview on the situation of race and how it plays in society. She discussed how white people don't address their "whiteness", the 5 impediments of US ideology, and the disadvantages of being a race other than white. Her argument is quite compelling and interesting to listen to, however, she used logical fallacies, making her argument weak.

First, she addresses how white people don't accept their "whiteness" and their race. We often say "I don't see color" or try to defend how they are not racist human beings by not accepting their white race. According to McIntosh this is wrong, we should accept our race because racism, inequality in government, and inequality in "the system" wasn't created by this generation, it was created by white people generations ago. She argues that accepting who we are and what our race is is the first step in to becoming enlightened with race and the inequality in society. …show more content…
This argument is very compelling because you can not deny the racial inequality that is still present today. She discusses how African Americans can't go out in to public without being watched by police officers and store employees. Or how a group of African Americans can't meet in large groups in public because they "are up to no good". These arguments are compelling but once again, logical fallacies are used. One fallacy that struck me was the slippery slope fallacy. McIntosh said that when a white person goes into a department store they are left alone but when an African American walks in they are bombarded with the question "may I help you" which according to McIntosh means, "can you leave the store". This is a major slippery slope fallacy since she truly does not no the motives behind the workers words or if she truly meant it that way, maybe she was concerned for the