Peggy Mcintosh's Essay 'White Privilege'

Privilege is an unearned advantage or a type of pleasure that is given to someone, and at some point everyone has had some kind of privilege. However,some people receive more privileges than others. These people are mainly white men. In Peggy McIntosh’s essay, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” she argues that there is a white privilege that is unknown and that those who benefit from it should acknowledge it. This is mainly directed at those who have white privilege and do not know it. She forwards her argument primarily through her appeal to reason with her extensive definition of white privilege, the use of a long list full of concise points, and her word choice to try to inform the audience of white privilege.
Through her definition of white privilege and her references to her academic experience, McIntosh begins to convince the audience that white privilege is something that really exists. The first few paragraphs of her essay are directed to her definition of white privilege.Her goal in including her definition of white privilege is so that the reader can understand what white privilege is. Since her audience is those who have this privilege but don’t know it, she needs to be sure that they understand what …show more content…
The list that she creates has a strong emotion. She does a good job of making the reader to experience a sense of disbelief by giving so many of her personal examples. It gets the reader to reflect on the privileges they may have. It can also provoke a feeling of guilt because someone could have all of these privileges when many others do not. The size of the list also helps show that white privilege is a real thing. With less examples I believe that it would be harder for the reader to believe in white privilege. This list helps create the feeling that so many of the things that people take for granted are things that others do not