Peggy Conntosh Skin Color Privilege Analysis

So, the stage is set, but what really is skin-color privilege anyways? In her poignant 1998 essay, Peggy McIntosh postulates her understanding of white privilege by comparing it to male privilege (a force that outs her at a disadvantage), comparing her white privilege to an “invisible knapsack” full of supplies denied to people who don’t possess the same privilege. She also stresses the importance of understanding that people of less privilege deserve some aspects of privilege whilst people with privilege need to have some privileges taken away from them (ex. the expectation to always be surrounded by depictions of people of their race) (123-129). Her acknowledgement that privilege is unearned and bestowed upon birth reveals both its faults and history. Although privilege is unearned from birth and cannot be rejected, that does not mean people with and without privilege have no say in its continuance. Skin-color privilege is a specific type of privilege prevalent in all communities and is especially rampant and powerful in western society. In western society the racial hierarchy is often generalized: white people sit at the head of the pyramid with people of color underneath them. Although white privilege is the main demon in the …show more content…
Furthermore, many different conclusions can be made from the earlier statement. One can assume that the emergence of skin-color privilege is due to European imperialism and colonialism or one could wrongly assume it was due to western culture emerging without influence or knowledge of people of color. When I think of classical figurative (containing a human figure) art images like Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer, and The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli. What doesn’t come to mind is Paolo Veronese’s Judith and Holofernes or one of the plentiful adaptations of a bible story picturing the brown magi arriving at jesus’