Assignment 3: Unpacking the Invisible backpack

Part 1:
Please follow the link below and read Peggy McIntosh's "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Backpack"

http://www.isr.umich.edu/home/diversity/resources/white-privilege.pdf

You can learn more about Peggy McIntosh here.

Part 2:
Respond to the list of questions below.  This should not be formatted as an essay - just respond to each question as it is numbered.

1) This essay was written more than 20 years ago, what items on the list do you think are outdated?  Pick at two and explain why you think they are outdated.

2) Just as the world has changed over the last 20 years to make some of the items on the list out-of-date, there have been changes that will add to the list.  Can you think of at least one example of white privilege that is not on the list?  State that example and explain.

3) What are some other identities that might lead to unearned privilege?

4) Briefly, consider the idea of unearned privilege against the meritocracy ideology.  How is what Dr. McIntosh wrote contradicting the meritocracy ideology?

Please bring your answers to class on Monday, November 4, 2013.

Social Construction of Race resources.

Please watch the video below of Rick Kittles (Director, Institute of Human Genetics, Associate Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and Biostatistics atUniversity of Illinois at Chicago) explaining the difference between race and ancestry

Some other resources on Race as a social construction:


The PBS special "Race - The Power of Illusion" has a quiz about race
http://www.pbs.org/race/001_WhatIsRace/001_00-home.htm

  And a nice list of things to know about Race.
http://www.pbs.org/race/000_About/002_04-background-01-x.htm

UnderstandingRace.org has some nice resources too:
http://www.understandingrace.org/humvar/index.html

The MIT Race-Sci website has a lot of very interesting links:
http://web.mit.edu/racescience/links/