Episode 161: White Privilege (Peggy McIntosh, Charles Mills, et al) (Part One)

Summary: Is the rhetoric of "White Privilege" just the modern way of acknowledging historical and systemic truths of racism, or does it point to a novel way for acknowledging injustice, or does it on the contrary obscure these insights by involving confused claims about group responsibility and guilt?<br> We are rejoined by guest <a href="https://twitter.com/law_writes" target="_blank">Law Ware</a> to discuss several sources, some less formal than others. Cultural sources included:<br> 1. <a href="http://code.ucsd.edu/pcosman/Backpack.pdf" target="_blank">Peggy McIntosh: "Unpacking the Invisible Backpack"</a> (1989)<br><br> 2. <a href="https://youtu.be/N4w9UnE4FLY" target="_blank">Tim Wise: "White Like Me" documentary</a> (2016)<br><br> 3. <a href="https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/12/24/dear-white-america/" target="_blank">George Yancy: "Dear White America"</a> (2015 editorial in the NY Times The Stone)<br><br> 4. <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/15/the-privilege-of-checking-white-privilege.html" target="_blank">John McWhorter: "The Privilege of Checking White Privilege”</a> (2015 editorial in the Daily Beast)<br> Academic articles included:<br> 1. <a href="http://shifter-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/mills-white-ignorance.pdf" target="_blank">Charles W. Mills: "White Ignorance"</a> (2007)<br><br> 2. Lewis R. Gordon: "Critical Reflections on Three Popular Tropes in the Study of Whiteness" (2004) (From <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415966167/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0415966167&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=theparexalif-20&amp;linkId=a2eb5e7f3eea0770b101db1501b307ff" target="_blank">What White Looks Like</a>, George Yancy, ed)<br><br> 3. Lawrence Blum: "<a href="http://www.faculty.umb.edu/lawrence_blum/publications/publications/A57.pdf" target="_blank">White privilege: A mild critique</a>" (2008)<br> You may wish to first listen to <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2012/03/17/episode-52-philosophy-and-race-dubois-mlk-cornel-west/" target="_blank">our initial foray into philosophy and race</a>, where we talked about DuBois, MLK, and others.<br> Continued on <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2017/04/03/ep161-2-white-privilege/" target="_blank">part 2</a>, or get your full, ad-free <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2017/03/26/ep161-white-privilege-citizen/" target="_blank">Citizen Edition</a> right now with your PEL membership. <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/support" target="_blank">Please support PEL</a>!<br> McIntosh picture by <a href="http://ollehalvars.com/" target="_blank">Olle Halvars</a>.<br> Check out the St. John's College Graduate Institute: <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/sjcgi" target="_blank">partiallyexaminedlife.com/sjcgi</a>. Visit <a href="http://talkspace.com/examined" target="_blank">Talkspace.com/examined</a>; use code "EXAMINED" for 30% off your first month of online therapy. Go to <a href="http://audible.com/PEL" target="_blank">audible.com/PEL</a> to listen to those books you've been meaning to read.<br>