White Privilege Knapsack

Peggy McIntosh, in 1989 developed a list that she called the "White Privilege Knapsack." She explains:

I had been taught about racism as something which puts others at a disadvantage, but had been taught not to see one of its corollary aspects, white privilege... I have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets which I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was 'meant' to remain oblivious. White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, assurances, tools, maps, guides, code books, passports, visas, clothes, compass, emergency gear and blank checks.

This list is 50 items long. And it is a brief list of the many more options that could be available for understanding the for changing. I am sure that there would easily be more. I do not list them all out of respect for copyright, (I hope that the educational nature of this blog will keep me out of trouble).

One that specifically caught my eye for the leadership was this:

37. I can be pretty sure of finding people who would be willing to talk with me and advise me about my next steps, professionally.

In my denomination finding someone who is willing to help you through the system of ordination is incredibly valuable. I realize that I was easily able to find someone of my own race to help me through this process. I furthermore realize that finding someone of my own race did not appear that they were trying to help me to get more of their race in ordained ministry.

Some others pieces of white privilege that have intersections with religious leadership include:

38. I can think over many options, social, political, imaginative or professional, without asking whether a person of my race would be accepted or allowed to do what I want to do.
39. I can be late to a meeting without having the lateness reflect on my race.
40. I can choose public accommodation without fearing that people of my race cannot get in or will be mistreated in the places I have chosen.

Peggy McIntosh explains that the most insidious part of white privilege is the pervasive ignorance white people have of the benefits that their skin tone gives them. As Juana Bordas in Salsa, Soul, and Spirit explains “If you are unaware of something, or do not recognize that it exists, you cannot address it.”

I have been aware of this list for quite a while. I have used it to teach students gathered for social justice groups. I have even made sure to reread it at least once a year, just to remind myself of what being a white American earns me without realizing it. It’s to live in the awareness of my privilege.

Yet, I didn’t personally apply it to my ordination path. To me, this has made me less immune to the very privileged idea that “Yeah, I know all of this already” and reminded me of some of the unearned benefits that I carry with me. It's good to make sure that I remain aware of the work that I need to do in order to recognize the privilege that I have.