The Weight of Expectations: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

Reflection #4: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack After reading this article, I couldn't help but laugh. Even if it is out of date, as a minority female who faces the challenges that white privilege presents on a daily basis, this article only reiterates the ideas that the masses of supposedly 'active' and 'progressive-thinking' whites laud so proudly. They talk about raising awareness, bringing people together from all walks of life, of connecting across the borders of race or sex, or societal standing, and then go home feeling accomplished, as though simply talking over these things with other whites somehow magically counts as a making a difference. They try new things or act as though they are more aware of the status quo that exists under white privilege, but never see it through to the extent of actually changing in the long run. For whatever reason, the longevity of the supposed 'enlightenment' of whites in regards to the privileges that they have ingrained within the expectations and treatments of those of their kind never last longer than the immediate reparation of the current most pressing cause. After everything has been said and done, people may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel. Thus, even though these clumsy attempts at overtures in new tones occur, because they do not last longer than the first major block in the road, those on the receiving end know not to have faith in the overtures and no real progress is ever made. This article has failed to challenge any of my perceptions of society, privilege, or societal privilege. It literally only reiterate the experiences that I have had with people who think they are being 'progressive' or unbiased. The thing is, having something in the forefront of one's mind and thinking wholly about it creates the same results as not thinking about it. In the huge pressure to not do what everyone else has been doing, and to try not oppress or invalidate those of different standings than oneself, one inevitably pays MORE attention to such differences. With this article, the author acts as a righteous sign post leading the way towards more progressive settings where everyone is equal and the recognition of ingrained privileges has occurred. But as a sign post, nothing can really be changed. If no one follows the sign, the sign is rendered useless. This is how her article seems to me. She points in the direction of what should occur, emphasizes the 'invisible' privileges that whites have always had but ignored, and says 'this is the right way, follow my direction,' but without ever putting forth an actual executable plan of action. Her message reads much the same. She explains the changes that need to be undergone, underscores the importance of conscious change, and yet never really talks about how it will be implemented in reality. The idealism of the whole thing strikes me as exceptionally naive, especially coming from someone who has all the privileges. In my experience, it has only been difficult for someone to bring up the idea of white privilege provided they were one of two things: white and thus privileged, or not white and rapidly invalidated and called racist or biased. This in itself only furthers the inability of whites to approach the subject in a constructive manner aimed at the actual dismantling of white privilege. Privileges that I have been privileged to acquire tend to fall into a couple categories. Either those bestowed by my family on trust or merit-based grounds, or those society deems appropriate based on my ethnicity or Asian expectation. This then leads to a higher supposed capability or credibility than necessarily accurate, especially in regards to mathematical or scientific subjects.