After reading McIntosh’s list, my reaction was confusion. Some of the listed seems not a privilege but based on own belief and racial issues. Like the number six list where she stated, “when I am told about our national heritage or about “civilization,” I am shown that people of my color made it what it is”. I have to disagree about that because American’s history is not about a single particular race. There are also many famous African American historians like Martin Luther King Jr, President Barrack Obama, and. This reminds of me of an ethical issue like Anthropocentrism, – a belief that value is human-centered and other beings are means to human ends. I think most of the privileges listed make sense and accurate during the 1970s to 1980’s era of the civil rights movement. In that period, the movement was newly established, and people were still trapped with environment and ideology. I do not believe a majority of the list is relevant today.
As time goes by, the society is getting modern, people are more accepting and diverse. For instance, back then in Malaysia, I used to play sports like badminton, but in the US, that sports are rare and not popular. I do not think everyone else has the privilege to play their country’s sport or to eat their home country food. This example is a personal, cultural thing, cannot expect to have that privilege in other countries that do not have it. My reaction towards the videos was excitement, especially on Ben Shapiro’s video.
His logic and explanation were very true. Unconscious bias often happens outside beyond of our control. It always occurs automatically, and it triggered our mind to make a quick judgment. In addition, Unconscious bias is also more predominant, compared to conscious prejudice. I do believe implicit bias exists as a motivator of thought and behavior. Some studies and science reveal that implicit biases are part of human nature however, we must not follow our bad instinct. Studies also said that those feelings and thoughts that are always outside of conscious awareness and control.
In fact, what we think of things as “normal”, and what we consider common sense, intuitive knowledge rarely emerges from the inner truth-telling core. It is more likely that we are drawing from life experiences and the way in which these events interact and influence us. I consider racism, sexism, and discrimination are mostly an individual based problem. There are times where individuals associate together and make it into a structure, where organizations and institutions are set to be oppressive. Think many people pay less attention to their own personal problems and focus more on societal issues.
