White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

"...[W]hites are taught to think of their lives as morally neutral, normative, and average, and also ideal, so that when we work to benefit others, this is seen as work which will allow "them" to be more like 'us.'" If only those uppity Negroes would act more like us! Are there any white folks out there willing to admit that their lives in America are made easier simply because of their skin color? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

And speaking of Ferris Bueller, that fictional character could have only been a white kid; almost all of the things he did in the movie -- from hacking the school computer, stealing a car, impersonating a businessman, to bumrushing the mic on the parade float -- would have had him thrown under the jail had he been black. That invisible white privilege is celebrated and encouraged widely in pop culture.
Blogged: Monday, June 30, 2003

(warning: some of these links may have expired)

1. The escalating breakdown of urban society across the US
   (The Guardian UK)
   Blogged: Saturday, September 6, 2008
2. Kiss Me, I'm a Fashionable Bigot
   (Bitch Magazine)
   Blogged: Saturday, May 10, 2008
3. Tensions, Suspensions, and a Police Funeral in Philadelphia
   (New York Times Blog)
   Blogged: Friday, May 9, 2008
4. Colorblind generation struggles with race
   (Seattle Times)
   Blogged: Tuesday, April 8, 2008
5. The Color of Disaster Assistance
   (WashingtonPost.com)
   Blogged: Tuesday, August 29, 2006
6. The Whole Foods Effect
   (What's in Rebecca's Pocket blog)
   Blogged: Monday, July 24, 2006
7. Bush...Just One More Privileged, Soulless Person
   (ZNet Commentary)
   Blogged: Sunday, October 16, 2005
8. Howard Beach Redux?
   (Chicago Tribune)
   Blogged: Saturday, July 2, 2005
9. SAMBO'S BACK (IN JAPAN)
   (Poplicks.com blog)
   Blogged: Sunday, June 19, 2005
10. The Mathematics of Racism in China
    (the black China hand)
    Blogged: Thursday, March 17, 2005
11. The History of Jim Crow
    Blogged: Thursday, February 3, 2005
12. Willingham fired by Notre Dame after (just) three years
    (ESPN.com)
    Blogged: Tuesday, November 30, 2004
13. ABC apologizes for sexy Owens-Sheridan skit on MNF intro
    (SJ Mercury News)
    Blogged: Tuesday, November 16, 2004
14. Colin Powell meets feline doppelganger
    (Boston.com)
    Blogged: Wednesday, August 18, 2004
15. American Idol site reflects racism of society
    (Silver Rights blog)
    Blogged: Friday, March 19, 2004
16. Columbine-style attack averted
    (SF Gate)
    Blogged: Wednesday, February 11, 2004
17. Race only skin deep
    (Mercury News)
    Blogged: Monday, February 9, 2004
18. Report finds HPD frisks blacks 3 1/2 times more than whites
    (HoustonChronicle.com)
    Blogged: Saturday, February 7, 2004
19. Racist war of the loyalist street gangs
    (Guardian Unlimited UK)
    Blogged: Tuesday, January 13, 2004
20. Everyday items illustrate legacy of racism in U.S.
    (SJ Merc)
    Blogged: Sunday, January 11, 2004
21. Colorism taints African-American culture
    (Silver Rights blog)
    Blogged: Monday, January 5, 2004
22. White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack
    Blogged: Monday, June 30, 2003
23. Harlem woman's death in bungled raid a homicide
    (NY Daily News)
    Blogged: Wednesday, May 28, 2003
24. Heat and light around the 'N' word
    Blogged: Thursday, May 22, 2003
25. Racist E-mail attacks stun NYU biz students
    (NY Daily News)
    Blogged: Tuesday, May 6, 2003
26. Research on the prison industrial complex
    (PrisonSucks.com)
    Blogged: Monday, March 3, 2003
27. SFPD Guilty of Racism
    (New California Media)
    Blogged: Tuesday, February 4, 2003
28. Caught In Between.org
    Blogged: Monday, February 3, 2003
29. Dialogue begins about 'ghetto party'
    (Texas A&M Battalion)
    Blogged: Friday, January 24, 2003
30. Name Bias in Job Search
    (Netscape/CNN)
    Blogged: Friday, January 17, 2003
31. Bush: Affirmative action quotas unconstitutional
    (CNN.com)
    Blogged: Friday, January 17, 2003
32. Republicans Don't Really Care about Improving Race Relations
    (AlterNet.org)
    Blogged: Monday, January 13, 2003
33. One Color Contraceptive Does Not Fit All
    (AlterNet.org)
    Blogged: Monday, January 13, 2003
34. Academic: The Lord of the Rings rooted in racism
    (rediff.com)
    Blogged: Thursday, January 9, 2003
35. 3 Consonants And a Disavowal
    (Institute for the Study of Academic Racism)
    Blogged: Friday, December 27, 2002
36. 'Jimmy Crow' lives in racial/ethnic theme houses
    (djournal.com)
    Blogged: Thursday, December 12, 2002
37. Racism alive and well in the Union
    (kottke.org)
    Blogged: Friday, December 6, 2002
38. Study finds whites still fear integration - 11/22/02
    (The Detroit News)
    Blogged: Sunday, November 24, 2002
39. Fines for mobile use in NY cinemas
    Blogged: Thursday, November 21, 2002
40. Racism Defied
    (Black Britain)
    Blogged: Saturday, November 16, 2002
41. Racism Solutions Rumour
    (Black Britain)
    Blogged: Sunday, November 10, 2002
42. Are African Americans Resigning Themselves To Second Class Citizenship?
    (The Black World Today)
    Blogged: Thursday, October 17, 2002
43. Slovakia face fan ban over racism
    Blogged: Sunday, October 13, 2002
44. Fear of Whitey
    (Willamette Week Online)
    Blogged: Saturday, September 21, 2002
45. Study Finds Big Increase in Black Men as Inmates Since 1980
    (New York Times)
    Blogged: Thursday, August 29, 2002
46. TARGET: Retailing White Supremacy
    (Tolerance.org)
    Blogged: Wednesday, August 28, 2002
47. McDonald's sorry for burger blunder
    (Aftenposten (Norway))
    Blogged: Friday, August 23, 2002
48. U.N. report says racism on the rise worldwide
    (NJ.com)
    Blogged: Thursday, August 22, 2002
49. People can show prejudice unintentionally, study finds
    (The Record.com)
    Blogged: Wednesday, July 24, 2002
50. Racists, bigotsﾠ and other Morons
    (Anger Central)
    Blogged: Monday, July 15, 2002
51. Wildfire heats racial tension
    (SFGate)
    Blogged: Thursday, July 4, 2002
52. Whites take major roles in movies about minorities
    (Chicago Tribune)
    Blogged: Saturday, June 29, 2002
53. Do You Have Blacks Too?
    (IndyMedia Center)
    Blogged: Monday, June 10, 2002
54. Le Pen Pulls Upset in French Vote
    (Yahoo! News)
    Blogged: Monday, April 22, 2002
55. Abercrombie & Fitch to pull t-shirts with offensive portrayals of Asian-American
    (Mercury News)
    Blogged: Thursday, April 18, 2002
56. "Every thang's gonna be all white!"
    (Denver Post)
    Blogged: Friday, March 15, 2002
57. The Invisible Whiteness of the Olympic Beer Riot
    (AlterNet)
    Blogged: Saturday, March 2, 2002
58. Video games raise concerns over racism
    (CNET.com)
    Blogged: Wednesday, February 20, 2002
59. How to Tell Japs From the Chinese
    (San Francisco State University/Japanese American Internment Curriculum)
    Blogged: Wednesday, February 20, 2002
60. When Voice Recognition Leads to Bias
    (ABCNEWS.com)
    Blogged: Friday, February 8, 2002
61. Linguistic Profiling
    (ABCNEWS.com)
    Blogged: Friday, February 8, 2002
62. Fade to White
    (The Village Voice)
    Blogged: Sunday, January 27, 2002
63. Draft me!
    (Guardian Unlimited)
    Blogged: Wednesday, January 23, 2002
64. Poor White Racism
    (Infoshop News)
    Blogged: Thursday, December 27, 2001
65. KKK cross a Fountain Square no-show
    (Cincinnati Post)
    Blogged: Saturday, November 17, 2001
66. NAAWP
    Blogged: Saturday, November 17, 2001
67. Auburn University site shows racist images
    (Montgomery Advertiser)
    Blogged: Tuesday, November 6, 2001
68. Osamaﾒs New Recruits
    (The Village Voice)
    Blogged: Friday, November 2, 2001
69. Anthrax attacks now being linked to US right-wing cranks
    (Independent UK)
    Blogged: Monday, October 22, 2001
70. Whites-Only Press Conference at the White House
    (BlackPressUSA.com)
    Blogged: Tuesday, October 16, 2001
71. Sept. 11 Attack Narrows the Racial Divide
    (NY Times)
    Blogged: Wednesday, October 10, 2001
72. Two teenagers in Palo Alto assault Afghan owner of restaurant
    (SJ Mercury News)
    Blogged: Thursday, September 27, 2001
73. Racial Profiling Gains Support as Search Tactic
    (LA Times)
    Blogged: Monday, September 24, 2001
74. Exposed: secret plot to start race riots
    (Guardian Unlimited Observer)
    Blogged: Tuesday, September 4, 2001
75. White Privilege.com
    Blogged: Sunday, August 26, 2001
76. Why Whites Think Blacks Have No Problems
    (AlterNet)
    Blogged: Monday, August 20, 2001
77. Thin Blue Lies: Police and the Art of Propaganda
    (AlterNet)
    Blogged: Monday, August 13, 2001
78. Cracking the kernel of prejudice
    (Canberra Times)
    Blogged: Saturday, August 11, 2001
79. In Chicago, racial tension surrounds Catholic athletic league vote
    (ABCNEWS.com)
    Blogged: Saturday, August 11, 2001
80. Review of Nissan Car Loans Finds That Blacks Pay More
    (NY Times)
    Blogged: Thursday, July 5, 2001
81. Gentrification Under the Veneer of Revitalization
    (Poor Magazine)
    Blogged: Sunday, July 1, 2001
82. Rape ads criticized by men of color
    (SF Gate)
    Blogged: Tuesday, June 26, 2001
83. Disney milestone sweet for actor, animator
    (USA Today)
    Blogged: Thursday, June 14, 2001
84. Refusing to Save Africans
    (NY TImes)
    Blogged: Tuesday, June 12, 2001
85. A Sporting Gesture Puts New Ending on a Game That Racism Won in '57
    (LA Times)
    Blogged: Tuesday, March 20, 2001
86. Compound Interest
    (Citypaper.Net)
    Blogged: Saturday, March 10, 2001
87. Education & Vigilance Network
    Blogged: Saturday, March 10, 2001
88. Aryan Beauty and the Threat of Contact Lenses
    Blogged: Wednesday, February 21, 2001
89. Anti Racism Page
    (Crosspoint)
    Blogged: Wednesday, February 7, 2001
90. Dungy speaks out on NFL hiring process
    (CNNSI.com/Inside Game)
    Blogged: Monday, February 5, 2001
91. Racial Profiling
    Blogged: Tuesday, April 18, 2000