Hello, my name is Megan Kirchhofer and I’m a white, American woman. I was raised by Christian parents, had access to education, and have been allowed to “not care about politics” for the majority of my life. Growing up, no one ever bullied me for the culture behind my name, I saw aisles full of Barbie dolls that looked like me, I learned in school about historical figures that looked like my father, and it was completely socially acceptable to hand someone a peach-colored crayon when they asked for the “skin color.” I’ve never been nervous around cops or had anyone describe me to someone else by using my race as an identifier, and I can count on having time off of work and school for my race’s religious/historical holidays. I never have trouble matching my foundation shade, I can pretty much assume that if I ask to speak to a person of authority they’ll be a person of my race, and I’m allowed to advocate for racial equality without being perceived as “self-seeking.”
This is a very short list of privileges that stem from a very long history of racial oppression and subjugation, and I’ve taken advantage of each and every one of them at some point in my life or another. The thing about these privileges that is the most striking, however, isn’t the fact that so many white readers can probably relate, but the horrifying truth of our willful ignorance when it comes to the advantages we wear stitched into the pockets of our favorite cotton sweaters. White people have always had the choice to ignore the “politics” of racism because we were taught that it doesn’t affect us, but it’s my personal opinion that whether or not you are directly affected by an oppressive force has nothing to do with the way you should react to blatant injustice, and if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.
In 1988 a woman named Peggy McIntosh wrote a paper called “The Invisible Knapsack,” in which she discusses this very issue of white privilege, which at the time was even more sorely underacknowledged than it is today. In her essay, McIntosh mentions something that I found incredibly striking: what she called “the myth of meritocracy.” This concept, the myth of meritocracy, delves into the problematic framing of the American Dream™ and the underlying oppression that’s present even in conversations about racism with the most constructive of intentions.
The myth of meritocracy is the idea that “democratic choice is equally available for all” (McIntosh 1988). Meritocracy itself refers to a structure that allows citizens to succeed and move up socially solely based on merit, and the idea that this system is equally accessible for everyone is horribly incorrect. McIntosh makes a point in her article to discuss the difference not only between privileged and disadvantaged but between positive and negative types of privilege in and of themselves. She argues that “some privilege simply confers dominance” and actually works to over-empower white people, even if it isn’t directly working to suppress racial minorities.
For instance, she reiterates a comment from her colleague Elizabeth Minnich, who points out that white people are taught that our lives and culture are the baseline or default human existence to which all others should be compared and fashioned accordingly. This creates the subconscious belief that when a white person does anything to help “boost” underprivileged races then they are helping that minority catch up to the level of white people. In other words, to work to benefit others is to “allow ‘them’ to be more like ‘us’” (McIntosh 1988). This concept only solidifies the idea of white superiority because it implies that racial minorities are inherently under-privileged. White people have attempted to justify our crimes by determining the meaning of “human rights” based around the advantages we’ve historically either inherited from our parents or stolen from other people, insinuating that white people are entitled to our privilege. This might read as outlandish at first thought, but I think it’s safe to say that if you were to ask any white person to give up their privileges for the sake of “leveling the playing field” then the conversation about racial equality would be much quieter inside picket fences and corporate offices.
When it comes to this idea of leveling the playing field, the myth of meritocracy becomes incredibly important. It posits that everyone has the opportunity to succeed based solely on their skills and ability and without any regard to their race or gender. However, because white people aren’t about to give up our “rights,” minorities are forced to compete for the opportunity to catch up to us. The only people who are actually forced to comply with the idea of meritocracy are those who aren’t granted the privileges of success without having to even ask. Underprivileged races are only competing with each other, so whatever merit they do exemplify is undercut by the fact that white people were born with their toes on the finish line. In other words, “leveling the playing field,” in this context, does nothing if everyone’s playing a different game anyway.
The Myth of Meritocracy is a foundational piece of the systematic and institutionalized racism that is still present in America because it is repeatedly used to excuse crimes at all levels, from racial profiling to violent deportations. By claiming that underprivileged people are lacking success because they neglected to do the work it takes to “catch up,” white people have maintained our sense of dominance in all areas of culture.
The white race has created a loophole in which even the “good guys” can say, spend hours writing and researching an article about white privilege but still get to go to bed in the college dorm room their scholarship bought and sleep through the sound of sirens without a second thought.