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Shwe Nemyo
Professor Delany-Ullman
Writing 39B
4 February 2018
Throughout the years of history, the topic of race, literacy, and power has always
discrimination and suffered in various ways that the privileged might not know of.
America, then and now, has an inadequate system. The color of one’s skin, the ethnicity
of oneself, and overall identity are connected to how one can live. Authority and
education relies on the race of an individual, rather than his or her abilities. It is still
currently a hot topic. People of color are especially targeted and cannot rise up as
minorities. They still do not have the equal amount of respect. Women still earn less
wages than men. This ongoing situation can only be solved if we put aside our
differences and view each other as the same human race. Fortunately, this is taking
larger and specific audience. On the other hand, Peggy McIntosh’s White Privilege:
where writers and professors write to each other to further expand on their knowledge of
segregation. He expresses his innermost thoughts and feelings of living as “a brown kid”
among the superior. Many of his spectators were of the younger generation, but he
directed his message towards those of his parent’s age. He mentions the generational
gap between the older and younger generation, leading to the topic of the “audacity of
equality.” Minhaj wanted the older generation to realize that situations were different
now, that everyone deserves the right to live in peace with nothing to fear. They might
not have laughed for some of his jokes but surely have understand this message. He
also targets those who made his life miserable, only to forgive them all in the end. He
pinpoints the struggles growing up as an Indian American and of Islam descent, shifting
from comedic to emotional moments. Many immigrants, not only Indian, can relate to his
narrating stories, including the context of 9/11. Minhaj impacts his culture by sharing his
childhood to give others a new perspective. This type of public discourse can also be a
Peggy McIntosh’s purpose is to also inform her audience, especially those who
are of white ancestry, about their implicit privilege. She writes a descriptive print text on
the idea of carrying around an invisible pack of power. It was not until later on she
realized the inequality between others. Her audience can be broader as well, but
McIntosh wants to focus on explaining the ongoing situation to the privileged. Other
than academic discourse, her text revolves around the issue of race and education. In
her message, McIntosh compares the experiences of those who are underprivileged
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and are not. The color of her skin allowed her to have the right to live without fear or
pressure, she was born into a higher pedestal than others. She notes, “I was taught to
see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring
dominance on my group.” Being white herself, she witnesses the problems the people
of color experience. She published her text in the 1980’s, when racism was even
greater; however, it still persists into society. Her message can still be put forward into
action today.
Although they discuss it in different ways, both McIntosh and Minhaj put forward
the same idea: oppression exists everywhere, there will always be a group higher than
the other. They come from different perspectives, one being from a privileged point of
view and another as a minority. In McIntosh’s text, she makes a list of various
circumstances in which she would not have any trouble in, “I can if I wish arrange to be
in the company of people of my race most of the time. I can avoid spending time with
people whom I was trained to mistrust and who have learned to mistrust my kind or me.”
On the contrary, Minhaj is one of the individuals who cannot say what she can.
McIntosh writes from a scholarly discourse but Minhaj reveals his ideas through
performance, while utilizing comedy. Although they come from different time periods
and opposite cultural upbringings, their ideas clash into one. Both discuss the issue of
the oppressed through different mentalities with personal examples. The idea that race
impacts how one can live his or her live influenced McIntosh and Minhaj to do
something about it. This brings back on how the topic of race, literacy, and power are all
Works Cited
Félix, Doreen St. “Hasan Minhaj's ‘New Brown America.’” The New Yorker, The
www.tolerance.org/magazine/spring-2014/peggy-mcintosh-beyond-the-knapsack.