“Why can ‘t black people just work harder?” Hard work results in success, and black people are in many cases looked at as less successful than white people. Therefore, that means that black people simply work less hard than white people. This is the perspective that many privileged white people may have when discussing the issue of white privilege. They fail to realize that white privilege plays a significant role in what opportunities someone might have. In Princeton University student, Tal Fortgang ‘s essay, “Checking My Privilege: Character as the Basis of Privilege”, he criticizes those who tell him to “Check your privilege”.
He argues that the phrase discredits his achievements, and that white privilege is not the reason that he became a Princeton University student; rather it was hard work and family values. In Feminist and Anti-Racism activist, Peggy McIntosh ‘s essay, “White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences Through Work in Women ‘s Studies” she argues that like male privilege, white privilege is a constantly denied reality that should be addressed. She draws parallels between a man ‘s denial of male privilege and her difficulty of detecting white privilege as a white woman. Peggy McIntosh ‘s essay makes a more compelling argument than Fortgang due to her use of more focused points, better examples, and a more thoughtful perspective.Tal Fortgang ‘s argument is poorly done. He makes points that are not adequately backed up.
He complains about people asking him to check his privilege. He argues that people asking him to check his privilege are discrediting all of the hard work that he has done in his life, and also quickly dismisses the idea of white privilege even existing. . .her ‘s personal experiences. She also talks about how it can be difficult to point out white privilege.
By making the argument against white privilege from the point of view of those she ‘s arguing against, that strengthens her argument because it makes it easier to understand to the audience, those who are unknowingly affected by white privilege. In conclusion, Fortgang ‘s essay is very emotional and has a closed minded perspective to it. It is also derived from a misunderstanding of aspects of what privilege is. It lacks substantial examples or evidence to prove his argument. Comparatively, McIntosh ‘s essay is far better at stating what points she has, saying where her perspective is derived from, and proving why she believes those points are true. Her essay is more open minded and is put forth in a more professional way, and is therefore superior to Fortgang ‘s.
