Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, Article Review Example

During the years 1920 towards the 1960s, racial discrimination was a ‘vulgar’ point of situation that separated the whites versus the blacks in the face of American history. However, when the years of liberation came into existence, such a separation has been covered with the thought of the said parties being united together to form “one” America. However, is this the truth? Does the picture of the American society today suggest such fact that the Whites and the Blacks are currently living in unity and equality in the United States? This is what the nation [or at least its social critics] wants to show the world to be true. However, the condition of living that individuals belonging to the different group races realize that this is a dream far from what is being practiced in the country.

This is the condition of living that Peggy McIntosh wanted to convey on her writing about her personal experience of being a White American. As a white American, McIntosh knew that somehow, she had an edge in the society. This has not been truly realized on her part until she actually accepted that being a white American had its own perks. Her belief that she is living in a united and equalized society was suddenly reveled to her through several thoughts of defining her being compared to that of her black counterparts in the society. She mentions that somehow, her life as white American was an invisible knapsack that she carried as she tried to pretend to live in a society that recognizes impartiality on races, and yet she knew that the actual situation was far more different from the said claim. The question to answer regarding this though is the possibility of one living along the flow of the society’s conditional situation or living separate from such belief. McIntosh knew of the benefits of her situation, shall he take advantage of it or shall she manage life in an ideal way as equality suggests? As she unloads her invisible knapsack, it is shown how living with the flow of the society would free her from the burden of guilt and just let her accept the fact that the society she is living in would never be impartial as she expects it to be.