Response to the article by Peggy McIntosh, "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Napsack"

I think the article by McIntosh pointed out a lot of things that I don’t think about very often. She’s right when she says there is such a thing as unearned privilege, and I have heard/thought about that before, but what I haven’t thought about is the extent to which I benefit from my skin color, gender, and the society I was born in. Being a white male from an affluent community it would appear I’ve pretty much hit the trifecta for unearned privileges. I’ve had everything from simply getting credit for my achievements without considering my skin color to having an outstanding community to live in where I can get healthcare and an education among other things. Therefore, I would be the first to concede that there are a lot of groups which receive a lot of unearned privileges, some good and some bad. So I recognize the fact that I am one of the extremely benefited, but just to play the devil’s advocate my question for McIntosh is: where do you draw the line between what represents society and what is an undeserved privilege? I realize that this only applies to a few privileges on her list, but take for example #20, “I can easily buy posters, postcards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys, and children's magazines featuring people of my race.” Might this be because our society from the start has been predominantly white and Christian? Or another one, #9, says “I can go into a music shop and count on finding the music of my race represented, into a supermarket and find the staple foods that fit with my cultural traditions, into a hairdresser's shop and find someone who can deal with my hair.” Of course you will find that all these things are available for your race because that’s the main portion of who’s coming in to buy them! I admit that there is an unfair representation of whites in the media, merchandise, etc., but the goal of a company is to profit, and this is their best bet to do that. While the problem should be solved and others should definitely be given a larger slice of the pie, a company will always do whatever it needs to produce a return for its investors.