Mcintosh Inventory

White Privilege After taking McIntosh's inventory, I realized that I do not relate or resonate with the idea of white privilege. For the most part I believe this notion is fabricated by people who are compartmentalized away from the larger experiences of society. My background and experiences are rich with interaction with people of different culture so I do not believe that what the author is describing is unique to one single race other than the human race itself.

I scored a 12 on the inventory but readily admit to being confused by many of the questions or disagreed with the premises of the questions. For example in question # 2 she supposes that we have all been "trained to mistrust." This is somewhat insulting or humorous, I am not sure but, to assume that people are inherently bad and need to be mistrusted suggests a larger problem in the author's ability to integrate with society.

Cultural differences are one thing and are necessary for making our environment entertaining and fuels new ideas. By assigning responsibility with race is a mistake in the counseling realm and should be avoided. Race is an easy way out for blame and ignores the true root causes of many issues. We are all deficient and proficient in one area or another, these are important needs to have in attaining growth and maintaining a healthy mental attitude.

Infusing race into the argument almost always distracts from the solutions of the problem because we can do nothing to fix our race. We did not choose our own skins, at least not consciously. The Color of Fear represents what happens when race is forced in our faces and is used to stir controversy. All the people in that film are demonstrating the same behavior anyone would if they were the center of a documentary. I found the experience to be moderately similar to some of my experiences.

For the most part the Hispanic people in the film most closely represent my viewpoints and how I would react in that situation. Both Roberto and Hugh echoed many of the sentiments that I have personally been a part of. The most challenging client as a counselor is most likely not based on race. I appreciate a challenge and do not look to take the easy way out when the opportunity presents itself. Many times counselors are too eager to find a simple solution and race often provides this outlet.

In addition, I do not put much stock in McIntosh's survey and find it to be somewhat ridiculous and serves to incite controversy instead of finding a practical truth. Having spent time in a large urban area where many races were present and there was no real majority, the issue of race is quickly transcended. There is not right or wrong cultures in these cities and people are free to express themselves in any way they feel and know that there are others who can support these actions culturally.

To learn more about people from another race simply coexist with them in.