---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: White privilege is the unquestioned and…"
description: "\"White privilege is the unquestioned and unearned set of advantages, entitlements benefits and choices bestowed on people solely because they are white...."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dff/peggy-mcintosh-34173_advantage_white-privilege-is-the-unquestioned-and_917066.png"
---

#  White privilege is the unquestioned and unearned set of…

![“White privilege is the unquestioned and unearned set of advantages, entitlements benefits and choices bestowed on people solely because they are white. Generally white people who experience such privilege do so without being conscious of it.” quote by Peggy McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dff/peggy-mcintosh-34173_advantage_white-privilege-is-the-unquestioned-and_917066.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dff/peggy-mcintosh-34173_advantage_white-privilege-is-the-unquestioned-and_917066.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dff/peggy-mcintosh-34173_advantage_white-privilege-is-the-unquestioned-and_917066.png)

> “White privilege is the unquestioned and unearned set of advantages, entitlements benefits and choices bestowed on people solely because they are white. Generally white people who experience such privilege do so without being conscious of it.”

[Peggy McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-mcintosh/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Defines white privilege as unearned advantages given solely based on race, often unnoticed by those who benefit.

**In simple terms:** White privilege is unseen benefits for white people.

Key Takeaway

Recognize and address systemic bias.

Themes

social justice race inequality awareness

Mood

serious reflective

Type

analytical educational

When to use this quote

- education
- policy making
- corporate diversity
- community organizing
- personal reflection

Key Concepts

structural racism intersectionality

Questions to Reflect On

- How does white privilege manifest in your environment?
- What actions can reduce racial inequities?

A Different Perspective

Privilege can be invisible to those who have it.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Advantage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/advantage/) [Choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choices/) [Entitlement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/entitlement/) [Equal opportunity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/equal-opportunity/) [Equal rights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/equal-rights/) [Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience/) [Inequality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inequality/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Privilege](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/privilege/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) [White people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-people/) [White privilege](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-privilege/)

## Related quotes

> [Most talk by whites about equal opportunity seems to me now to be about equal opportunity to try to get into a position of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-mcintosh/most-talk-by-whites-about-equal-opportunity-seems-to-me-now-to-be/)

[Peggy McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-mcintosh/)

> [It is a great privilege to be conscious in this universe. Those who understand, shine like stars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/it-is-a-great-privilege-to-be-conscious-in-this-universe-those-who/)

[Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/)

> [Within us is the unborn possibility of limitless experience. Ours is the privilege of giving birth to it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-holmes/within-us-is-the-unborn-possibility-of-limitless-experience-ours-is/)

[Ernest Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-holmes/)

> [I savor bitterness - it is born of experience. It is the privilege of one who has truly lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/i-savor-bitterness-it-is-born-of-experience-it-is-the-privilege-of-2/)

[Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/)

> [one question for me and others like me is whether ... we will get truly distressed, even outraged, about unearned race advantage and conferred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-mcintosh/one-question-for-me-and-others-like-me-is-whether-we-will-get-truly/)

[Peggy McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-mcintosh/)

> [For me white privilege has turned out to be an elusive and fugitive subject. The pressure to avoid it is great, for in facing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-mcintosh/for-me-white-privilege-has-turned-out-to-be-an-elusive-and-fugitive/)

[Peggy McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-mcintosh/)

> [As a white person, I realized I had been taught about racism as something that puts others at a disadvantage, but had been taught…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-mcintosh/as-a-white-person-i-realized-i-had-been-taught-about-racism-as/)

[Peggy McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-mcintosh/)

> [White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools, and blank checks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-mcintosh/white-privilege-is-like-an-invisible-weightless-knapsack-of-special/)

[Peggy McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-mcintosh/)

> [It seems to me that obliviousness about white advantage, like obliviousness about male advantage, is kept strongly inculturated in the United States so as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-mcintosh/it-seems-to-me-that-obliviousness-about-white-advantage-like/)

[Peggy McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-mcintosh/)

> [I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-mcintosh/i-think-whites-are-carefully-taught-not-to-recognize-white-privilege/)

[Peggy McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-mcintosh/)

> [“I am a men's liberationist (or "masculist") when men's liberation is defined as equal opportunity and equal responsibility for both sexes. I am a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-farrell/i-am-a-men-s-liberationist-or-masculist-when-men-s-liberation-is/)

[Warren Farrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-farrell/)

> [We live surrounded by white images, and white in this world is synonymous with the good, light, beauty, success, so that, despite ourselves sometimes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paule-marshall/we-live-surrounded-by-white-images-and-white-in-this-world-is/)

[Paule Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paule-marshall/)

> [The police can go to downtown Harlem and pick up a kid with a joint in the streets. But they can't go into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-police-can-go-to-downtown-harlem-and-pick-up-a-kid-with-a-joint/)

[Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/)

> [“Those who benefit from unearned privilege are too often quick to discount those who don't.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dashanne-stokes/those-who-benefit-from-unearned-privilege-are-too-often-quick-to/)

[DaShanne Stokes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dashanne-stokes/)

> [“Unless institutional power reinforces the hurt and prejudice suffered by a group, it is not oppression. By definition, a person of color cannot be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-stout/unless-institutional-power-reinforces-the-hurt-and-prejudice-suffered/)

Linda Stout

## More by Peggy McIntosh

> [I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having my co-workers on the job suspect that I got it because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-mcintosh/i-can-take-a-job-with-an-affirmative-action-employer-without-having/)

[Peggy McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-mcintosh/)

> [It seems to me that obliviousness about white advantage, like obliviousness about male advantage, is kept strongly inculturated in the United States so as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-mcintosh/it-seems-to-me-that-obliviousness-about-white-advantage-like/)

[Peggy McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-mcintosh/)

> [White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools, and blank checks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-mcintosh/white-privilege-is-like-an-invisible-weightless-knapsack-of-special/)

[Peggy McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-mcintosh/)

> [Most talk by whites about equal opportunity seems to me now to be about equal opportunity to try to get into a position of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-mcintosh/most-talk-by-whites-about-equal-opportunity-seems-to-me-now-to-be/)

[Peggy McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-mcintosh/)

> [As a white person, I realized I had been taught about racism as something that puts others at a disadvantage, but had been taught…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-mcintosh/as-a-white-person-i-realized-i-had-been-taught-about-racism-as/)

[Peggy McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-mcintosh/)

> [If my day, week, or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it has racial overtones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-mcintosh/if-my-day-week-or-year-is-going-badly-i-need-not-ask-of-each-negative/)

[Peggy McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-mcintosh/)

> [I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-mcintosh/i-was-taught-to-see-racism-only-in-individual-acts-of-meanness-not-in/)

[Peggy McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-mcintosh/)

> [Privilege exists when one group has something of value that is denied to others simply because of the groups they belong to, rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-mcintosh/privilege-exists-when-one-group-has-something-of-value-that-is-denied/)

[Peggy McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-mcintosh/)

> [For me white privilege has turned out to be an elusive and fugitive subject. The pressure to avoid it is great, for in facing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-mcintosh/for-me-white-privilege-has-turned-out-to-be-an-elusive-and-fugitive/)

[Peggy McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-mcintosh/)

> [one question for me and others like me is whether ... we will get truly distressed, even outraged, about unearned race advantage and conferred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-mcintosh/one-question-for-me-and-others-like-me-is-whether-we-will-get-truly/)

[Peggy McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-mcintosh/)

> [I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-mcintosh/i-think-whites-are-carefully-taught-not-to-recognize-white-privilege/)

[Peggy McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-mcintosh/)

> [Whites are taught to think of their lives as morally neutral, normative, and average, and also ideal, so that when we work to benefit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-mcintosh/whites-are-taught-to-think-of-their-lives-as-morally-neutral/)

[Peggy McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-mcintosh/)

> [Power from unearned privilege can look like strength when it is in fact permission to escape or to dominate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-mcintosh/power-from-unearned-privilege-can-look-like-strength-when-it-is-in/)

[Peggy McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-mcintosh/)

[Explore all 14 Peggy McIntosh quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-mcintosh/)

## More Advantage quotes

> [Dogmatists have one advantage: they are poor listeners.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frans-de-waal/dogmatists-have-one-advantage-they-are-poor-listeners/)

[Frans de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frans-de-waal/)

> [ Next came the Patent laws. These began in England in 1624; and, in this country, with the adoption of our constitution. Before then \[these?\],… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/next-came-the-patent-laws-these-began-in-england-in-1624-and-in-this/)

[Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/)

> [Talented people can predict with great accuracy what's about to happen just a tiny bit ahead of their competitors. It might be two seconds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-maney/talented-people-can-predict-with-great-accuracy-what-s-about-to/)

[Kevin Maney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-maney/)

> [All I ever wanted was an unfair advantage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-wynn/all-i-ever-wanted-was-an-unfair-advantage/)

[Garrison Wynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-wynn/)

> [Part of the advantage, and part of the result of trying to be a producer and director, are the practical things, you find. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/campbell-scott/part-of-the-advantage-and-part-of-the-result-of-trying-to-be-a/)

[Campbell Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/campbell-scott/)

> [I was born with a silver microphone in my mouth, and that was an advantage. My father wrote books and was also a great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-dimbleby/i-was-born-with-a-silver-microphone-in-my-mouth-and-that-was-an/)

[Jonathan Dimbleby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-dimbleby/)

> [Like funny men, skilled diners are apparently perceived to have an evolutionary advantage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-goodyear/like-funny-men-skilled-diners-are-apparently-perceived-to-have-an/)

[Dana Goodyear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-goodyear/)

> [For some reason when I decide to pursue something, I never have any fear that it won't happen. I think it's just ingrained in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-blatz/for-some-reason-when-i-decide-to-pursue-something-i-never-have-any/)

[Kelly Blatz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-blatz/)

> [I think I have good hands, so I try to use them to my advantage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bianca-andreescu/i-think-i-have-good-hands-so-i-try-to-use-them-to-my-advantage/)

[Bianca Andreescu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bianca-andreescu/)

> [My influences are jazz, blues, European classical music; they are rock music and pop music. So many kinds of music. World music from different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rokia-traore/my-influences-are-jazz-blues-european-classical-music-they-are-rock/)

[Rokia Traore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rokia-traore/)

> [Baseball needs to put the steroids era behind it by having and enforcing tough rules against all kinds of artificial advantages, so that spring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-olasky/baseball-needs-to-put-the-steroids-era-behind-it-by-having-and/)

[Marvin Olasky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-olasky/)

> [Daily contact with some teachers is itself all-sided ethical education for the child without a spoken precept. Here, too, the real advantage of male…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-stanley-hall/daily-contact-with-some-teachers-is-itself-all-sided-ethical/)

[G. Stanley Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-stanley-hall/)

> [ If \[Donald\] Trump throws 20 million off of health care, that's going to be - if he handles this badly - and it's very… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/if-donald-trump-throws-20-million-off-of-health-care-that-s-going-to/)

[Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/)

> [Live in the world you inhabit. Look upon things as they are. Take them as you find them. Make the best of them. Turn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-e-lee/live-in-the-world-you-inhabit-look-upon-things-as-they-are-take-them/)

[Robert E. Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-e-lee/)

> [I always tell women that the fact that you're different and that you're noticed, because there are few of us in the tech industry,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padmasree-warrior/i-always-tell-women-that-the-fact-that-you-re-different-and-that-you/)

[Padmasree Warrior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padmasree-warrior/)

[Browse all 3,503 Advantage quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/advantage/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "White privilege is the unquestioned and unearned set of advantages, entitlements benefits and choices bestowed on people solely because they are white. Generally white people who experience such privilege do so without being conscious of it.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Peggy McIntosh"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-mcintosh/white-privilege-is-the-unquestioned-and-unearned-set-of-advantages/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Advantage"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-mcintosh/white-privilege-is-the-unquestioned-and-unearned-set-of-advantages/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dff/peggy-mcintosh-34173_advantage_white-privilege-is-the-unquestioned-and_917066.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dff/peggy-mcintosh-34173_advantage_white-privilege-is-the-unquestioned-and_917066.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dff/peggy-mcintosh-34173_advantage_white-privilege-is-the-unquestioned-and_917066.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“White privilege is the unquestioned and unearned set of advantages, entitlements benefits and choices…” — Peggy McIntosh",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Peggy McIntosh",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-mcintosh/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "White privilege is the unquestioned and...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-mcintosh/white-privilege-is-the-unquestioned-and-unearned-set-of-advantages/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-mcintosh/white-privilege-is-the-unquestioned-and-unearned-set-of-advantages/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
