McIntosh’s essay was written at the end of the 1980s when Ronald Reagan had held the presidency of the US for two terms. According to some scholars, his deregulation of many aspects of American life came at the expense of historically oppressed minorities and benefitted people who were already powerful. In this environment, marginalized groups became even more marginalized. Though McIntosh does not discuss her immediate political context, she tries to alert white people to the ways they have become increasingly complacent with and participatory in the oppression of Black people and other marginalized races without being aware of it. Rather than seeing progress in racial equality, which is the usual narrative about the second half of the 20th century, McIntosh sees the entrenchment of systems that confer advantages and disadvantages according to race in unjust ways.

McIntosh admits to feeling surprised at Black women labeling white feminists as oppressors when she, as a white feminist, considered herself racially progressive. McIntosh says she did not see how she was embedded in systems that empower her and disempower Black women. She suggests that the first step in solving a problem is to recognize that it exists.