Racism, sexism, heterosexism: why do the privileged care?

I read an interesting piece by Peggy McIntosh titled, "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack". She discuses a topic that is not discussed often, but very real. The other side of racism, or maybe the main side. In our society, the victim is blamed and the non-white people are seen as the "problem" and are left to carry the burden of racism. It is okay for white people not to think about race on a day to day basis, because their survival does not depend on it. And they are not forced to carry race in a bag on their backs, crushing them.

Peggy McIntosh talks about all the ways in which her race gives her a pass to privilege. After reading this article, I thought about a discussion my class in Ethnocultural Issues in Social Work had after watching the film The Color of Fear about a focus group discussion on race and racism between men of different ethnicities (i.e. African American, Asian American, Caucasian, South American, Central American). In our class discussion, the main thing most people brought up was that one of the participants in the focus group (an African American man) got angry and they didn't know why he did. He was trying to convey the point that minorities carry the burden of racism in our society and the majority race does not notice this because their lives are not bothered by race.

Then someone in the class (Asian) brought up that minorities in our society are not on top, and do not feel in turn that they can assert themselves in this society like white men feel they can. And all the white people in the class (of soon to be social workers) had no idea that this happens or how it could happen.

I found the class disturbing not only because of the ignorance and conscious oblivion of the white people in the class, but more so that these are up and coming social workers. They are working for minorities and the disenfranchised and yet they do not understand their half of the story of racism. Without understanding their half, they do not understand racism at all, and I do not see how they can counteract it.

Does it take someone extremely self-aware and willing to let go of their possessions and privilege for a moment to realize how they got them and where they stand?