1. I can arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time
2. I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race
3. Whether I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on my skin colour not to work against the appearance of financial responsibility
4. I can worry about racism without being seen as self interested or self seeking
5.I am never asked to speak for all of the people of my racial group
6. I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk with the "person in charge" I will be facing a person of my race
7. If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven't been singles out because of my race
8. I can choose blemish cover or bandages in "flesh" colour and have them more or less match my skin
9. I can walk into a classroom and know I will not be the only member of my race
10. I can enroll in a class at college and be sure that the majority of my professors will be my race
11. I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race
12. I can easily buy posters, picture books, dolls, toys and children's magazines featuring people of my race
13. I can take a job or enroll in a college with an affirmative action policy without having my co-workers or peers assume I got it because of my race (sort of what I was trying to get at in class today)
How many of these did you check?
Are all of these examples based on race alone?
How does class (socio-economic status) play into this checklist?
What about appearance? Or the way you talk?
Should the white population feel guilty for white privilege?
I think 12 should be refined. posters and magazines are something that there is definitely a choice in terms of race. Like a lot of my white friends have posters of black people in their rooms, this doesn't mean that black people are on more posters.
ReplyDeleteNumber 2 is not just white privilege, but also black privilege. Schools teach about the history of Europeans coming to America, and about black history. I know that for me at least during middle and high school I rarely heard about Asian American history, or native American history. And when I did it was never as intensive as black history or white history.
Another good one is being able to go into a store and not be watched or followed around.
And finally getting to your questions.
Appearance or the way you talk can effect some of these, just as well as class, but I think most of this is based solely on race. White people shouldn't feel guilty about white privilege, they just need to know it exists and recognize it.