Reading for Session Three:
Beyond Tolerance , Dr. James B. Wiggins (reprinted on this website)
White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, by Peggy MacIntosh
Racial Healing: Confronting the Fear Between Blacks and Whites , by Harlan Dalton, Doubleday, 1995.
Discussion for Session Three:
This is often one of the most difficult sessions for the dialogue circles, as it asks the group to look at what is great and also what is hard about being in the ethnic group you were born into. They discuss what they would want from people who are their allies, and what stereotypes they want the other groups members to get rid of.
Then they discuss the concept of white privilege, by looking at a series of statements about skin color and treatment of people based on their skin color.
The white people living in the USA today did not engage in slavery, even if their ancestors did.
The people of color living in the USA today are not slaves, even if they are descended from slaves.
Yet the legacy of white privilege lives on, affecting people who are of Asian, Latino, and Native heritage.
Racism is like a fire that got set by our ancestors. We can decide to keep it burning by adding fuel to the fire, we can stand by and watch it burn, or we can bring water to help put it out. We get to decide.
Recognizing white privilege is an important first step in ending racism. Though this session is hard, it is critical to the work of racial justice to look at it.
Here are some of the statements that the group responded to as they looked at skin color privilege. On the show, you will see a chart with arrows. Each time the statement was true for the person, their arrow went up a notch. Notice that the people of color's movement in our dialogue group was much less than the white people:
. I can be sure that my children's school materials show their heritage in a positive manner.
. I can choose blemish cover or bandages in "flesh" color and have them more or less match my skin.
. I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to "the person in charge," I will be facing a person who looks like me.
. If a police officer pulls me over I can be sure I haven't been singled out because of my skin color.
. Most of the people in the U.S. Congress are my skin color.
. I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people that look like me widely represented, or represented positively.
. I can go shopping knowing that I will not be followed or harassed in the store.
. When I move, I can purchase or rent a house without being discriminated against, and my new neighbors will be neutral or pleasant to me.
. When paying for my purchases with a credit card or check, I can be reasonably sure that if I am asked for identification, it is not because of my skin color.
. My co-workers would never think, that I got my job because of my skin color.
. I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help, my skin color will not work against me.
What do you think of this idea of white privilege? Have you had any experience with white privilege? Email us at cwd1@irccny.org.
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