White Privilege Exercise
From Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh. (adapted from Judith Katz: Unpacking the Knapsack of White Privilege in Beyond Diversity: A Strategy for De-Institutionalizing Racism and Improving Student Achievement 2001-2002 p. 22)
Because of my race or color...
Rows
Always
Sometimes
Never
I can be in the company of people of my race most of the time.
If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area I can afford and in which I would want to live.
I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me.
I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.
I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely and positively represented.
When I am told about our national heritage or about “civilization”, I am shown that people of my race made it what it is.
I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.
I can go into most supermarkets and find the staple food which fit with my racial/ethnic traditions; I can go into any hairdresser’s shop and find someone who can cut my hair.
Whether I use checks, credit cards, or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability.
I can arrange to protect my children most of the time from people who might mistreat them because of their race.
I can swear, or dress in secondhand clothes, or not answer letters, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty, or the illiteracy of my race.
I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.
I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.
I can remain oblivious to the language and customs of persons of color without feeling, from people of my race, any penalty for such oblivion.
I can criticize our government and talk about how much I fear its policies and behavior without being seen as a racial outsider.
I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to “the person in charge, “ I will be facing a person of my race.
If a police officer pulls me over, I can be sure I haven’t been singled out because of my race.
I can conveniently buy posters, postcards, picture books, greeting cards, and children’s magazines featuring people of my race.
I can go home from most meetings of the organizations I belong to feeling somewhat tied-in, rather than isolated, out-of-place, outnumbered, unheard, feared, or hated.
I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having co-workers on the job suspect that I got it because of race.
I can choose public accommodation without fearing that people of my race cannot get in or will be mistreated in the places I have chosen.
I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help, my race will not work against me.
If my day, week, or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it has racial overtones.
I can comfortably avoid, ignore, or minimize the impact of racism on my life.
I can speak in public to a powerful group without putting my race on trial.
I can choose blemish cover or bandages in “flesh” color and have them more or less match my skin.
TOTAL SCORE
Should be Empty: