Activity 1: Introducing White Privilege
Activity time: 15 minutes
Materials for Activity
- Handout 1, White Privilege
- Newsprint, markers, and tape
Preparation for Activity
- Copy Handout 1 for all participants.
- Write the following questions on newsprint, and post where they will be visible to all participants:
- What is my response to the handout?
- How does White privilege appear in my life (as a White person or as a person from a racially or ethnically marginalized group)?
Description of Activity
Introduce the activity by reminding participants that this workshop will focus on white privilege. Read the following passage:
"White privilege" is a system of racial preference automatically awarded to people who identify as White or of European ancestry, while at the same time there is a system of systematic disadvantages for People of Color and other people marginalized by race or ethnicity.
Acknowledge that participants may feel resistance or discomfort as they examine White privilege, and affirm the importance of the work they are about to do together as part of the process of transforming exclusion, inequities, and oppression based on race or ethnicity.
Distribute Handout 1 and invite participants to read it. Ask participants to move into groups of three and discuss the handout, using the posted questions to guide them.
After 10 minutes, gather the group and invite participants to briefly share any insights from their triad conversations.