Handout 1: White Privilege
Adapted from a piece originally published in Weaving the Fabric of Diversity (Boston: UUA, 1996).
If I am a White person in America:
I can turn on my television or watch a movie and see many images of people of my race in a wide variety of roles, including many positive and heroic ones.
I can apply for a car loan and know that I will not be turned down because of my race.
I can apply for a small business loan and know that I will not be turned down because of my race.
I can search for an apartment to rent and know that no properties will be withheld from my consideration because of my race.
I am surrounded by images that suggest that God and other Biblical figures are White like me.
I will learn in school that the history of our country is largely the history of my people written from the perspective of people of my race.
I can walk into virtually any pharmacy or similar retail store and find cosmetics and hair care products appropriate for my skin and hair.
I am unlikely ever to be asked to speak for my race.
It is unlikely that I will ever be in a situation where I am the only person of my race.
I can browse in a store without being followed or arousing suspicion because of my race.
I will never be stopped, frisked, arrested, or abused by police solely because a person of my race is a suspect in a crime in the area.
I can be hired for a job and not have co-workers assume I was hired because of racial preference or affirmative action.