What is White Privilege?
To begin understanding our programs, let's begin by understanding white privilege. Simply put, white privilege is the societal privilege that benefits white people over non-white people, particularly if they are otherwise under the same social, political, or economic circumstances. TPI looks at white privilege intersectionality and in the context of various systems of privilege where one group benefits over another, such as in banking, health care, justice, education, etc.
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Some examples of how privilege shows up:
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• Being able to assume that most of the people you or your children study in history classes and textbooks will be of the same race, gender, or sexual orientation as you are.
• Being able to assume that your failures are not attributed to your race or your gender.
• Being able to not have to think about your race, or your gender, or your sexual orientation, or disabilities, on a daily basis.
“Privilege exists when one group has something of value that is denied to others simply because of the groups they belong to, rather than because of anything they’ve done or failed to do. Access to privilege doesn’t determine one’s outcomes, but it is definitely an asset that makes it more likely that whatever talent, ability, and aspirations a person with privilege has will result in something positive for them.”
– Peggy McIntosh
Understanding & Dismantling Privilege
The Official Journal of The Privilege Institute
Organizers of the #WPC, along with the faculty and staff of the Matrix Center for the Advancement of Social Equity and Inclusion, share research and practices that inform and define the Annual White Privilege Conference in our UDP journal. Our online, open-access, and peer-reviewed journal provides a venue for social justice scholars, educators, activists, and practitioners to share their work with a wide-ranging audience.
This journal is another extension of the mission and goals of the WPC and the Matrix Center. The journal will provide a forum for extending the dialogues, strategies, and ideas fostered by the WPC with a wider audience throughout the year, and provide a space for publishing work that advances social justice for an interdisciplinary audience.
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Publishing the journal depends upon submissions and volunteers. We need your help! Please become a reviewer for the journal, by submitting a reviewer form, and consider submitting your work for review and possible inclusion. We invite you to join us in Understanding and Dismantling Privilege.
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The following sections are available for submission:
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Research
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Tools and Strategies
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Creative Work and Self-reflection
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Youth Voices
“White Privilege is the other side of racism. Unless we name it, we are in danger of wallowing in guilt or moral outrage with no idea of how to move beyond them. It is often easier to deplore racism and its effects than to take responsibility for the privileges some of us receive as a result of it… Once we understand how white privilege operates, we can begin addressing it on an individual and institutional basis.”
– Paula Rothenberg
Resources to Explore
To learn more about privilege, we recommend the following reads:
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Privilege, Power and Difference, by Allan Johnson
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Privilege: A Reader, edited by Michael S. Kimmel and Abby L. Ferber
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White Privilege: Essential Readings on the Other Side of Racism, by Paul Rothenberg
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Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person, by Gina Crosley-Corcoran
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Dear White Woman, Please Come Home: Hand Me Your Bias, and I'll Show You Our Connection, by Kimberlee Yolanda Williams
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Teaching Beautiful Brilliant Black Girls, by Bola Delano-Oriaran, Marguerite W. Penick-Parks, Shemariah J. Arki, Ali Michael, Orinthia Swindell, and Eddie Moore Jr.