TLC Discusses Privilege (I Even Have a Quiz!)

Foreign. Hi everybody, my name is Sandy Boucher and welcome back to the Learning Curve. As always, before I start talking about what we're going to do today, I just want to send out a huge thank you achieve to everyone who has come up to me sending said that they've watched the show, that they've loved the show or even offered topics that we can look at in future episodes. And I've already got two amazing guests lined up for shows coming up, so I know you're going to absolutely love them. The reality is every guest I've had on this show I consider a powerhouse and the next two coming up definitely fit that criteria. But having said that, today's show is definitely going to be different because I don't have a guest today. What I have is a ton of information for you and we're going to discuss a topic that is incredibly important when it comes to diverse work environments, diverse communities and cross cultural relationships. And that is the topic of privilege. Now I've come to realize because of the work I do, I attend a lot of meetings and I'm at a lot of events where we're discussing racism, anti racism techniques or power or privilege. But what I realized was for people that aren't at those meetings or working in those services, that may not be a discussion you're having and it may be a topic that you don't understand. Now I've met a lot of people that when we start talking about the fact that they have privilege, they get quite upset about that. They are the first to remind us that they've worked incredibly hard for everything that they've achieved in their lives. And that's true. When I talk about privilege or when we talk about it in the context of anti racism, we're not talking about the 1% with the silver spoons in their mouth and have never had to work a day. We are talking about the fact that some of us have advantages or more accurately don't have challenges that other people in our community absolutely do. One of the things that's most important to remember in this discussion is none of us choose our level of privilege. We didn't choose our parents, we didn't choose where we are born. So there is absolutely no reason to feel guilty about the level of privilege you have. And there's no reason to judge someone if they have less privilege because they didn't make that choice either. Either. Now that may sound terribly confusing, which is why I wanted to start this show today by sharing with you a metaphor by Megan Berman. Now, she uses the metaphor of a classroom. And we've all been in a classroom at some point to explain what privilege is like. So I want you to imagine sitting in one of your high school classes, the rows of desks, and everyone just walks in and randomly chooses a desk. Then the teacher walks in and gives the class the assignment for the day. The assignment is to rip a piece of paper out of their notebook, ball it up into a little ball and throw it into the waste paper basket located beside the teacher's desk at the front of the classroom. Now, it's not too hard to figure out that the people in the front row are going to have a way easier time getting that piece of paper into the waste paper basket. The people in the middle, well, if they practice and keep trying, and it may take a few tries, but they could get it, or at least some of them will, and the people in the back row are going to have to work incredibly hard to do it. They're going to have to put in a lot of practice and take a lot of attempts. Not saying they can't, just saying it's not as easy. That's privilege. And I can honestly say in all the years and all my travels across Canada, working with different groups, when I talk to people about privilege, the people in the very front row have absolutely no problem as a norm to own their privilege. They know that dad owned a business and gave me my first job and bought my first car and introduced me to all the people I needed and put me into an expensive school. They know they've had opportunities and they're wise enough to realize that most of us don't have that kind of privilege. And then the people in the last rows, that's a lot of my client group, they also realize that they have a lot of challenges the mainstream just doesn't have. And we have to acknowledge that kind of privilege. When you're raised in a northern community that doesn't even have fresh water, where you're still going to have to send your 13 or 14 year old away from home to live with strangers just to get a high school education, well, they're lacking a privilege that most of us take for granted. It's the people in the middle rows that struggle because again, they think that by acknowledging privilege it implies they didn't have to work hard. But you know what? I know so many people with privilege of varying levels and that have worked their tush off to achieve what they have. And I would like to believe that I'm one of those people. Privilege doesn't mean that you didn't have to work hard to get or maintain what you have. It just means other people may have a few more challenges than you. So that's the metaphor I want you to hang onto for this show. I'm going to introduce you to another activist and the work she's done to help you explain privilege or understand privilege even further. And then we're going to end the show with a quiz so you can determine exactly where in that classroom you're sitting. So, as always, grab your coffee, get in your comfy chair, and I'll be back in a few minutes as together we walk through the Learning Curve. Hi everybody. Sandy Boucher here again, and welcome back to the Learning Curve. Now, as I mentioned before the break, we're going to be talking about privilege today, and I have a lot of information to share with you, so we're going to jump right in. But before I do that, I did want to mention that what I shared with you earlier can be found in a blog post by Megan Berman, and it's called how to Understand Privilege Using Scraps of Paper and a Trash Bin. And to make it easy for you, I am going to post that link to that document on the Learning Curve Facebook page. So please just feel free to go to the Facebook page for any of the information I share today so you can use it in your future discussions. So, as promised, now I want to introduce you to another activist, and she truly is someone we reference in these discussions on a regular basis. So let me introduce you to Peggy McIntosh. She is an American feminist, anti racism activist, scholar, speaker, and a senior Research associate of the Wellesley Centers for Women. She is the founder of the National SEED Project on Inclusive Curriculum, and SEED stands for Seeking Educational Equality and Diversity. She and Emily stile co directed seed for 30 years. She's written on curriculum revision, feelings of fraudulence, and professional development of teachers. But in 1988, she published the groundbreaking article White Privilege and Male Privilege, a Personal Account of coming to see correspondences through work on women's studies. That analysis and its 1989 shorter version, White Privilege Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, pioneered putting the dimension of privilege into discussions of power, gender, race, class, and sexuality. She is the woman we reference on a regular basis, as I mentioned in my very first show about unpacking the suitcase or unpacking the napskin. So now Peggy identifies privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets which I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was meant to remain oblivious so if you don't understand privilege or you didn't up to this point, don't be surprised. That was the intent. Now, she went on to say that white privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of space, special provisions, maps, passbooks, code books, visas, clothes, tools, and blank checks. Now, she wanted to look at this further, and she realized that she was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in the invisible systems conferring dominance of any group. So she decided to take this one step further and look at her own life and try to identify what privileges she had. Now, she knew she had to be careful when she did this work and looked at these effects because there was going to be a lot of things playing into it. She had chosen conditions that she thought in her case attached somewhat more to her skin color privilege than to class, religion, ethnic status or geographic location, even though all of those factors are intricately entwined. So she started looking at her life and she came up with a list of 21 privileges she could identify. And I wanted to share those with you today and really think of your experience not from a place of guilt, but just a place of self awareness. So, for example, the first one she came up with, I can, if I wish, arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time. There is a comfort being around people that are like you, so there's nothing wrong if you have that option. But think of all the people that don't and how they would automatically be uncomfortable. The next one. I can avoid spending time with people who I was trained to mistrust and who have learned to mistrust my kind or me. She goes on, if I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area which I can afford and in which I would want to live. And even more importantly, I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me, which is not a given for so many people. She goes on, I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed. Talk to an indigenous youth in this city and they're going to tell you another story. Number six, I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented and not just in a negative light. Number seven, when I'm told about our national heritage or about civilization, I am shown that people of my color made it what it is. With all the discussions about Canada, 150 happening right now. This is an important privilege to consider and discuss. Number eight. I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race and not just as historical beings. Number nine, If I want to, I can be pretty sure of finding a publisher for this piece on white privilege. And I had that discussion with Dave Kreiderman here on the show how he may be able to do a seminar called the White Problem. But I would be very hesitant to do that as an indigenous woman. Number 10. I can be pretty sure of having my voice heard in a group in which I am the only member of my race. I can attest to just how often that happens. Number 11, I can be casual about whether or not to listen to another person's voice in a group in which she or he is the only member of his or her race. Number 12 was very eye opening. I can go into a music shop and count on finding the music of my race represented into a supermarket and find the staple foods which fit with my cultural traditions and into a hairdresser shop and find someone who can cut my hair. If you have indigenous friends, ask them how challenging it is to find a hairdresser that can deal with the very thick, very coarse poker straight hair of many indigenous people. Number 13. Whether I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability. And I have many personal stories in that area. Number 14. I can arrange to protect my children most of the time from people who might not like them. That is not the case for so many of our youth in the public school system. Number 15, I do not have to educate my children to be aware of systemic racism for their own daily physical protection. That is just not the journey of so many people in our city. There's nothing wrong with the fact that you have this privilege. Again, we just have to be aware that that is not a given for many people. Number 16. I can be pretty sure that my children's teachers and employers will tolerate them if they fit school and workplace norms. My chief worries about them do not concern others attitudes toward their race. Number 17, I can talk with my mouth full and not have people put this down to my color. Number 18. 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. 19. I can speak in public to a powerful male group without putting my race on trial. Number 20, I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race. And last but not least, I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group. You would be amazed how many people, including myself, that these privileges don't apply to. Some do, but not all. When we come back after the break, we're going to talk about. We're going to do a quiz and help you figure out which row in the classroom you're in just so we can increase your awareness. So once again, sit back, go refresh your coffee, and we'll be back in a few minutes to continue walking through the learning curve. Hi, everybody. Welcome back to the Learning curve. So before the break, I introduced you to Peggy McIntosh. And now we're going to look at a quiz that's going to help you decide what level of privilege you have or don't have. Please remember that your success is always determined by you. If you find that you're in that back row of the classroom, that doesn't mean you can't be successful. And if you're in the middle row, yes, you still have to work incredibly hard. This is all about creating awareness of the other people in our community and not about judging each other. So now we're going to go into. We're going to continue talking about Peggy and we're going to look at the quiz, the white privilege checklist. So question number one. And you're going to notice some similarities with what Peggy did, her own self analysis. But there's some really surprising questions here. So 20 of them. Number one, I can arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time. Yes or no? You can either put a check on a little piece of paper or just count on your fingers. Let's see how many you get out of 20. I can go shopping alone most of the time. Pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed. Check mark, if that applies to you. Number three, I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented. If that's true, give yourself a check. Number four, When I'm told about our national heritage or about civilization, I'm shown that people of my color made it what it is. Yes or no? Give yourself a check if it applies. Number five, I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race. If that's true, count it as a check. Number six, we mentioned this earlier. I can go into a music store and count on finding the Music of my race represented into a supermarket and find the food I grew up with into a hairdresser's shop and find someone who can deal with my hair. If that's true, give yourself a check. Number seven. Whenever I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial responsibility. If that's true, give yourself a check. Number eight. I am not made acutely aware that my shape, bearing or body odor will be taken as a reflection of my race. When I first read this, I thought of all of those people who are described as strong or as plump or whatever just because of the race that they belong to. We really have to be aware of this. So if that doesn't happen for you, give yourself a check. Number nine. I can worry about racism without it being seen as self interested or self centered seeking. If you have that privilege, give yourself a check. Number 10, I can take a job or enroll in a college with an affirmative action policy without having my co workers or peers assume I got it because of my race. If you have that privilege, give yourself a check. Number 11. I can be late to a meeting without having the lateness reflect on my race. And honestly, the whole concept of quote unquote Indian time is something I want to do a show on because it's actually based on one of our traditional teachings and it's just been warped so bad over the years. And that's something we definitely have to clarify. Being late is not an indigenous tradition or trait. Number 12. I can choose public accommodation without fearing that people of my race cannot get in or will be mistreated. If you have that privilege, give yourself a check. Number 13. I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group. If you have that privilege, give yourself a check and celebrate that. Because there is honestly not a lot worse than that. Number 14. I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk with the person in charge, I will be facing a person of my race. If you can say that's true, give yourself a check. Number 15, if a traffic cop pulls me over or the government audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven't been singled out because of my race. So many can't say that. If you can, give yourself a check. Number 16, I can easily buy posters, postcards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys and children's magazines featuring people of my race. If that's true, give yourself a check. Number 17, I can choose blemish, cover up or bandages in flesh color and have Them more or less match my skin. Something to consider. If that applies, give yourself a check. Number 18, I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race. If you have that privilege, give yourself a check. Number 19, I can walk into a classroom and know I will not be the only member of my race there. If you have that privilege, give yourself a check. And number 20, I can enroll in a class at college and be sure that the majority of my professors will be of my race. So there you have it. 20 questions on privilege to help you determine where you're sitting in that classroom. I hope that this has been eye opening for you. I hope it's been educational and if nothing else, just increased your awareness. Privilege plays into everything we do. Victim blaming doesn't work. We can't sit back and say, well, if they just tried harder. Not if we don't consider what privileges or lack of privileges they have in the first place. Now, as I promised earlier, if you go to the Learning Curve Facebook page, I am going to have the quiz on there as well as the link to the blog post, Megan's blog post that I mentioned earlier so that all that information is there. I encourage you, as always, to use the information that you received today. I truly encourage you to print off that quiz and use it at a family discussion. Talk to your kids, talk to your colleagues and your friends about it. Do the quiz and have that discussion about privilege and power. You work hard for what you've achieved, but there are people out there facing barriers that you may not have to face and we have to acknowledge and support that so that together we can continue walking through the learning curve. As always, if you have questions, comments, feedback, feel free to email me at. Sandy Boucher CA until next time. Have a great day. Bye Bye.