Workshops in White Privilege
By Mark Tapson On March 19, 2013
CNS News reports that the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI), the state agency that purports to advance public education and libraries, recently promoted materials urging its white VISTA volunteers to obsess over the “privilege” their race apparently confers on them.
AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) is a national service program whose members commit to serve full-time for a year at a nonprofit organization or local government agency, working to fight illiteracy, improve health services, create businesses, and strengthen community groups. DPI notes that its VISTA volunteers serve in schools that are culturally and racially diverse, and therefore DPI provides “multiple opportunities for training…that help the volunteers better serve the schools and communities in which they are placed.”
Part of that training apparently includes helping the white VISTA volunteers understand the degree to which they unknowingly have been “privileged” socio-economically by the color of their skin. Toward that end, the “VISTA Hub” of the DPI site includes a page devoted entirely to “Power and Privilege.” CNS News reported that the page included links to racial justice workshops and online tests where VISTA volunteers can “learn about your personal bias.” So begins the process of brainwashing the volunteers into believing that the invisible lubricant of a collective racial privilege they didn’t even know they had has greased their path to an imbalance of power and prosperity.
One of the “diversity” training documents linked to the site suggests that white people “wear a white wristband as a reminder about your privilege, and as a personal commitment to explain why you wear the wristband.” It also suggests that white people ponder questions such as “How do I ignore privilege? What am I doing today to undo my privilege? How do I fool myself into thinking I am powerless?” For those white people who might find their thoughts drifting away from such self-flagellation during the day, here are its other suggestions for keeping unearned guilt in the forefront of one’s consciousness:
-go to link-
To read and order David Horowitz and John Perazzo’s pamphlet, Black Skin Privilege, click here.
AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) is a national service program whose members commit to serve full-time for a year at a nonprofit organization or local government agency, working to fight illiteracy, improve health services, create businesses, and strengthen community groups. DPI notes that its VISTA volunteers serve in schools that are culturally and racially diverse, and therefore DPI provides “multiple opportunities for training…that help the volunteers better serve the schools and communities in which they are placed.”
Part of that training apparently includes helping the white VISTA volunteers understand the degree to which they unknowingly have been “privileged” socio-economically by the color of their skin. Toward that end, the “VISTA Hub” of the DPI site includes a page devoted entirely to “Power and Privilege.” CNS News reported that the page included links to racial justice workshops and online tests where VISTA volunteers can “learn about your personal bias.” So begins the process of brainwashing the volunteers into believing that the invisible lubricant of a collective racial privilege they didn’t even know they had has greased their path to an imbalance of power and prosperity.
One of the “diversity” training documents linked to the site suggests that white people “wear a white wristband as a reminder about your privilege, and as a personal commitment to explain why you wear the wristband.” It also suggests that white people ponder questions such as “How do I ignore privilege? What am I doing today to undo my privilege? How do I fool myself into thinking I am powerless?” For those white people who might find their thoughts drifting away from such self-flagellation during the day, here are its other suggestions for keeping unearned guilt in the forefront of one’s consciousness:
- Set aside sections of the day to critically examine how privilege is working.
- Put a note on your mirror or computer screen as a reminder to think about privilege.
- Make a daily list of the ways privilege played out, and steps taken or not taken to address privilege.
- Find a person of color who is willing to hold you accountable for addressing privilege.
-go to link-
To read and order David Horowitz and John Perazzo’s pamphlet, Black Skin Privilege, click here.
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