2.14: What Is Privilege And What Do I Do With It?

First Name Basis Podcast

Jasmine Bradshaw

How To, Parenting, Education, Kids & Family

5 • 629 Ratings

🗓️ 18 May 2020

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

White privilege is one of the strongest pillars that upholds racism. In her article “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” Peggy McIntosh describes white privilege as: “An invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was “meant” to remain oblivious. White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools, and blank checks.”

If you are white there are privileges that you enjoy each and every day because of the color or your skin. These privileges do not mean that your life hasn’t been challenging or that you are not a hard worker, what it means is that the challenges you’ve faced have not been caused by the color of your skin.

Confronting privilege is an uncomfortable process, but when you choose to face that discomfort head on you will find liberation, not only for you but for the People of Color who have been disenfranchised by the system that has granted you privilege.

In this episode I get down to the brass tacks of white privilege and answer all of your burning questions:

What is white privilege?
What are some examples of what white privilege looks like in everyday life?
How can you use it to make change?
What do you do if someone you know or love denies that they have privilege?

I encourage you to take a deep breath, listen with an open mind, and lean into the discomfort.

Psychology Today: You are Not a Bad Person: Facing Privilege Can Be Liberating by Dr. Miki Kashtan

Peggy McIntosh: White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

Tiffany Jewell Author of “This Book is Antiracist” Instagram Account

This Book Is Anti-Racist by Tiffany Jewell

Britt Hawthorne Anti-bias/Anti-racist Educator Instagram Account

Bettina Love “Hand on the Pole” Video

Harvard Business Review: Use Your Everyday Privilege to Help Others by Dolly Chugh

Song Credit: “Away” by Geographer and “Beach Disco” by Dougie Wood

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to the First Name Basis podcast, Season 2, Episode 14. What is privilege and what do I do with it?
0:14.9	Welcome to First Name Basis, a community of parents committed to making the transformation from good intentions to confident action.
0:23.6	Join us each week as we cover critical topics and answer the questions you've never felt comfortable asking.
0:29.2	We'll use the lessons we learned to teach our children about race, religion, and culture.
0:34.0	I'm your host, Jasmine Bradshaw.
0:48.5	Music I'm your host, Jasmine Bratshaw. Hello, First Name Basis, fam.
0:50.8	I am so glad you are here.
0:57.9	Oh my goodness, I can't believe I am making this episode.
1:04.1	I know that it has been highly anticipated, but to tell you the truth, I have been a little nervous because so many times when you bring up privilege in a conversation with someone,
1:09.7	the conversation seems to go sour pretty
1:12.9	fast. But I think the reason for that is because most people don't really understand what it is.
1:21.1	And if they do understand what it is, they're not sure what to do about it. So they end up just
1:26.3	feeling guilty and maybe even a little bit ashamed
1:29.4	and it's just not a pretty picture. So let's talk about some truth together so that next time we're
1:36.5	having these conversations, they can be fruitful instead of spiraling into nastiness. Today we're going to talk about privilege, specifically
1:46.5	white privilege. I'm going to tell you what it is. I'm going to give you some examples of how
1:52.0	it shows up in your life, and then I'm going to give you some action steps. What do you do once
1:58.1	you understand what your privilege is? How do use it?
2:02.3	I want to start off by helping you understand that almost everyone in our society holds privilege in some way.
2:09.9	For the most part, you don't even know that you have it. Dr. Miki Kishhton, a psychologist, gives a really good definition of privilege, so I'm going to read it.
2:19.8	She says that it's forms of access to resources that result from legal or social norms having to do with membership in a group,
2:28.8	independent of any particular action, inaction, or even awareness on the part of the people who have the access.
	...

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