White Privilege Demo Cut Sheet

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Title of Lesson Here: White Privilege Within Our Schools And Society

    Haley VanCox & Christine Stephens, Teacher Consultants

    Stuff to the world and sometimes kids in Candor

    haley.vancox@7vwp.com and christine.stephens@7vwp.com

The Big Idea:

Both of the articles within the Multicultural section, focused primarily on the idea of white privilege and the pervasiveness of it throughout our educational institutions and society in general.

The first article, “Beyond Colorblindness and Multiculturalism,” by Priya Kandaswamy defined the dominant discourses of racism within university settings as colorblindness and multiculturalism.  

The second article, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” was written by Peggy McIntosh, a woman who identified the ways she is privileged because of her whiteness.

In this demo, we’d like to discuss how these discourses and white privilege permeates our classrooms and brainstorm some ways in which we can push students to think beyond colorblindness and multiculturalism.

The Method:

1. Framework:

What is white privilege?

Peggy McIntosh defines white privilege: “...as an invisible package of unearned assets that one can count on cashing in each day, but about which one was “meant” to remain oblivious.”  Said another way,  “As a white person I realized that I have been taught about racism as something that puts others at a disadvantage, but had been taught not to see one of its corollary (proven) aspects, white privilege, which puts me at an advantage.”  Ms. McIntosh created a list of 26 ways in which she benefits from white privilege.  For example, she states,  “If a traffic cop pulls me over, I can be sure I haven’t been singled out because of my race.”

2. Write: 2 minutes

Write about a time where you experienced white privilege, or a time in which you benefited or didn’t benefit from “whiteness”?

3. Share:

Share exactly what you wrote.

4.  Define Together:

What is colorblind teaching and multicultural education?  Please read the second paragraph on page 80.  As a group let’s create a definition of colorblind teaching and multicultural education.  

5.  Write: 1 minute:

How does white privilege relate to racism, colorblind teaching, and multicultural education?

6.  Partner Work: 5 minutes:

Get together with a partner and create a vision (on sticky notes) using words, symbols and pictures, the relationship between white privilege, colorblind teaching and/or multicultural education.  How are they all interconnected?

7.  Share: 1-2 minutes per poster

The Wrap:

Write: 2 minutes

What’s one way you can change or address this issue in your classroom?

Share:

Whiparound

Homework:

Think of some ways that the ideas presented today can tie into your literacy autobiography.