Are you white? Because if you are, like me, you have benefited from a system of unearned privileges because of being white.

“If so, since you consider this to be such a significant problem, you would like to return these unearned gains in some manner?”

Great question! Since I can never “return” my unearned privilege, I can actively work to end oppression via anti-racist activism and education. Thanks for asking

It would seem that you are referencing the myth of the meritocracy or the idea of pulling one’s self up by the “boot straps.” White privilege assists all white folks, even those who are adversely affected by classism. It’s an unfortunate reality of the institutionalized systems of oppression that exist in the US.

As for white privilege, perhaps you have gained some things in your life or your education or your career because you are white. If so, since you consider this to be such a significant problem, you would like to return these unearned gains in some manner? I worked hard to earn my two degrees and I attained my professional position by my performance. Could it be that you see “white privilege” as such an issue could be because you seem to see racism is so many areas, even when it may not exist?

“After first rebuffing the idea, the president of the North Dakota Board of Higher Education says he will now recommend adding an American Indian to the panel that will recruit a new president for the University of North Dakota.

“I’ve thought about it a lot. Obviously, it’s received a lot of attention,” John Q. Paulsen said Wednesday. “The more I thought about it, the more I reflected about it, the more it seemed to me that it was appropriate and, in fact, correct and right that there should be a representative of the American Indian community on the search committee.”

In my opinion, the terms “white privilege” and “racism” are not used often enough to describe situations in which a white person in an institutionally powerful position chooses to ignore people of color or their allies.