SWRK 325 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: White Privilege, Indian Reserve, Color Blindness
29 Apr 2019
School
Department
Course
Professor
Class 4: SOCIAL LOCATION AND INTERSECTIONALITY
AOP Events:
• Monday Feb 5th: Bronfman building -- poverty event
• Feb 24th: West Island -- Walk for a food bank (on rock foundation)
Film: White People (MTV)
• Documentary that discusses white privilege in the United States with college students and
young adults
• White people are often not included in the conversation about race
• Most white people live in a "white bubble", where they are oblivious to other races
• Description of white communities: people are nice, but they are closed minded… no
discussion of race within the community
• Word "ghetto" brought up difficult emotions for a black girl in Dakota's group of friends
(Dakota is a white male who attends a mostly black college)
• The term "ghetto" is often used in a negative and derogatory way
• White privilege:
• People feel entitled
• They don't have to worry about being hassled by the police
• They don't have to deal with prejudice
• They never experience systemic oppression
• They cannot relate to others who have been oppressed or racialized
• Small community on a Native reserve:
• Only 14 white people, most of whom are teachers
• The teachers recognized their white identity as soon as they arrived at the reserve
• What does it mean to be white on an Indian reservation? You cannot ignore the long
history of atrocities from the white people against the natives… being white
represents that history
• Students make uncomfortable comments to the teachers, i.e. "you stole our land and
you won't even let me go to the bathroom"
• Group of students asked what the disadvantages are of being white:
• No disadvantages for white people
• Some white students believe that there is "reverse discrimination" against white
people, for example a white girl believes that she was not given a scholarship because
she is white, and most of the scholarships are targeted towards students of colour… in
reality, white students are disproportionately receiving more scholarships than
students of colour
• Many young white Americans claim to be "racially colourblind"
• In reality this is a way to avoid issues of race
• Being "colourblind" to race ignores the struggles that peope of colour face every day
• 4 out of 5 white people feel uncomfortable discussing race issues
• White Privilege workshop
• Conducted by white male student
• The other side of racism: giving benefits to one group over another
• The term "white privilege" makes some white individuals feel attacked
• You cannot do anything about the race you were born into
