privileges of whiteness

1) I can most likely rent or purchase housing in an area I can afford and would want to live in. 2) I can be pretty sure that my neighbours will be neutral or pleasant to me. 3) I can go shopping most of the time, assured that I will not be followed or harassed. 4) I can watch the television or read the paper and see people of my race widely represented. 5) When I am told about national history or heritage or about “civilisation” I am shown that people of my race made it what it is. 6) I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race. 7) Whether I use checks, credit cards, or cash, I can count on my race not to work against the appearance of financial reliability. 8) I can protect my children most of the time from people who might not like them. 9) I can swear, or dress in shabby clothes without having people attribute these choices to bad morals or primitiveness of my race. 10) I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race. 11) I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group. 12) I can remain oblivious of the language and customs of non-white people, who constitute the world’s numerical majority, without having any penalty for such oblivion. 13) I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to the “person in charge” s/he will be of my race. 14) If I get questioned by the police I can be sure I haven’t been singled out because of my race. 15) I can easily buy posters, postcards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys, and children’s books featuring people of my race. 16) I can feel accepted at meetings of organisations that I belong to rather than isolated, out of place, outnumbered, unheard, held at a distance, or feared. 17) I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having co-workers suspect that I got it because of my race. 18) I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help my race will not work against me. 19) If my day, week, or year is going badly, I don’t need to wonder if each negative episode or situation is due to racism. 

Adapted from Mcintosh, (1990). "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack." Independent School: 31-36.