Families In Cultural Context: Strengths and Challenges in Diversity Book

Zoë's Top Ten White Privileges:

1. White privilege is having your experiences dismissed and invalidated.

2. White privilege is growing up poor, getting bullied at school, getting abused at home, having friends abandon you, having suicidal thoughts, dealing with anxiety and depression, and STILL being told that you're the privileged ones. Meanwhile, minorities who have loving families, good loyal friends, a stable home, an education, constant encouragement to love themselves, and a nice cozy room with a laptop and a hot cup of cocoa? STILL more victimized than that homeless white man down the street.

3. White privilege is growing up feeling ugly or insecure, yet still being told, "But beauty standards cater to YOU!"

4. White privilege is being told you're not allowed to exist in fiction (and sometimes in real places too) because that's not "diverse" enough for people.

5. White privilege is having murders or hate crimes against your people be ignored and erased from the media.

6. White privilege is the double standard of "If you find a white person attractive, they're privileged, if you find a minority attractive, they're victims of objectification/fetishization."

7. White privilege is also the double standard of "If a joke is made about whites, you should laugh it off and have a sense of humor, if a joke is made about minorities, you're the devil."

8. White privilege is having minority children be allowed to bully and harass you during your childhood however much they want, and not ever having someone stand up for you, because you're "privileged." So therefore they're ALLOWED to treat you like that.

9. White privilege is having your every move be vilified and demonized.

10. White privilege is not being allowed to get angry about any of this, or criticize it, because that in and of itself is what apparently makes you so "privileged" in the first place. In other words, white privilege is being manipulated into keeping quiet rather than disagreeing when someone is attacking you, demeaning you, or saying untrue things about you. And being told that your experiences don't matter and having them belittled by the idea of "privilege."

White privilege is being called privileged when you try to inform ignorant people of your REALITY.