The topic of race, white privilege and racism is something that feels like it is never taught. From a young age, we immediately are able to compare those of us with white skin to those with darker skin. In some areas, we are so sheltered that some of us rarely meet and engage with any variety of races until we are teenagers like I was in my story. I had always gone to school with kids who looked like me…
The campfire crackled on the warm July night at our cabin. Laughter filled the air as I sat around it with my family. We began talking about my future. I had just graduated high school a month prior and in a month I would be beginning university. We were discussing how much money a teacher would make and my aunt, a teacher, was telling me what it’s like to be a teacher when my mom out loud said “hopefully you’ll…
I never really concerned myself with the concept of class until I was in high school. It wasn’t really until I was in grade 11 and got involved helping with the school’s lunch program. I remember the first day I was working I was taking cash and checking off people’s names who had a prepaid lunch card. It was a really busy day because it was the very popular Mac ’n’ Cheese, so I didn’t really think too much about…
If you are white, you immediately have white privilege. It doesn’t matter if you’re rich, poor, young, or old, if you are white you have privilege. Because of the colour of your skin, you are given an unearned advantage in life to things such as education, employment, health and safety, etc. To say you are not racist and then continue to take advantage of your unearned benefits is why white fragility still exists and continues to be a barrier in…