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1. 

   Simona L. Brickers on July 19, 2016 at 10:09 am

   Another heart moving article, this one shared by Lori Lakin Hutcherson that aids to help people understand the daily actions of white privilege. What moved me are the examples used to explain “BEHAVIOR” whether conscious or unconscious that serves as the foundation of white privilege. Often the immediate denial of white privilege is that white people experience hardships, poverty, and misfortunes. The truth is that there is an opportunity for all people to experience hardships, poverty, and misfortune. This perception is similar to why white people refuse to accept that #BlackLivesMatter. The social infrastructure and laws illustrate on numerous levels that black lives DO NOT MATTER, and many have willingly adopted the mindset that black people deserve the treatment received.

   Lori used lived experiences to illustrate misguided assumptions about black people and how this disposition of privilege are institutionally accepted biases about black people without looking at the character of the individual. The idea that one would judge or place an expectation upon another because of an external label alone is the reason to challenge one’s belief system and the merits from which it was rooted.

   To intellectually acceptance that being black means less qualified, less capable, less willing, and less able is haunting because the misperception is saying that black people are less than “me.” How does this belief about black people challenge your self-esteem, self-value, self-worth, and self-consciousness? What happens to your identity in the world when your acceptance about black people changes? What will you lose? More importantly, what will you gain?

   The journey to Harvard was especially endearing, #5 because it was a clear illustration of the lack of self-awareness and implicit bias on the highest level of self-denial. How do marginalizing someone’s abilities, serve your self-identity?

   Number 7 unravels century old hierarchical entitlement by using language that separates humanness by depicting slave owners as “Master” and the person of color as “slave” or a black person in service to white people. Being blindsided with racist assumptions is the foundation microaggressions, which perpetuates whiteness with privileged – meaning unconscious expectations and assumptions surrounding black people. I encourage all to read this article a few times; then I challenge you to look at your life to see the behavior of white privilege.

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