Topic #31: Modified Privilege Checklist

Peggy McIntosh's White Privilege Checklist from her article White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack has become a seminal tool in the practice of understanding white privilege. I find myself referring to it constantly when I teach workshops, seminars and classes. I recently facilitated a book club meeting on the phenomenal book So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo, and I wanted a quick and easy version of the privilege checklist that we could use as a basis for discussion without going through the original article and 50-item checklist. Here is my abridged version of McIntosh's White Privilege Checklist, crafted by selecting the items that seem to make the greatest impact. I've also added a few of my own items at the end based on common responses to the checklist. Please feel free to use and share with appropriate acknowledgements.

Modified White Privilege Checklist 

adapted from “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh

1. I can, if I wish, arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.
2. I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.
3. When I am told about our national heritage I am shown that people of my race built it.
4. I can turn on the TV, browse the internet, or open to the front page of the newspaper and see people of my race widely represented in a variety of roles.
5. I can swear, listen to a certain type of music, dress in sloppy clothes, or not answer emails, without having people attribute these choices to the behaviors of people of my race.
6. I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.
7. I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to the "person in charge" I will be facing a person of my race. 
8. If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven't been singled out because of my race.
9. I can go home from most meetings of organizations I belong to feeling like I belong, rather than feeling isolated, out-of-place, outnumbered, unheard, held at a distance, causing people to “walk on eggshells,” or feeling feared.
10. I can worry about and speak out about racism without being seen as self-interested or self-pitying.
11. I can be chosen for a job over another candidate without having my co-workers on the job suspect that I got it because of my race.
12. If my day or week is going badly, I need not ask of each cumulative negative episode or situation whether my race was a factor.
13. I can be sure that if I need legal help, my race will not work against me.
14. I can be sure that if I need medical help, my race will not work against me.
15. I can arrange my activities so that I will never have to experience feelings of rejection owing to my race.
16. If I am ineffective as a leader I can be sure that my race is not the problem.
17. I can chose makeup or bandages in "flesh" or “nude” color and have them more or less match my skin.
18. People aren’t constantly asking me if I know a specific person because we share the same race.
19. People don’t use special words when communicating with me because of my race.
20. I can travel alone or with groups of people of my race without expecting embarrassment, hostility, or unusual behavior in those who deal with us.
21. I will feel welcomed and "normal" in the usual walks of everyday life.
22. People are not constantly trying to demonstrate to me that they don’t have negative feelings about my race by telling me about other people they know who share my race, or creating stories and situations that show they are not racist. 
23. I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that give an accurate depiction of the numerous contributions by people of their own race.
24. I can arrange to protect my children most of the time from people who might not like them or want to single them out because of their race.
25. I do not have to educate my children to be aware of racism for their own daily physical protection.
26. My chief worries about my children do not concern others' attitudes toward their race.
27. If I want to, I can be pretty sure of finding a publisher for an article I wrote on white privilege.

You are a beneficiary of white privilege if you can answer “true” to most of the statements above. Please answer these last three items to complete the checklist:

28. While most of these statements are true for me, they make me feel defensive, they make me feel negative about the person who gave them to me, or they elicit a desire to explain reasons why they might true other than that I have white privilege.

29. I am focused on the few items that are untrue instead of the problem that so many are true.

30. Instead of de-centering myself and imagining how this realty must feel to a person of color, I am preoccupied by my own discomfort (even though I’m the one experiencing the privileges and benefits).

If any of the last three statements are true for you, you are likely suffering from white fragility. This is a great opportunity to learn more! Contact sbsurj@gmail.com to join a community of peers who are learning together and taking action for social change.