A San Diego State University professor has been making waves thanks to a “White Privilege Checklist” she offered her students to complete for extra credit.
The checklist was provided to students by Dae Elliott, who teaches sociology, and included examples of ways people are privileged “because they are white.”
“Only through processes that allow us to share intersubjectively, weigh all of our perspectives according to amount of shareable empirical evidence can we approximate an objective understanding of our society,” Elliott told the College Fix. “It may never be perfect, in fact, I am sure we will always be improving but it is a better response if we are truly seekers of what is truth, what is reality. In a society that values fairness, our injustices that are institutionalized are often made invisible.”
Some of the questions include:
-I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race
-I can choose blemish cover or bandages in flesh color and have them more or less match my skin.
-I can worry about racism without being seen as self-interested or self-seeking
-I can be late to a meeting without having the lateness reflect on my race.
-I am not made acutely aware that my shape, bearing, or body odor will be taken as a reflection on my race.
-I can enroll in a class at college and be sure that the majority of my professors will be of my race.
The full list can be seen below:
At the end of the quiz, students were also made aware of other forms of privilege, such as “gender, sexual orientation, class, and religion,” as well as asked to define any more types they can think of.
To earn the extra credit, students were told to also answer a series of questions given to them by the professor including “Were you surprised by your score, or did it confirm what you already knew? Why is privilege normally invisible and what does it feel like to make it visible? Do you think this exercise is different for white students than for students of color? For black students than for Asian, Indian, Latino/a students, or other students of color?”
Asked about the offer, Elliott told The College Fix via email that it’s a legitimate way to help students see things from multiple perspectives.
