A Couple of Terms You May be Hearing

As we contemplate the situation unfolding in #Baltimore, we may be hearing or reading about institutional racism and white privilege. These terms are often confusing and upsetting. Let's look at what they mean.

 Institutional racism is defined as:  societal patterns that have the net effect of imposing oppressive or otherwise negative conditions against identifiable groups on the basis of race or ethnicity. http://civilliberty.about.com/od/raceequalopportunity/g/inst_racism.htm What's happening in our inner cities with big corporations moving jobs out and young people having no hope for real, income producing jobs is an example of institutional racism. Another example is the difference in school funding for inner city schools versus suburban schools.

White privilege is another term that is upsetting to many people. It is defined as:  "a term for societal privileges that benefit white people in western countries beyond what is commonly experienced by non-white people under the same social, political, or economic circumstances." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_privilege 

Teaching Tolerance magazine has an excellent article explaining the terms "racism" and "white privilege". http://www.tolerance.org/article/racism-and-white-privilege

Many years ago Peggy McIntosh wrote about white privilege in an essay called "Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack." You can read it here:  https://www.isr.umich.edu/home/diversity/resources/white-privilege.pdf  She gives 26 personal examples to illustrate white privilege. See how many you can relate to.

We on the Left must educate ourselves before we can start the work needed to change these systems that are impacting our society.