Posted on 02/04/2017 2:30:28 AM PST by Altura Ct.
A diversity committee in Westport, Conn., a wealthy coastal town that was 93 percent white as of 2010, asked high school students earlier this year to reflect on the role of “white privilege” in their lives.
The students were largely fine with the question, which was posed in an annual essay contest.
As it turns out, adults had much more to say.
Some residents in the town of 26,000, which has a median household income north of $150,000 and voted by a margin of 2 to 1 for Hillary Clinton over Donald J. Trump, chafed at the idea that race was a factor in their success. And after the story attracted media attention recently, many outsiders weighed in by calling local officials and storming the township’s Facebook pages.
The essay contest, which has run for four years and typically attracts 10 to 30 entries, offers prizes of $1,000, $750 and $500 to the top three winners. It’s run by a volunteer committee that is not associated with the school district, and the prizes are funded by private donations.
This year’s writing prompt, unveiled in January, reads:
“In 1,000 words or less, describe how you understand the term ‘white privilege’. To what extent do you think this privilege exists? What impact do you think it has had in your life — whatever your racial or ethnic identity — and in our society more broadly?”
Harold Bailey Jr., a retiree and the chairman of Team Westport, the town’s diversity committee, said in an interview on Thursday that the question — devised in September — was not intended to be leading.
“We are not implying anything about our town other than this town has an openness to exploring the topic and discussing it,” he said.
But merely mentioning white privilege seems to have struck a nerve, with much of the criticism coming from out of town.
The term is used, most often by those who lean left politically, to reflect what they identify as a wide range of societal advantages white people knowingly or unknowingly enjoy. The classic example of unequal treatment is the ability to easily hail a cab, but there are more serious ones, such as easier interactions with the police. The term tends to make some white people bristle because they interpret it to mean that their success is unearned or that they benefit from racism.
The national attention began this week with an Associated Press story that quotes one resident calling the question offensive, and one woman who said she “wouldn’t go there.”
Bari Reiner, 72, told The Associated Press that Westport welcomes anyone who can afford to live there.
“It’s an open town,” she said. “There are no barricades here. Nobody says if you’re black or whatever, you can’t move here.”
Some of the response on Facebook were much more spirited.
“This is nothing more than race baiting,” one commenter wrote on Team Westport’s page. “You are a joke.”
“Make no mistake, the idea of white privilege is just as racist as saying there is black privilege,” another commenter wrote.
Westport, which is about 50 miles from midtown Manhattan and about 13 miles east of Stamford, Conn., created the diversity committee in 2003 to “make Westport a more welcoming community on an ongoing basis,” Mr. Bailey said.
In an overwhelmingly white area, it’s all the more important to discuss race, he said. While the adults might commute into New York City or maybe once lived in more diverse areas, the students are less likely to have been exposed to people who aren’t like them, he said.
The committee, he added, is intended “to get folks to take a look at what’s not here demographically, and to think about it and talk about it and keep it in the forefront.”
So, mission accomplished.
For all of the hand-wringing among adults, the students appear to have greeted the essay contest and the resulting uproar with a shrug. Some students said the question wasn’t a big deal in the high school until the media spotlight arrived, and that they were comfortable discussing white privilege.
“It isn’t that much of a taboo subject,” said Fritz Schemel, a 17-year-old senior at Staples High School.
He said he had read several essays in English classes debating the term. At the very least, he found the essay question to be the start of a reasonable discussion. Students who disagreed with the concept were free to say so, he said.
Claire Dinshaw, also a 17-year-old senior at Staples, said the discussion was important “because on a daily basis, we really aren’t exposed to much diversity within our town.
“It’s important to learn about that and figure out how the nation as a whole works, because the whole nation isn’t going to be 93 percent white,” she said.
Grew up in Stamford, lived and worked in Westport for a while before moving. Very fortunate to have lived in one of the nicest places in the world Do I feel guilty? NO! my parents worked hard, I worked hard. Stamford was diverse, Westport wasn’t. So what. I was raised to be nice to everyone regardless of anyone’s race, religion etc. I don’t think anyone in Westport was taught anything different The point being just because you grow up in a 93% white town does not equal you are a racist and you need to apologize for your whiteness. This kind of crap makes me sick.
We built Western Civilization, and it was NOT an 'Affirmative Action' program.
“Westport, which is about 50 miles from midtown Manhattan and about 13 miles east of Stamford, Conn., created the diversity committee in 2003 to “make Westport a more welcoming community on an ongoing basis,” Mr. Bailey said.”
If they’re so rich, I’d think they could build some sort of housing project in their town and attract minority residents, perhaps with subsidized rent and other town-funded benefits. That would be welcoming.
In 1,000 words or less, describe how you understand the term ‘white privilege’
Easy.
White Privilege is a code word used by those that have tried and failed and can not accept that their failure is their own fault and seek to blame others and or the system for that failure!
Donate my winnings to the Make American Great Again Foundation!
This is solely to make the wealthy Left feel better about the fact that they have much more money than 99% of Americans do. It must be the fault of our nation that this is so. It can’t be because it had nothing to do with their merit, but rather Mum and Dad left a cushy inheritance for them. Think of the Kennedy clan and the shady origins of their fortune, with Joe Kennedy running illegal alcohol into the U. S. during prohibition.
There is no White Privilege, consequently this has had no effect in my life.
As usual, I’ll be a contrarian.
I WANT the Left to continue with the “White Priv” stuff. I WANT them to keep rioting.
I want them to ramp it up by a factor of 100.
Why, you cuckservatives, ask?
Because everything the Left does now, especially “white priveledge” is “Election Fuel” for us.
___________________
I agree. The topic of white privilege should be encouraged in the school system. But the slant should be towards impressing upon students that the harder you work and study, the more privileged you become.
Magical thinking. It won’t happen. The Left completely owns education. Didn’t you know that?
How about a “black entitlement” essay contest?
Ebonics would count and they could do it in crayon.
RLTW
Why don’t they invite some rich black folks to come live there?
“Civil rights laws were not passed to protect the rights of white men and do not apply to them.”
— Mary Frances Berry, former Chairwoman, US Commission on Civil Rights
“4) Much easier to be fired at work for poor or normal performance than minorities and other protective classes”
I walked away from a decent (manufacturing) paying job (for my area) just because of this. In the department I worked in, there were 48 black, 2 white, 1 asian. All the departments had this type of ratio. Because I chose to follow the rules (not fudging numbers) & strived to make a quality product, the minority majority deemed me someone hard to get along with & negative all the time. My only words to HR when I walked out: “It will never change.” And it didn’t. The company has lost lots of business, had to lay off lots of workers, and the quality name the company had is lost.
LOL!
They think we never had to hew this nation out of a wilderness, and never had to meet any high expectations of our parents, teachers, pastors, coaches, neighbors, spouses, bosses, co-workers, customers and suppliers?
I've posted the following on FR several times, and here it is again -- their White Privilege textbook, half written for them:
How I Got My “White Privilege” by Albion Wilde
Go to bed on time.
Say your prayers.
Clean your room.
Take care of your belongings.
Address your elders as “Ma’am” and “Sir”.
Do your chores before you play.
Respect your parents and the house rules.
Eat what’s put in front of you.
Sit up/stand up straight.
Do your homework.
Get good grades.
Go to Sunday School and church.
Attend confirmation classes and learn your religion.
Obey the Ten Commandments.
Be home on time.
Boys do not hit girls.
Girls do not chase boys.
Avoid a bad crowd.
Do not smoke, drink or swear. If you do, do not let any authority figure catch you.
You're not leaving the house wearing that.
Obey all driving laws and get a job to pay for your insurance.
Graduate from high school.
Get a job or go to college; if you do go to college, also get a job.
Save money for the future.
Wait to get married before having sex.
If you don’t wait, you will have to give up the child or give up school and marry that person. So choose carefully.
Being married is teamwork.
Keep your finances simple and clean.
Work hard and respect your spouse and/or your boss, even if he/she is a jerk.
House, feed, clothe and love your child.
Being a parent involves sacrifice.
Discipline your child fairly; do not spoil, do not abuse.
Read to your child.
Pray with your spouse and your child.
Don’t ignore your spouse or your personal grooming because you’re now married or a parent.
Stay married.
Settle fights with your spouse before going to sleep at night.
Use credit only for a mortgage, a car payment, or emergencies.
If life throws you a lemon, make lemonade.
Repair, reuse, make do. Be grateful for what you've got.
Save money for old age.
Don't try to run your grown kids' lives.
Take care of your elders.
Teach your children that privilege must be earned.
Love it - “stole” it for future use.
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