Reply to In what nuanced ways did you NOT realize you had white privilege?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I once travelled abroad on a business trip with a very accomplished and elegant black colleague with an African name.  Every customs and airport agent looked at my passport and I went right through.  My colleague was questioned extensively and rudely 
 at every check point.  I never forgot it and was horrified by her treatment.  [/quote]

Yup. I was born in this country and my white dad’s family has been here for over 300 years. But my mom is an immigrant and I look vaguely “ethnic” and so I always make a point of chatting up the passport control people so they hear my American accent. Like I do that very intentionally after too many unpleasant interactions in the past where I was clearly receiving more scrutiny than my travel companions. As an example,  once I was in a car with 3 other people (all white) and we were stopped at a border control checkpoint just south of the Canadian border, and I was the only one asked to produce identification (I wasn’t the driver either).  The others were like “gosh, why were you the only one who got grilled?”  They seriously didn’t have a clue until I explained it to them.

My look kind of makes me a question mark and I notice when people hear me speak they can sort me into the “white” category and move on with their day. I am very aware of this, so I can imagine what it is like for people who are clearly black or brown. White people just don’t even see it so I’m glad some people are starting to get it. Like the PP above who traveled with her work colleague, you get it now and that’s a good thing. [/quote]

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