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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Activities like this just make me angry. My teen had to do one at school and came home so confused because they kept talking about white privelige and so many of the things didn’t apply to him, even though he’s white. It’s a difficult conversation to have with your kid when he’s made to feel embarrassed that he’s white and further embarrassed that he’s not coming from storybook circumstances. [/quote]

It's a difficult conversation, yes. His discomfort is at being confronted with the privilege he never considered he had, even though he has all of it. It's important to overcome that instinct to internalize and say, "Who? Me? I'm not a bad person! How dare you!" and come to terms with what privilege actually means. Your language -- "he's made to feel embarrassed" is troubling. He isn't a victim. And it's incumbent upon you to reinforce that. He needs to listen more, drop his defenses, and not view a discussion about the zeitgeist as some sort of personal attack. And if he has moments where he feels like his input is not valued or that his station in life is being attacked, consider that a lesson in how other members of other races and ethnicities feel frequently in our society. [/quote]

So now white people arent even allowed to be embarrassed? They should just completely deny their own emotions and focus on the plight of those less priveliged? [/quote]

That is not what I said. What I said was get past the embarrassment and internalization and realize the discussion is not personal. Cognitive dissonance is uncomfortable but it is a necessary first step to enlightenment.[/quote]

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