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take one step backward.

If you can walk alone at any time of day or night in Saratoga without thinking about safety, take one step forward.

If you went to galleries, museums, and plays with your family, take one step forward.

If you attended private school or summer camp, take one step forward.

If you were raised in a single-parent household, take one step backward.

If you studied the culture of your ancestors in elementary school, take one step forward.

If members of your gender are portrayed on TV in degrading roles, take one step backward.

If you have been a victim of sexual harassment, take one step backward.

If you have been a victim of violence because of your race, gender, class, or sexual orientation, take one step back.

If you ever went on a family vacation, take one step forward.

If you have ever had a maid, gardener, or cleaning service, take one step forward.

If you can walk past a construction site without being looked up and down or catcalled at, take one step forward.

This exercise is about privilege. Every statement addresses some small privilege that is based on gender, race, ethnicity, class, or sexual orientation. The small statements in this exercise have added up to divide people into different locations in this room. Similarly, small privileges in society place individuals in different places in society.

Interestingly, privilege tends to be invisible to those who are privileged. That is, when we receive privilege based on race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or any other factor, we tend to not recognize the boosts in position that accumulate over time from those privileges.

The point of this exercise is not to make any of us embarrassed about the privileges we have received, but to make all of us aware of how privilege based on gender, race, etc function. Whether we are highly privileged, moderately privileged or lack privilege, it is possible to behave in ways that level the playing field for everyone.

HAHAHAHAHA-------->IMPORTANT: This exercise can be very triggering, so do not do this activity unless you are sure you have plenty of time to debrief and reflect what individuals experienced during the privilege walk.<---------HAHAHAHAHHAHA

Originally posted by long pig
This exercise is about privilege. Every statement addresses some small privilege that is based on gender, race, ethnicity, class, or sexual orientation. The small statements in this exercise have added up to divide people into different locations in this room. Similarly, small privileges in society place individuals in different places in society.

Interestingly, privilege tends to be invisible to those who are privileged. That is, when we receive privilege based on race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or any other factor, we tend to not recognize the boosts in position that accumulate over time from those privileges.

The point of this exercise is not to make any of us embarrassed about the privileges we have received, but to make all of us aware of how privilege based on gender, race, etc function. Whether we are highly privileged, moderately privileged or lack privilege, it is possible to behave in ways that level the playing field for everyone.

HAHAHAHAHA-------->IMPORTANT: This exercise can be very triggering, so do not do this activity unless you are sure you have plenty of time to debrief and reflect what individuals experienced during the privilege walk.<---------HAHAHAHAHHAHA

Some salient points, particularly the 3rd paragraph. Awareness of one's circumstances, and how they compare in context with others, is never a bad thing to have.

Not that I agree with each one of the "tests," though. Several seem somewhat petty compared to others, while others are likely redundant and, taken collectively, will create more of a false trend in one direction or another than may actually exist. Others still are presented as zero sum, when they're anything but. For example, a doctor making six figures may have to be on call nights or weekends, but one would hardly dock a child for that as a lack of privilege (i.e. a step backward). In short, I think the spirit of the exercise is more important than the individual examples.

What does time off for religious holidays have to do with white privilege? Or having 50 books?

A test about various types of privilege is somehow a white privilege test?

Also all areas have crime and drug activity. Show me a place with no crime or drugs and I'll show you a place with no people.

Ended up taking four steps back. Is there a chair back here?

Originally posted by Surtur
What does time off for religious holidays have to do with white privilege? Or having 50 books?

Originally posted by Emperordmb
A test about various types of privilege is somehow a white privilege test?

Originally posted by Surtur
Also all areas have crime and drug activity. Show me a place with no crime or drugs and I'll show you a place with no people.

All good points, relating back to one of mine:

Originally posted by Digi
In short, I think the spirit of the exercise is more important than the individual examples.

Long Pig, this isn't a White Privilege test my dear child.

I wound up 7 steps forward.

I want you to check my privilege... in the privacy of my bedroom.

Originally posted by Surtur
What does time off for religious holidays have to do with white privilege? Or having 50 books?
Amount of books in the household is a surprisingly accurate measure of cultural capital. 50 is too rough, but the correlation between amount of books and scholastic performance is absurdly high.

I also agree with Digi, the spirit seems to be more important than the actual implementation. Of course we don't know the contexts since long pig, once again, neglected to post a source, but as an exercise to make one aware of privilege it seems good.

There's this other exercise to illuminate it that I find pretty good: http://twentytwowords.com/what-will-you-do-with-your-privilege/

Originally posted by krisblaze
Amount of books in the household is a surprisingly accurate measure of cultural capital. 50 is too rough, but the correlation between amount of books and scholastic performance is absurdly high.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100520213116.htm

Originally posted by krisblaze
Amount of books in the household is a surprisingly accurate measure of cultural capital. 50 is too rough, but the correlation between amount of books and scholastic performance is absurdly high.

But what if it's 50 trashy romance novels?

Originally posted by Surtur
But what if it's 50 trashy romance novels?
Then it's probably an outlier and not very indicative.

I had like 50+ Goosebumps books. *Feels privilege inside swelling*

Proof that the type of books do matter...

Look at all the privileged b***ards in this thread, check yourselves.

How about the privilege of the entire world fighting your battles or being born with built in excuses?

I love being privileged and will do whatever I can to make sure my kids are privileged.

How come no one's actually posting how many steps back or forward they went?

7 steps forward, baby!

Because I'm too lazy to take the test tbh.

Originally posted by NemeBro
Because I'm too lazy to take the test tbh.
Women are generally lazy.

It's part of our privilege.

Originally posted by NemeBro
It's part of our privilege.

Funny, but essentially true.

-11

So my privilege is being white, Cis, Male and poor but being looked at as if I'm Trump jr.

Originally posted by Henry_Pym
-11

So my privilege is being white, Cis, Male and poor but being looked at as if I'm Trump jr.
Pretty much. Liberal logic at it's finest.

I'm totally privileged.

Women are the most privileged beings on earth.

Basically.

EDIT:
I'm still okay being a man, though. Women may be more privileged, but men still have it better overall.

I should technically be -12 as I only ever left the country to go fight in a war.

Some of those questions were obviously biased, they might aswell have been "do you menstruate" or "do men find you attractive, either way you're oppressed"

Originally posted by riv6672
Basically.

EDIT:
I'm still okay being a man, though. Women may be more privileged, but men still have it better overall.
Men earned their privilege.

Its down to the individual IMHO.
Parents and teachers, peers...you can learn from everyone, even if its what NOT to do.
Not saying every ghetto child needs to become rich, but the concept of an honest day's pay for an honest day's work shouldnt be be foreign.
If you grow up seeing uneducated people dealing drugs, stealing, having unprotected sex and getting diseases and/or becoming teenage parents and making welfare babies...and dont think you should try and do better than that? Sorry but thats on you, not your teacher.

Originally posted by Surtur
I had like 50+ Goosebumps books. *Feels privilege inside swelling*
The privilege of literacy is great.
Unless you read hose books in your 20s then thry probably helped you a great deal.
In fact they probably helped you a lot more than high brow literature would have.

http://i.cubeupload.com/G3uo7s.gif

Seems like you have some kind of preoccupation with this, LP. I mean, beyond general intellectual curiosity on the topic. Is there a story there?

...

On an unrelated note, I think this can be an interesting topic (my problems with OP's particular test notwithstanding). But it also kind of overshadows the fact that life can be difficult for anyone on a number of fronts. Pointing to factors like race and parental background can give us statistical trends, but those trends often fall apart on an individual level because of the vast number of exceptions to any generalization.

So the danger is that we marginalize a person's actual struggles - of ANY race or socioeconomic background - while looking only at statistical variables that may or may not have influenced their status and success.
...

On yet another unrelated note:

http://i.imgur.com/fzPi34J.jpg

Originally posted by Digi
Seems like you have some kind of preoccupation with this, LP. I mean, beyond general intellectual curiosity on the topic. Is there a story there?

...

On an unrelated note, I think this can be an interesting topic (my problems with OP's particular test notwithstanding). But it also kind of overshadows the fact that life can be difficult for anyone on a number of fronts. Pointing to factors like race and parental background can give us statistical trends, but those trends often fall apart on an individual level because of the vast number of exceptions to any generalization.

So the danger is that we marginalize a person's actual struggles - of ANY race or socioeconomic background - while looking only at statistical variables that may or may not have influenced their status and success.
...

On yet another unrelated note:

http://i.imgur.com/fzPi34J.jpg
Don't ruin it.

We did this today in Sociology class.

Originally posted by |King Joker|
We did this today in Sociology class.
Did they make you feel ashamed?