Understanding Privilege – This workshop will provide an overview of what privilege is and who benefits from it in American society. In addition, we will examine its relationship to higher education, economics, employment, laws, and the enforcement of laws. The session will engage participants in developing a holistic understanding of privilege and its relationship to power. Participants will have the opportunity to reflect on Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh and personal stories to develop ways to undo oppression within systems of power and privilege.

• Readings: Please read the article Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack and Chapters 5-8, in the book How to Be An Antiracist, in preparation for the workshop session.

• Copies of How to Be an Antiracist are available for checkout at the library’s circulation desk through the Minuteman Network.

Please familiarize yourself with the materials bellow in the following order, it will take roughly 38 minutes to complete all videos and reading materials.

1. Terminology
   1. Privilege - Privilege operates on personal, interpersonal, cultural, and interpersonal levels and give advantages, favors, and benefits to members of dominant groups at the expense of members of target groups.
   2. White Privilege – A right, advantage, or immunity granted to or enjoyed by white persons beyond the common advantage of others.
   3. Racism – Prejudice towards a group enforced by the institutional power of a privileged dominant group; a marriage of racist policies and racist ideas that produces and normalizes racial inequities.