one question for me and others like me is whether ... we will get truly distressed, even outraged, about unearned race advantage and conferred dominance and, if so, what we will do to lessen them.

Privilege exists when one group has something of value that is denied to others simply because of the groups they belong to, rather than because of anything they’ve done or failed to do. Access to privilege doesn’t determine one’s outcomes, but it is definitely an asset that makes it more likely that whatever talent, ability, and aspirations a person with privilege has will result in something positive for them.

Power from unearned privilege can look like strength when it is in fact permission to escape or to dominate.

If my day, week, or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it has racial overtones.

I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege.

one question for me and others like me is whether ... we will get truly distressed, even outraged, about unearned race advantage and conferred dominance and, if so, what we will do to lessen them.

I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group