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

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.

Most talk by whites about equal opportunity seems to me now to be about equal opportunity to try to get into a position of dominance while denying that systems of dominance exist.

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

For me white privilege has turned out to be an elusive and fugitive subject. The pressure to avoid it is great, for in facing it I must give up the myth of meritocracy. If these things are true, this is not such a free country; one's life is not what one makes it; many doors open for certain people through no virtues of their own.

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.