I was sent a social media post reacting to the HCPSS high school lesson on white privilege. First came the “what grade level is this?” and “why wasn’t this optional”/”why weren’t parents told?” comments which didn’t really take root. Then the inevitable “white privilege isn’t real” comment was made, eliciting 50+ replies. However, more than half of the replies were people trying to convince the poster that white privilege is real. The initial responses had a “I can’t believe you think white privilege isn’t real” tone and then introduced concrete examples when the “isn’t real” statement maker noted that no one had explained what privilege she, as a white woman, has over other races. Other responders offered articles and podcasts that the statement maker could use to learn about white privilege. The dialog was pretty civil, given the topic, although one poster used it as an example of why students should not be tackling these issues. Eventually the statement-maker stopped responding, although responders kept posting articles and evidence. I often wonder if anyone is influenced by what anyone says to social media, but I hope more voices may impact people.
