In his letter to the editor 6/28/17, one thing Chuck Hirman objected to was sweeping generalizations of white privilege. He wrote about significant disparity he experienced due to lack of class privilege growing up, which sounded incredibly difficult to go through. Growing up as a poor white person in this country can make it feel like you have no privilege at all. Due to how class, race, sex, gender identity, ability and citizenship all affect our privilege, each person can be privileged in some ways and not in others. The color of our skin affects all of these categories. A poor person of color has less privilege than a white poor person.

I am white and didn’t understand the depth of white privilege, even felt myself bristling at the words. I realized it was time to get more information. I believe that is the first step for any white person whose experience has been such that they don’t see the ways in which white skin has given them privilege and how systems are set up in this country around white privilege.

I don’t believe listing things about white privilege here will be helpful. It is something you need to spend time reading about and listening to the experience of people of color. I believe it has to be experiential. I can offer the place I recently received an incredible education: Patti Digh’s Hard Conversations: An Introduction to Racism. It helpsed my blinders come off. Recognizing white privilege is not about white shame and guilt, it is about acknowleging that it exists so that we can all move forward

— Cathy deSmet