In general, people avoid discussions about privilege, discrimination, and racism.

These are
terrifying subjects that can cause a wide range of emotions, including panic, defensiveness,
guilt, rage, and grief. Most of us aren't equipped to deal with intense feelings, whether they
arise in the classroom or elsewhere, and would rather steer clear of them. As numerous
national Difficult Debates programs have noted, racism and white privilege are among the most
ubiquitous, contentious, and under-addressed difficult dialogues on campuses, in the country,
and around the world because of the discomfort, reluctance, and fear that surrounds them.

Many of us white people are aware that our race has an unfair advantage in society. The news
reports tell us about it. We've heard rumblings about it. In a nutshell, we are theoretically
aware of our privilege. However, because we rarely encounter the consequences of racial
privilege, prejudice remains essentially theoretical and conceptual for us. Despite our best
intentions, the everyday realities of those who are not privileged are not much altered by our
efforts to be fair, loving, and kind individuals.

I hoped that by raising awareness of these often-ignored privileges, we could all do better to
avoid unintentionally marginalizing or silencing students in the classroom. I approached the
topic and exercise with caution and care, and I decided to place it smack in the middle of the
intensive, after participants had established some sense of safety and shared community with
one another, and after they had had a chance to reflect on the rich tradition of Western
approaches to controversy, including rhetoric and debate.