Have you ever sat in a classroom and listened to a professor give a lecture about slavery? Maybe that professor was lecturing about something else, like the current racial issues that are still prevalent in our society. Did that professor talk about how oppressed those of a different color felt? Perhaps he or she talked about other minority races, and how they feel just as oppressed. Did he or she continue to explain the horrible acts that the majority race has done against them? And did all of this just make you hate that you were Caucasian? Did it make you feel terrible? Ashamed? Helpless because you could literally only sit there knowing that because of your skin color, anything you say would seem ineffective? Well, congratulations. You just realized that you have white privilege.

Before I go into the “now what” part of this discussion, let’s talk about what white privilege exactly is, and how often times, its negative connotation has a bad effect on those trying to truly understand the concept. For starters, white privilege does not mean that anyone who is Caucasian (which will also be referred to as the majority race for the rest and the purpose of this article) is racist. White privilege does not mean that because of your skin color, you have no other choice but to sulk in misery about the terrible actions in history that the majority race has done against the minority race. White privilege is simply recognizing that there is an imbalance. White privilege is recognizing that there are numerous things in your life in which you have an advantage. White privilege is recognizing that you haven’t realized how much of your life has worked in your favor because of your skin color.

You have white privilege because you can buy “flesh colored” band-aids that are actually the color of your flesh. You have white privilege because you can buy makeup at the store without having to worry whether or not they will have a foundation that matches your skin tone. You have white privilege because you don’t have to worry about being accepted in different parts of America because of your skin color. You have white privilege because you can open the newspaper or turn on the television and see people of your race widely represented. You have white privilege because you can excel in a sport or an art form without having your race also be called to attention. You have white privilege because people don’t automatically assume you speak a certain language. You have white privilege because you aren’t automatically stereotyped as a drug dealer or a terrorist just because of the color of your skin.

So, the question remains: now what?

This is what you can do. Educate. People refuse to admit that white privilege exists because they either haven’t been properly educated about what it is, or they are ignorant and aren’t willing to learn. Open your ears and correct those around you when you hear racial remarks or things that irk you. You don’t have to be rude about it. Remember, you can’t help those that won’t help themselves. Kindly remind them that their comment was offensive because it put down someone you know and love dearly. Tell them you would appreciate it if they didn’t use that language. Tell them they should be more careful about what they say. And however mad you may get, don’t attack the individual with your words. Fighting fire with fire solves nothing. You might feel like you could throw a whole textbook at them explaining why they are incorrect (and let’s be honest, throwing a textbook at some people would be more fun than responding kindly), but you cannot make them actually read the information inside. People have to discover things for themselves. You just need to help point them in the right direction.

Also, remember that the people you address are still human. The natural instinct when being called out is to get defensive and shut down. They might try to attack back and hurt you with their words. They may refuse to deny that white privilege exists. That’s okay. It definitely makes me feel sick to my stomach that people still deny it, but you can’t beat a dead horse. And as stated above, you can’t help those who won’t help themselves. BUT, we sure can try!

Something else you can do is educate yourself! Stop and think for a second. What’s the last thing you learned in school about African Americans? Hispanic Americans? Asian Americans? Native Americans? I’m going to guess that it was something from the early 1900s. Do you think they’ve just disappeared since then? No, of course not! We would like to think that we regularly celebrate and appreciate people of different races and the numerous accomplishments they’ve had, but we seem to focus on the same events over and over. We continue to teach the same things in our schools, and it’s starting to get outdated. This doesn’t mean that we should stop teaching them, but we should learn new and current accomplishments. Learn about other people because you care. You should care about their history. Believe it or not, the minority race has done so much for American history, and they are hardly ever given enough credit.

Start having conversations with others about white privilege and racism. People tend to get really uncomfortable about topics such as these, so start small. Maybe you just talk to your best friend about it. Maybe you talk to your mom and dad. Put your heads together, and think about what you can do to try and even the scales. How can you make it balanced? What can you do to help? Perhaps when you begin discussing, you’ll both realize that you know much less than you thought you did, and you’ll have to do some digging. Having conversations about racism can be difficult, and some people think it might even be better to be “color blind” instead. (Color blindness is the idea that you don’t see races, you just see people.) Although, however good the intention might seem, this is contributing to racism by acknowledging that all people of society are treated equally and nothing needs to change. We need to acknowledge racism because only when the stories about the oppressed are heard and valued will there ever be change. And there NEEDS to be change!

Of course there are several other things you can do, but just so you have enough time to go about the rest of your day, I’ll end it here! Perhaps one of the most important things you can do is to take notice of your surroundings. Do you live in an area where the lunch break at work all of a sudden becomes the year 1942? Is there an unintentional divide among the races? It may not even be in the lunch room. Is it between kids on the playground? Is it among the parents at the baseball field? Now stop and think: is there a reason for this? It’s very likely that you didn’t mean for this to happen. After all, birds of a feather flock together. But that’s where you need to take action. This unintentional divide is what gives you the white privilege. It’s the “I didn’t notice that we were divided but it doesn’t really matter. It’s not like I have anything against them. It’s just that I’m having a nice conversation with my friend Cathy over here" attitude. Okay, well stop talking to Cathy and go immerse yourself among others. It’s the “I’m too comfy with the way things are right now that I’m not willing to change” attitude. This needs to stop. It may seem like a small gesture, but it’s huge. Will you feel uncomfortable walking into a group of people that are all similar, and you are the one that sticks out? Probably. You might be a little nervous, but that’s okay. You might feel a little self conscious at first about saying the wrong thing, or you might just be a little frightened in general. But you know what? You better get used to it, because that’s how the minority race feels every single day.

If you want to see the change, you need to be the change.