Abstract

In 1996, Professor Stephanie M. Wildman co-authored Privilege Revealed: How Invisible Preference Undermines America, a book offering differing perspectives on how various privileges arise and how society needs to become aware of the invisible privileges in everyday life.

In this article, Professor Wildman revisits Privilege Revealed and addresses why teaching about privilege is important and the value in learning about systemic privilege. She provides student reflections on studying privilege to highlight that everyone needs knowledge to make privilege visible and to combat its operation. Professor Wildman argues that a society which urges people to be colorblind is counter to the idea of mindfulness, as people need to understand the role race plays in society. Professor Wildman offers the notion that ‘color insight’ better serves the goals of racial equality and justice. Applying color insight utilizes four steps: (1) considering context for any discussion about race; (2) examining systems of privilege; (3) unmasking perspectivelessness and white normativeness; and (4) combating stereotyping and looking for the ‘me’ in each individual.

Professor Wildman concludes that mindfulness of other people’s oppression offers a positive response to privilege, enabling the holder to use that privilege as a step toward social justice.

Keywords

Privilege Revealed, privilege, studying privilege, systemic privilege, cultural awareness, privilege awareness, color insight