Do me a favor before you begin reading.

Take every notion you carry regarding what “they” believe, whether it’s the crazy liberals, the crazy conservatives, or your crazy neighbor. And just suspend it for five minutes, okay? My words are just about our experiences as human beings in this world.

Suspend your judgment and read. Nothing I say below is going to attack you. Nothing I say below is going to accuse you of being a bad person. I promise. That seems fair enough, doesn’t it?

Here we go!

It is okay to be white.

It is okay to admit that you have white privilege. You are not a bad person for either of those statements.

I am half white and benefit from white privilege. In fact, there are many types of privilege I benefit from (ie. skinny privilege, passport privilege, socioeconomic privilege, education privilege, pretty privilege, heterosexual privilege and probably many more that I haven’t identified or considered).

I grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood as part of an upper middle class family. I attended a predominantly white school. My parents are still very much in love. I have never worried about whether or not there would be food on the dinner table or questioned if I would go to college or considered that I wouldn’t be able to talk things through with a police officer if I found myself in the wrong place at the wrong time. I benefit from white privilege. Am I an evil or bad person because of that fact? Absolutely not.

Have I experienced pain, stress, disadvantages in life? Absolutely. Everyone has. Life is hard. Privilege and hardship are not mutually exclusive. Admitting to benefiting from white privilege does not discredit your hard work, your hardships, or any of your struggles. I promise. It merely means you haven’t faced those hardships as a direct result of your skin color.

Below you will find three well-articulated essays on white privilege. If you do not understand what exactly white privilege is or why so many people are claiming you have it, educate yourself. What is the best way to understand a perspective different from what you know? Education.

1. White Privilege: Unpacking The Invisible Knapsack by Dr. Peggy Macintosh

“In my class and place, I did not see myself as a racist because I was taught to recognize racism only in individual acts of meanness by members of my group, never in invisible systems conferring unsought racial dominance on my group from birth.”

2. Peculiar Benefits by Roxane Gay

“The acknowledgement of my privilege is not a denial of the ways I have been and am marginalized, the ways I have suffered.”

3. White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism by Dr. Robin DiAngelo

“We experience a challenge to our racial worldview as a challenge to our very identities as good, moral people. “

There is so much more I want to write, but I have decided that on my platform: Less is more. Today, these are the concepts with which I hope you will walk away.

• It’s okay to be white
• It’s okay to admit your privilege
• Privilege does not discredit any adversity you have faced in your life

In order to enable my audience efficient information digestion, I will share more reading material in small batches. Of course, I certainly hope that you will read all of these essays, but I realistically recognize that you are more likely to read two out of three essays than nine out of ten.

Once again, it is okay to admit your privilege. It’s okay to be white. Whether we want it or not, we have power and voices that will be listened to. How we use them is what matters. I will continue on that topic next time.

If you know of great article or essay on racism, anti-racism, privilege and the like, please e-mail it to me at taraqhiggins@gmail.com so that I can read it and include it in my next list of resources.

What did you think of these essays? Or this blog post? Did you find the layout and the amount of information digestible? Share your thoughts below with me!