Robin DiAngelo said she grew up "poor and white." She’s not poor anymore — and she argues white privilege is the key reason why.
"Being white definitely helped me navigate that poverty, move out of it and now be seen as fitting in," DiAngelo said. "It’s only internal that I have that class difference."
Now, she studies white privilege and whiteness studies as a professor at the University of Washington and a consultant and trainer on issues of racial and social justice.
She explains the concept of white privilege like this: a large building with an escalator, filled with people. You’re in a wheelchair. You're stuck, with no way of going up or down. The people riding the escalator aren’t bad, she explained. They didn’t intend to exclude you. They’re just advantaged by the structure of the building.
"It means that society is set up in a way that automatically advances you if you are white," DiAngelo said. "It’s not dependent on your self-image, or intentions or beliefs. It’s simply structured a way that will reflect you."
Intention is something a lot of people misunderstand about white privilege, DiAngelo said.
"I’ve been deeply conditioned into a racist worldview because we live in a racist society," DiAngelo said. "We’ve been taught it’s simply a matter of conscious dislike. It’s a perfect setup. I think it’s actually a perfect way to hold racism in place."
She ties white privilege into national issues like segregation. Legal segregation was officially outlawed in the U.S. by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but de facto segregation still exists — divided by public policy and redlining. Milwaukee has often been called one of the most segregated cities in the country.
"There is a common way that we like to explain that which is, it’s just human nature. People just like to be with their own." DiAngelo said. "And I patently reject that ... I just don’t think it’s natural that some people like to be on their own with all the resources and other people like to be separate without the resources."
She said racism reinforces segregation in schools and neighborhoods.
"We tend to talk about segregated spaces that are white as good. As safe," she said. "Those are incredibly powerful messages. And those messages are not lost on children."