Privilege Exercise
HSB 4MI
This exercise needs a large space where the class can stand in a line with space in front of them and space behind.
Instructions:
1. Please form a line in the middle of the room and hold the hand of the person next to you.
2. I’m going to read a list of categories and you will either step forward or back depending on your response.
3. Keep holding hands until it is no longer possible.
4. If you feel uncomfortable with one of the questions, you do not have to step forward or back. This exercise involves trust and compassion. No one in the room will judge anyone else for their responses.
All those whose parent or parents have completed college or university, take one step forward.
All those whose parent or parents have not completed high school, take one step back.
All those who have ever gone to a private school, take one step forward.
If you are able bodied, take one step forward.
If you were ever rejected by family or friends for who you chose to love, take one step back.
If you are Jewish, take one step back.
If people have ever called you by the wrong gender pronoun, take one step back.
If you are Muslim take one step back.
If you are under 21 (or over 60), take one step back.
If you or members of your family have ever been on welfare, take one step back.
All those who live in a community where the majority of police, government worker and politicians are not of your ethnic or racial group, take one step back.
All those who commonly see people of their race or ethnic groups as heroes or heroines on TV programs or in movies, take one step forward.
All those who commonly see people of their race or ethnic groups on TV or in movies on roles you consider degrading, take one step back.
If you never question which washroom to use, take one step forward.
All those who come from racial or ethnic groups who have ever been considered by scientists as “inferior”, take on step back.
If you ever feared as a teenager that your family may abandon you, medicate or hospitalize you if they ever found out your gender identity, take one step back.
All those who have been harassed by police on the basis of their race or ethnicity, take one step back.
All those whose ancestors were slaves in the Caribbean, North America or throughout the African diaspora, take one step back.
All those who have ancestors who, because of their race or ethnicity, were denied voting rights, citizenship, had to drink from separate water fountains, ride at the back of the bus use separate entrances to buildings, could not buy property, were denied access to jobs, clubs, etc., take one step back.
All those who can walk into a store without having clerks assume you are going to steal something based on your appearance, take one step forward.
All those whose parents speak English as a first language, take one step forward.
If you have ever been to a building where you cannot access the building or parts of it because of mobility issues, take one step back.
All those who have never been told that someone hated them because of their race, religion or gender identity, take one step forward.
If you have ever had to skip a meal because there was not enough food or money for food, take one step back.
If your family has ever employed cleaners, gardeners or any kind of service workers or servants, take one step forward.
If you have ever been sexually harassed, take one step back.
All those who have read about their ancestors in history books provided to you in school, take one step forward.
All those who have never been denied a job because of their race, gender identity or religion, take one step forward.
All those who were raised in homes with libraries of children’s books and adult books, take one step forward.
All those who have been taken to art galleries or museums by their parents, take one step forward.
All those who have an immediate family member who is a doctor, lawyer, or other professional, take one step forward.
Al those who have gone to, or currently attend, a school where the majority of teachers are of the same race or ethnic group as you, take one step forward.
All those who have ever feared for your safety because of your race, religion or gender, take one step back.
All those who grew up, or have an immediate family member who grew up on a reservation, take one step back.
5. Say: “When I yell ‘GO,’ everyone run from wherever you are in the room to the wall at the front.”
6. Debriefing questions:
a. What did the exercise teach you?
b. What is the point of this activity?
c. What does this have to do with prejudice? Privilege? Oppression?
d. Do we all start off equal in life?
e. What does holding hands, then becoming distant when you can’t hold hand anymore represent?
f. Is it possible to be the fastest runner and still lose the race?
g. Is social change usually instigated by those who are privileged or oppressed? Why?