The Daily Show Does White Privilege

Divergent Experiences of Race and NYPD’s Stop and Frisk Policy

Facilitator’s Notes Page

Aspects of the “Conversation on Race” video important to consider:

Extreme range of difference in perspective between black and white participants when considering how far we’ve come in eliminating racism.

Black individuals naming a number of ways white privilege affects people, and the number of ways white individuals demonstrate white privileged thinking within the clip.

Extreme differences in black and white group experiences of stop and frisk. Portrayal of one white woman equating stop and frisk with moving through airport security.

Aspects of the “Frisky Business” video important to consider:

Over 80% of those stopped are black and Hispanic, and only 6% of stops result in an arrest. What other programs do we allow to go unquestioned when they have less than a 10% success rate?

Question: What does the word “furtive” mean? Answer: done by stealth, surreptitious, done in a sly manner. In other words, it looks suspicious. Black people are stopped 20% more often using this rationale.

The NYPD Commissioner suggests that compliance and cooperation is the best approach and that people should accept ‘stop and frisk’ as a “fact of urban life.”

John Oliver’s metaphor when he talks directly to the white audience, asking them to imagine their entire neighborhood as Terminal B at LaGuardia where being aggressively stopped and frisked while being verbally abused is a fact of life.

Supportive Notes for Reflection Questions:

What statements or facts stand out from the videos?

  • Follow the lead of participants. If the conversation does not flow easily, shift to the next question.

How is white privilege named or demonstrated within the two video clips?

  • White people are generally unprepared for a conversation about race because it is not as prominent of an issue in their lives, resulting in a lack of experience. This results in a lack of knowledge regarding how to effectively begin or navigate a conversation on race. (The result does not feel like a benefit to white people.)
  • White people are not subject to systemic racial discrimination and are therefore able to see racism as over 50% reduced. This is not true for black people.
  • White people are not subject to stop and frisk. Black people overwhelmingly affected.
  • White people feel inconvenienced and burdened by general security measures even without the verbal abuse and harassment experienced on a regular basis by people of color. The direct comparison is ludicrous to many people of color.
  • White people are unaware of the systematic discrimination faced by people of color in job interview situations. Research continues to indicate that even when all factors on a job resume are the same, a white applicant will get a call back more often than an a black or Hispanic applicant. (For reference: See “Race at Work: Realities of Race and Criminal Record in the NYC Job Market” by Pager and Western of Princeton University)
  • For white people, the question of racial profiling is largely intellectual. Conversations tend to orient around the intent of the police and may involve underlying racial fears evoked via media representations of people of color. Whereas, people of color are disproportionately mistreated and falsely impacted by racial profiling, even if that profiling is indirect or exacerbated due to unconscious beliefs. (For reference: See “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” by Michelle Alexander.)
  • What else? Add to this list….

What concerns or questions do these videos raise for you?

  • Follow the lead of participants. If the conversation does not flow easily, shift to the next question.

Supportive Notes for Additional Discussion Questions:

Why are white people anxious about conversations on race? What makes it difficult for white people to begin conversations on race?

  • Fear of (1) being called a racist, (2) saying the wrong thing, (3) making an error.
  • Lack of positive experience and skill in navigating the issue.
  • Unconscious or conscious feelings of guilt by being associated with the history of white people.
  • Emotional and psychological confusion and/or distress regarding personal racial identity. White people are more likely to want to disassociate from whiteness or see it as inconsequential. White people have a difficult time finding a positive sense of self when focused on being white.

What can account for the difference of perspective between the black and white interviewees?

  • White privilege allows race to be a non-salient (unimportant) issue for white people. It doesn’t feel meaningful. White people can go months or years without seriously considering how race impacts their lives. Conversely, race is highly salient for people of color. For people of color, staying attentive to issues of race on a daily basis is (and/or feels) necessary for self-protection.

How often do you hear white people express the perspective that people talk too much about race? How can this perspective be seen as allowing racism to remain invisible to white people?

  • This is an extremely common attitude among white people in the U.S., and among some people of color as well.
  • It may be true that conversations on race are likely to involve conflict, but a good portion of the conflict may be a result of white people not being skilled in navigating the conversation and being unaware of how their whiteness affects them. Therefore, avoiding the difficult conversation reinforces the lack of skill and likelihood of continuing conflict.
  • When we use the colorblind approach as a way to move beyond race with the attitude that “if we stop talking about race, racism will disappear”, we often unwittingly and consciously remain blind to the very real effects racism continues to have on people of color’s lives. Not paying attention to race makes us unable to respond effectively to racism.

How does the young white woman’s response to the question about race impacting her experience of being interviewed for a job illustrate a lack of preparation amongst white people to effectively discuss race? What would have helped the white woman engage the question in a way that would support a dialogue between her and Jessica?

  • The young white woman’s speech exemplifies an individual analysis, where each person is seen as being individually responsible for his or her life’s choices and outcomes. The individualism of dominant U.S. culture trains white people to see issues as being about personal interest and skill, not about how societal systems might impact life chances. Therefore, the white woman sees the lack of black women in hiring positions as an issue of choice, rather than systemic and historical discrimination.
  • It would have helped if the white woman knew about systemic discrimination in hiring practices. (For reference: See “Race at Work: Realities of Race and Criminal Record in the NYC Job Market” by Pager and Western of Princeton University)
  • The white woman would have been in a better position to discuss the issue if she were able to recognize the difference between an individual versus a systemic analysis. This would have allowed her to recognize that Jessica’s question, although asking about her personal experience, is tied to a systemic issue that is not only about her or the industry in which she works.

What might prompt black and Hispanic people to be more often viewed suspiciously and targeted by law enforcement? How might this affect the relationship between people of color and the police? How might this affect responses by black and Hispanic people to police stops?

  • Media representations, fear-inducing tactics in political campaigns when introducing ‘get-tough’ legislation, a history of negative stereotypes casting people of color as criminals, etc.
  • Whereas white people (particularly those at middle class or above economic standing) perceive police officers as trustworthy and in service to the community, many people of color experience police as aggressive, violent, abusive, and untrustworthy.
  • Some people of color run from police not because they are guilt of anything, but out of fear of being falsely accused, injured, or harassed. This is often not comprehensible to white people who have relatively little to fear from interactions with police.

“The Daily Show Does White Privilege” - Created by Shelly Tochluk – download at on Xtras Page