While this chapter does not yet deal directly with White privileges, use of "A Privilege Puzzle" can help set the stage for discussion about what it means to be White.

After everyone has had a chance to read over the entire page, be certain everyone understands who the characters are (Sam and Rita are married. Tami is their daughter. Sam is White. Rita and Tami are Black.) Then invite small groups to identify the privileges present in each section. Don't point out the following examples, until the group has struggled with them for awhile themselves.

Examples: #1. The White person in front of Sam assumes that Sam is not out to get him even though he has never seen Sam before. #2. Sam's "White" voice over the phone helped get Rita off the hook with the police. Sam would not have been pulled over had he been driving a new car. #3. Use of the term "you people," the assumption that Egyptian civilization is no longer present. #4. The reality that Sam would get better treatment in a bank. #5. What perspective history is written from.

1. If you were going to attend a family reunion this afternoon and if a second cousin once removed asked you, "So what did you study in Sunday School today?" how would you answer? Could you identify the primary ways racism hurts White people? List those mentioned in this chapter: racism hurts White people by - depriving the wonders of diversity (89-91), setting up White standards as normative (92), damaging White self-esteem (92), misdirecting efforts to reduce crime (93-95), damaging the economy (95-96), receiving a skewed view of history (98-100). If time allows, practice explaining one way that racism damages White people to a partner in the class.

2. Crime is a hot topic in both political and private arenas. Many myths undergird the debate. Several of the myths are challenged in this section (94-95). Studies released since the publication of this book have further challenged these myths. For example, according to the New York Times, African-Americans are being charged at seventeen times the rate of Whites under "three strikes laws" (2/13/96). Although the actual incidence of criminal activity is relatively similar among both populations, the laws are being disproportionately enforced. How do you respond to the information in this section? Where do you expect most people in your congregation get their information about crime? How do we challenge the racially charged myths among us?

3. Re-read Miller Shearer's assertion on p. 96: "one of the worst lies of racism is that White people have nothing to gain and everything to lose by actively working against racism." What do White people have to gain by the end of racism? Generate a list. Is this a vision worth working for?

Read Chapter 7: What does it mean to be White?

If you are White, identify five privileges you receive during the course of the week because of your skin color.

If you are a person of color, identify five ways that you observe White people around you receiving privileges because of their skin color.