Canada is holding their first white privilege conference and tickets start at $200. There is a youth conference for kids ages 11-17 to promote essentially race-inverted segregation. There will be a "highly diverse" panel (and I assume that they mean diverse bodies, not diverse opinions). There's even a section on "critical whiteness", which is a field of study that deals with the study of unconsciously created structures that create and uphold white supremacy. The goal of the event is to simultaneously foster inclusivity by discussing the "white problem."
White privilege is defined as "a socio-political system that distributes power, privilege and benefits unequally among groups in societies and countries in our world." It would have held water in the times of European conquest or right after segregation legally ended, but not so much nowadays as most "white privilege" can be chalked up to socioeconomic privilege or general social conditioning. For example, the shoplifting allegation example has way more factors at play than just race such as perceived socioeconomic status, the location of the store, or the way the person was carrying themselves. That's not to say that racist people don't exist, but these incidents need to be looked at with more context.
Honestly, how is this supposed to help race relations? If anything, it's going to serve as a breeding ground for paranoia and hostility whether that comes from looking for white privilege around every corner or from the rise of actual racists who take pride in being seen as the conquerors and the "better" class. Diversity in thought is the purest form of diversity in humans because outward diversity is only that: outward. There is no point in aiming to create diversity when only the same "ideas" get exchanged. I hope that some dissenters go to the conference and create some actual diversity.
I support these people's right to host a conference, but their right to host a conference is my right to question the exact goal of this conference and the concepts behind it. The last thing I want kids to learn is that people who are different from them are inherently bad or threat to their safety or future just by existing.
https://www.ryerson.ca/wpc-global/about/topics/ DOA May 13, 2018
http://education.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264093-e-5 DOA May 13, 2018
