1. Why do you think the United States has twice the rate of anxiety, depression, and substance abuse than the global average? What factors could be responsible for this? What role, if any, might white privilege play in this? Explain.
2. What do you know about school shootings? Where do they happen? Who commits them? Who is targeted? Why do they happen? What role, if any, do you think white privilege plays in these tragedies? If you don’t think race has had anything to do with these kinds of shootings – even though virtually all the shooters in the highest–profile cases have been white – do you think your opinion would be different if all the shooters had been black? Explain.
3. What were your initial reactions to the 9/11 terrorist attacks? Years later, why do you think we were attacked?
4. How did Iraqis greet the U.S. during the 2003 invasion of Iraq? Were the Americans greeted, as many predicted, as liberators? Why or why not? How is this relevant to Wise’s overall analysis of how privilege shapes perceptions?
5. According to Tim Wise, how does privilege affect both those who have it and those who do not? Explain.
Assignments
1. The United States has five times more anxiety, depression, and substance abuse than Nigeria. Research the current political climate of Nigeria, and write a paper comparing it to the United States. How and why do you think the most powerful and privileged people on the earth have so many more mental disorders? Explain.
2. Research the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. Write a paper summarizing the many discussions, debates, and explanations that filled American newspapers, magazines, and news programming after the tragedy, then analyze how white privilege factored into these discussions. First, summarize the range of media commentary and explanations as completely as possible.
Then, consider these questions: Given that the shooters were both white, did any of the media reporting and analysis you found discuss the race of the shooters? If so, summarize how it was talked about. If not, try to explain why you think this factor wasn’t part of the national conversation – and whether its omission might itself be a sign of how white privilege works. Start by downloading this clip from Michael Moore’s documentary Bowling For Columbine:
http://mefwordpress.s3.amazonaws.com/BowlingForColumbine_MarilynManson.zip
3. Research the budget of the United States. Consider these questions as you gather information:
How does the U.S. spend its money? What does the U.S. spend its money on? How does the way the U.S. spend its money compare with other developed countries? How do the spending priorities of other wealthy nations compare to priorities in the U.S.? After compiling your research, and considering these questions, write a paper examining U.S. spending priorities within the context of Tim Wise’s overall analysis of privilege – specifically, how it works, and why it matters.
