Running Head: WHITE PRIVILEGE IN CYC

The Importance of the White Privilege in CYC Practice

Sharyn Addo-Nyarko
Humber College

WHITE PRIVILEGE IN CYC

What is racism? When did racism really begin? Racism is negative attitudes of a person
or group of people using a socially constructed concept of race; racism can manifest itself as
feelings or behaviours that can give advantages, privilege, and power to certain groups of people,
and conversely, can disadvantage or limit the opportunities of racialized groups (Anzovino &
Boutilier, 2015). Racism and topics such as white privilege have been around for as long as
anyone has lived. Many people think they know what racism is about and have felt that they have
experienced it, but many people also dont know what the topic racism is really all about. In
society today, there are people advocating for Black lives matter because there happened to be
a few white police officers who have been in some sort of conflict with black youth and in the
end of that conflict, the black youth ends up getting killed and the white officer gets to go free
as many see it. Also it should be noted that many may also not know what it is to be white; all
they think about is white privilege and the assumption that white people get away with certain
things just because they just happen to have white skin. In Diane S. Schmitz article titled,
Developing an awareness of white privilege, she starts off by saying,

Understanding what it means to be white requires a reshaping of ones worldview; a willingness

to challenge oneself and others to disrupt the status quo of a privilege that oppresses. The
Journey to an awareness of white privilege is messy, imperfect, disconcerting, and lifelong. The
awareness cannot stand alone: it must lead to action. It involves speaking out to break the
silences that perpetuate racism and listening to painful stories of people from communities of
color without offering up "perfectly logical explanations" to dismiss their experiences. The
voices of the marginalized and oppressed call us forth to create racial Justice (Schmitz, 2010).
For child and youth workers it is critical to have an awareness of white privilege in Canadian
society. It is important because it affects their work and the people they work with, including

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their clients, second they can teach others what they know about white privilege and having
awareness is always good for self-knowledge.
Day to day there are a lot of issues that can affect how people work and who they work
with. From personal values to how others are cultural raised can be factors that affect peoples
work. For child and youth workers, the topic of white privilege is important to be aware of
because it can also affect their work. Child and youth workers, work with many different types of
people. adolescence might be experienced differently based on culture, gender, race and
sexuality (Raby, 2004). It has to be known that everyone is different, and has been raised
differently. Some cultures see society different than other cultures do, so that alone can change
how someone looks at the world, because of how they were taught to see the world. Child and
youth workers will work with children and youth who are from all types of different ethnicities
and religions and races. Everyone is different. The way a black child views society compared to
how a white child views society may be completely different. Workers also have to be accepting
of others. It is in the Code of Ethics for Child and youth care workers to be not disrespectful to
their clients. This meaning that whatever personal views a worker may have, they cannot put that
out on their client. They cannot judge. Another reason as to how not being aware of white
privilege affects work is that if a child and youth care worker isnt aware of white privilege in
Canadian society, then how would they know when they something to a client for example thats
incorrect? When telling people information, the facts should always be known and not just
assumptions, or personal thoughts. In a study for raising white awareness, Kim A. Case says,
Everyone stereotypes whether they realize it or notIts hard to change your ways when you
were raised to believe something, and then someone tells you its wrong (Case, 2007). As child
and youth workers they have to try their best to not put stereotypes on their clients and instead do

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what is best for their client and their needs. It is critical for child and youth workers to have an
awareness of white privilege in Canadian society because of their line of work. Not having an
awareness of white privilege affects their work because everyone is different, everyone has to be
accepted and it has to be made sure that the wrong thing isnt said.
In life, every moment is an opportunity to learn or teach. A common phrase people use is
I learn something new every day. This is true is many ways, from a simple fact that is
unknown to someone to a new way of doing something; something is always being learnt or
taught everyday by peers and others that are around. As child and youth workers, the children
and youth look up to the workers. It is critical for child and youth workers to have an awareness
of white privilege so they can use that knowledge to teach some of the children and youth.
When White students begin to learn about the benefits they receive because of their skin and the
systems of inequality in society, they may experience a range of feelings and confusion
(Lawrence, 1997). A lot of youth dont even know or recognize white privilege. May youth
havent even heard of the term white privilege but as soon as they hear the term, they
automatically link it to race and white people getting things easy compared to other races. Child
and youth workers are like role models to the children and youth, they have to have an awareness
of white privilege so that they can help the children and youth understand the topic more and
properly. In Sandra M. Lawrences article about teaching white racial identity and
multiculturalism, she says, Although many children in schools are eager to talk about race
(Lawrence & Tatum, 1996), many White teachers are reluctant to talk about itit can stir up a
lot of uncomfortable feelings (Tatum, 1992b) and may reveal the wealth of privileges Whites
enjoy (Sleeter, 1994) (Lawrence, 1997). In society today there is so much going on the media,
and children see and hear things all the time that they do not really understand. Of course

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children have questions, so dont know how to ask and others are too shy, but also the people
around the children are too quiet about the topic and issues of race (Lawrence, 1997), that is why
when child and youth care workers are aware of the topic, they can better help the child or youth
understand. Also it is critical to be aware of white privilege, just so that a worker can correct
others when they are in the wrong about the topic. [Whiteness] it is the assumed norm and
free of racial discrimination. For the most part, whites do not have to think about their own
colour as they move through their lives (Raby, 2004). Today in society there are a lot of myths
to certain things like race, which is also stereotyping and as workers, it is good to know the facts.
I think it's almost easier to teach diversity issues [in a racially diverse school]. You just have to
find different ways to work it in a predominantly White school ... like some things just get
glossed over. ... There are comments people make, and you can choose to ignore them
(Haviland, 2008). The quote from Victoria Havilands article just once again talks about how
some people are uneducated about the topic, so then they say the wrong things, and get other
people thinking the same wrong thing about the topic and so on, and so that is why it is critical
for child and youth workers to have an awareness of white privilege, so that they can teach
others.
Being smart and full of knowledge is always a good thing, it makes a person look better,
makes them look like they know what theyre doing. As child and youth care workers, it is
critical to have an awareness of white privilege for self-knowledge. Everyone judges people on a
daily basis, whether intentional or not; but of course most people keep it to themselves. There are
always going to be misconceptions about a certain group or thing. Knowing the right facts can
always be useful. As a child and youth care worker, having an awareness of white privilege, can
change personal views. raising awareness of White privilege and racism; increasing support

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for affirmative action; and reducing prejudice, guilt, and fear of other races (Case, 2007).
Having an awareness can change peoples views and hopefully if there was a negative
perspective of a topic, it can change into a positive one. It is good as a child and youth worker to
develop an awareness for our personal biases (Ancis & Szymanski, 2001). Having an aware of
white privilege is also critical for a child and youth care worker because it creates less prejudice.
Once more is known on a topic, once the proper true facts are learnt, then there is really no
reason for a person to judge someone just based on their skin colour for example. It cannot be
just assumed that a person of white skin colour, automatically is privileged everywhere in society
and that they can do and get anything they want. In Douglas G. Campbells article a titled:
"White privilege": a shield against reason, he talks about a situation where a black student asks
for an extension on an assignment and he as a professor refuses and explains that the rest of the
people in the class were able to complete the assignment on time. The girl then proceeds to tell
the professor that he doesnt understand and when the professor says he does and that he, himself
had a hard time in university, the student didnt believe him because she said he was white;
assuming that he got everything easy (Campbell, 2010). This is an example of prejudice,
assuming that because the professor was white that he got everything in his life easy. This is an
example of prejudice, assuming that because the professor was white that he got everything in
his life easy. This is why it is important to be aware of white privilege, so that people can avoid
judging others lives that they know nothing about. The last reason is that it is just more
professional to have an awareness of white privilege. Having knowledge of white awareness and
such topics can make a child and youth worker look better to their co-workers for example.
What needs to be known about the topic of white privilege is more research to see how it
really affects people, and comparatively, how white people are treated compared to non-white

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people. From the content of this paper, it suggests that as my role as a CYC worker, that I will try
to educate myself in topics unknown so that I can have a better understanding to help someone
else like my clients understand the topic better as well. I will learn so that I can share my
knowledge with others. Also so that I can right someone when they have wrong information
about the topic. I have learned about CYC practice that as CYC workers we have to educate
ourselves so that we can put our clients needs first.
In conclusion, it is very important for Child and Youth workers to have an awareness of
white privilege in Canadian society. It is very critical because it affects their work and who
CYCs work with including their clients, when they are aware, they can teach others and correct
people who are wrong about the topic and it is important to be aware just for self-knowledge.
Child and Youth workers should be well knowledgeable of certain topics in Canadian society so
that they can always help and support their clients in the best way possible.

WHITE PRIVILEGE IN CYC

References
Ancis, J. R., & Szymanski, D. M. (2001). Awareness of White Privilege Among White
Counseling Trainees. The Counseling Psychologist , 29(4), 548-569.
doi:10.1177/0011000001294005
Anzovino, T., & Boutilier, D. (2015). Walk a Mile: Experiencing and Understanding
Diversity in Canada. Toronto: Nelson Education Ltd.
Campbell, D. G. (2010). "White privilege": a shield against reason. Academic
Questions, 23(4), 497+. doi:http://dx.doi.org.eztest.ocls.ca/10.1007/s12129010-9188-5
Case, K. A. (2007). Raising White Privilege Awareness and Reducing Racial Prejudice:
Assessing Diversity Course Effectiveness. Teaching of Psychology, 34(4), 231235. doi:10.1080/00986280701700250
Haviland, V. S. (2008). "Things get glossed over": rearticulating the silencing power
of whiteness in education. Journal of Teacher Education, 59(1), 40-54.
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Lawrence, S. M. (1997). Beyond race awareness: white racial identity and
multicultural teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 48(2), 148+. Retrieved
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Raby, R. (2004). There's no racism at my school, it's just joking around:
ramifications for antiracist education. Race, ethnicity and education, 7(4),
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Schmitz, D. S. (2010). Developing an awareness of white privilege. Reflections:
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