Please watch this excellent documentary about race and privilege

 Although, again, I did like The Help and would recommend that you see it, I would rather you watch this.  It's Shakti Butler's documentary Mirrors of Privilege, Making Whiteness Visible.  It's worth the fifty minutes of your time to listen to white Americans honestly discuss their experiences with race, but even if you don't have time to watch the whole thing, watching just a few minutes will, I hope, help you to understand exactly what I'm talking about when I use the word "privilege" about relationships between majority and minority groups.

One of my less charming autistic traits is my willingness to stereotype other people.  Believe it or not, I'm a lot better about this than I used to be. But can I still be racist, sexist, ableist?  Oh, yes. I am a white American male with a graduate degree who lives in California.  So what if I can barely feed myself? My sense of privilege is about as ridiculously inflated as anyone's could possibly be. 

"Privilege" is the mistaken belief because some people are part of the majority, or part of a favored group, they are entitled to be treated better than other people.  It is invisible to people who have it and dehumanizing for those who have not. 

It is not outright bigotry.  It is the expectation that because one is white, or male, or neurotypical,  that you will must have access to all possible opportunities, but that others should be grateful that they have the opportunities that they do. 

It is the expectation that people who are different from you should be grateful for your attention, just like the maids love Skeeter in The Help.  Mirrors of Privilege lives almost entirely in the gray areas the fictional movie avoids by making the racist characters evil cartoons.  Because Skeeter's own privilege is never challenged, neither is that of the audience.

Challenge yourself a little.  Watch this.