Arkansas ‘Governor’s School’ May Teach Students Lesson On ‘White Privilege’

The Arkansas state legislature and Department of Education funded a residential program for gifted high school seniors that may teach accepted students about their “white privilege.” 

The 42nd annual Arkansas Governor’s School, a “four-week summer residential program,” plans to teach students about their “white privilege” in a session on “Personal and Social Development” during the week of July 12.  According to Arkansas Tech University, the Arkansas legislature and education department provide “tuition, room, board, and instructional materials for each [accepted] student.”

Upcoming programming includes an article from Peggy McIntosh, an associate director of the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women, that explains how students can unpack their “white privilege.” In the curriculum, the women’s researcher explains that white privilege is akin to male privilege, which the director believes must be “lessened.” 

“I have often noticed men’s unwillingness to grant that they are overprivileged, even though they may grant that women are disadvantaged,” McIntosh wrote. “They may say they will work on women’s [status], in the society, the university, or the curriculum, but they can’t or won’t support the idea of lessening men’s.”