The Privilege Walk exercise, created by Peggy McIntosh’s (1988), is a powerful tool for raising awareness of systemic advantages and disadvantages. Participants respond to prompts by stepping forward or backward, depending on their lived experiences. For example, a participant may step forward if they “never had to worry about crime, drugs, or violence in their neighbourhood” or “see members of their race widely represented in the media in a positive manner.” Conversely, they may step back if they “have ever been the only person of their race or ethnicity in a classroom” or “have skipped a meal due to financial insecurity.” The resulting visual separation highlights how privilege—shaped by factors such as race, class, gender, and ability—affects access to opportunities and resources.
In my role as a climate justice curriculum developer, this activity provides a meaningful way to explore privilege within sustainability education. Climate justice is deeply connected to social inequities, yet privilege often determines who influences environmental policies and narratives. By engaging academic staff in this exercise, I can encourage critical reflection on how privilege shapes teaching, research, and student experiences.
Those are some of the steps I will use to engage with “Privilege Walk” exercise thoughtfully:
- Recognizing privilege helps lift the veil of denial and creates pathways toward understanding, empathy, and equity.
- Listen—not to argue, debate, or defend, but to understand different experiences.
- Recognize systemic injustices—privilege is not just about individual experiences but about broader societal patterns.
- Take action—allyship is a continuous process of learning, unlearning, and using privilege to challenge oppression.
Facilitating this exercise requires careful planning to create a safe and constructive environment. To minimize discomfort and defensiveness, I will establish clear guidelines for respect, encourage voluntary participation, and provide a structured debriefing session to help participants process their emotions and insights. Presenting the activity as an opportunity for learning and self-reflection, rather than a critique, will foster open and meaningful dialogue.
Reference
McIntosh, P. (1988) ‘White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack’, Independent School, 49(2), pp. 31–36.