39 Privilege Walk

A privilege walk is a group activity designed to highlights often unacknowledged and unseen privilege.

You can find many different kinds of privilege walk online (this one draws directly from here), but this one aims to teach people about intersectionality, especially the ways that factors such as race, gender, and sexuality impact on people’s experiences of everyday life.

It’s proven in the past to be a valuable tool for teaching social justice and promoting reflection and empathy, so would be ideal within a physiotherapy educational programme or large workplace.

One word of caution, though. The activity highlights some people’s disadvantage, so should only be used with everyone’s consent and in a safe space where these kinds of issues can then be talked about afterwards.

The walk takes about 10-15 minutes to complete, but then the rest of the hour should be set aside for discussion.

You’ll need a large space so that people can begin standing side-by-side. A gymnasium floor is ideal.
You’ll also need to identify a starting line that everyone lines up behind.
Then, have participants line up in a straight line across the middle of the room with plenty of space to move forward and backward as the exercise proceeds.
Explain what a privilege walk is and how it works.
Then read the following to participants:

“I will read statements aloud. Please move if a statement applies to you. If you do not feel comfortable acknowledging a statement that applies to you, simply do not move when it is read. No one else will know whether it applies to you.”

Then begin reading statements below in a clear voice, pausing slightly after each one. The pause can be as long or as short as desired as appropriate.
When you have finished the statements, ask participants to take note of where they are in the room in relation to others.
Have everyone gather into a circle for debriefing and discussion.

Here are the statements:

1. If you are right-handed, take one step forward.
2. If English is your first language, take one step forward.
3. If one or both of your parents have a college degree, take one step forward.
4. If you can find Band-Aids at mainstream stores designed to blend in with or match your skin tone, take one step forward.
5. If you rely, or have relied, primarily on public transportation, take one step back.
6. If you have attended previous schools with people you felt were like yourself, take one step forward
7. If you constantly feel unsafe walking alone at night, take one step back.
8. If your household employs help as servants, gardeners, etc., take one step forward.
9. If you are able to move through the world without fear of sexual assault, take one step forward.
10. If you studied the culture of your ancestors in elementary school, take one step forward.
11. If you often feel that your parents are too busy to spend time with you, take one step back.
12. If you were ever made fun of or bullied for something you could not change or was beyond your control, take one step back.
13. If your family has ever left your homeland or entered another country not of your own free will, take one step back.
14. If you would never think twice about calling the police when trouble occurs, take one step forward.
15. If your family owns a computer, take one step forward.
16. If you have ever been able to play a significant role in a project or activity because of a talent you gained previously, take one step forward.
17. If you can show affection for your romantic partner in public without fear of ridicule or violence, take one step forward.
18. If you ever had to skip a meal or were hungry because there was not enough money to buy food, take one step back.
19. If you feel respected for your academic performance, take one step forward.
20. If you have a physically visible disability, take one step back.
21. If you have an invisible illness or disability, take one step back.
22. If you were ever discouraged from an activity because of race, class, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation, take one step back.
23. If you ever tried to change your appearance, mannerisms, or behaviour to fit in more, take one step back.
24. If you have ever been profiled by someone else using stereotypes, take one step back.
25. If you feel good about how your identities are portrayed by the media, take one step forward.
26. If you were ever accepted for something you applied to because of your association with a friend or family member, take one step forward.
27. If your family has health insurance take one step forward.
28. If you have ever been spoken over because you could not articulate your thoughts fast enough, take one step back.
29. If someone has ever spoken for you when you did not want them to do so, take one step back.
30. If there was ever substance abuse in your household, take one step back.
31. If you come from a single-parent household, take one step back.
32. If you live in an area with crime and drug activity, take one step back.
33. If someone in your household suffered or suffers from mental illness, take one step back.
34. If you have been a victim of sexual harassment, take one step back.
35. If you were ever uncomfortable about a joke related to your race, religion, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation but felt unsafe to confront the situation, take one step back.
36. If you are never asked to speak on behalf of a group of people who share an identity with you, take one step forward.
37. If you can make mistakes and not have people attribute your behaviour to flaws in your racial or gender group, take one step forward.
38. If you have always assumed you’ll go to college, take one step forward.
39. If you have more than fifty books in your household, take one step forward.
40. If your parents have told you that you can be anything you want to be, take one step forward.

Some suggested debriefing questions:

1. What did you feel like being in the front of the group? In the back? In the middle?
2. What were some factors that you have never thought of before?
3. What question made you think most? If you could add a question, what would it be?
4. What do you wish people knew about one of the identities, situations, or disadvantages that caused you to take a step back?
5. How can your understanding of your privileges or marginalisations improve your existing relationships with yourself and others?