Chicago Theological Seminary seeks to spark discussion, movement on ‘white privilege’ via new video

Sparking a discussion, inspiring a dialogue, and creating awareness about racial disparities. This is the intended goal of a newly-released video, “White Privilege Glasses,” from UCC-related Chicago Theological Seminary. The premise of the 70-second video released Monday, Feb. 1, is to raise the question, “What if we had glasses that helped us see privilege in everyday life?”

In the new web video created by the seminary, the main character, Mike, gets a pair of red and green glasses that open his eyes to subtle, engrained racism he might see walking on the street or in a shop.

The Rev. Alice Hunt, CTS president, said, “Racism is the pre-eminent social justice issue of our time. The purpose of this spot is to challenge people to see the oppressive ubiquity of racism in our world — and inspire dialogue.”

Hunt added that “while the project isn’t focused on audiences of color, but on white people instead,” the school wants to share the video widely. To that end, it is supplementing the video with additional resources. The seminary has discussion guides and other materials available for schools, churches and organizations that wish to have their own discussions on racial privilege.

“At CTS, we believe the racial divide will only change when [people] not only understand the concepts of privilege, but together begin to identify and correct the systems that advantage one group over the other,” said Rhonda Brown, CTS vice president for advancement. “We intend for White Privilege Glasses to spark discussions about a very serious issue. White Privilege Glasses is not just a video — it’s a movement.”

“The CTS brand is more than just theology classes,” added Brown. “It is about becoming an actual voice in the national dialogue and championing important social justice issues.”

White Privilege Glasses, press materials and downloadable discussion guides are available on the CTS website.