Students at Elizabethtown College, a small liberal arts college in Central Pennsylvania, have begun wearing white puzzle piece pins to raise awareness of white privilege and its impact on people of color.
The group, known as the Elizabethtown College Democrats, launched the ‘Personal Identity Campaign,’ this past weekend. The project revolves around the question, ‘How does race affect my life, directly and indirectly?’ The organizers of the campaign say that the white pins serve as a reminder of the ‘struggles’ associated with racism.
Via Lancaster Online:
Aileen Ida, president of the College Democrats, said she believes the conversation on white privilege is especially necessary in Lancaster County and Central Pennsylvania because of the demographics — predominantly white but with areas of “heightened diversity” like Lancaster city and Harrisburg.
According to the latest census data, Lancaster County in all is 83 percent white, 10 percent Hispanic, 4 percent black and 2 percent Asian. Ida said she’s excited to see how the project could spur discussion on racial identity.“This project will encourage people to have conversations about race and how their inherent white privilege has a part in the systematic oppression of minorities — whether or not they purposefully participate in the system,” she said.The group is hoping to have at least 100 people committed to wearing the pins by Feb. 17, and they will continue to hand them out to anyone interested for the rest of the semester.
