*Hillary Clinton was put on the spot about racial issues Monday night at the Iowa Brown and Black Forum when she was asked to address how she has benefited from her white privilege.
“Where do I start?” Clinton said to Thalia Anguiano, a junior at Drake University who asked the former Secretary of State, ““Can you tell us what white privilege means to you and can you give me an example from your life or career when you think you have benefited from it?”
“I think it is hard when you are swimming in the ocean to know exactly what is happening around you so much as it is when you’re standing on the shore perhaps watching,” Clinton responded.
Clinton then explained why she considered herself a “lucky person” growing up and listed the opportunities afforded to her as examples of that luck.
“I was born white, middle-class, in the middle of America. I went to good public schools. I had a very strong, supportive family. I had a lot of great experiences growing up. I went to a wonderful college. I went to law school,” Clinton said.
She also recalled a moment from her childhood as a baby sitter of migrant workers that helped her understand how “different” her life was.
“I remember going out there taking care of these adorable little kids. And… I kind of thought, well, they’re very different from me. They’ve got different experiences but they were just little kids. At the end of the day… the bus stopped and the parents and older brothers sisters got out and when little kids saw them they just dropped everything and began running for their mothers and fathers holding their arms out. And I remember it like it was yesterday watching that and I was thinking I used to do that with my father and I’m watching these kids and their families and they have to work so hard and the place they live is not very nice and I just felt, I just have a different kind of life. I didn’t call it a particular name but it was a different life and i knew that,” she explained.
Following the forum, Anguiano told Fusion that she was “disappointed” in Clinton’s response because she didn’t believe Hillary fully answered her question.
What do you think of Clinton’s response to how she has benefited from her white privilege?
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