Back in January, TruthRevolt reported on an essay contest for high school students in Westport, Connecticut, with a grand prize of $1,000 going to the student who, in 1,000 words or less, could best describe white privilege. The town has announced the winner: 15-year-old Chet Ellis, who is black.
This turned out to be a controversial assignment in this small town of 26,000 mostly white, wealthy residents even though they voted 2 to 1 for Hillary Clinton. Ellis picked up on the tension around town and said, “I, personally, really didn’t want to write the essay.”
Westport News has more:
Ellis’ parents, who moved the family from Manhattan to Westport when he was in the fifth grade, encouraged him to participate, however.
“My parents really pushed me to write it and they really, really forced me to get it out,” said Ellis, who is black. “And once I got it out, I couldn’t stop going.”
His parents’ urging paid off and Ellis took home first place for his essay “The Colors of Privilege.”
In his essay, Ellis admits to not ever thinking much about white privilege until he moved to Westport:
From a young age, I was taught that not everything is meant to be fair and to deal with it. But living in this place where almost everyone is white makes me question, when I’m in Walgreens and the manager follows me around the store, would this happen if I looked different? Now I see the need to speak out, to address white privilege when it happens, so that people know that it’s real despite their best intentions.
Coming in second and winning $750 in the essay contest was Josiah Tarrant, 16, who wrote about how his adopted brother from Ethiopia brought the realization of white privilege within his own family. Third place, and $500, went to 18-year-old senior Claire Dinshaw, who wrote about how she recognized white privilege in the skin care aisle at her local drug store:
Whereas I can find skin care products easily, non-white Westport residents will find that stores mostly carry beauty products designed for white skin; whereas I can turn on the news to find countless white role models, non-white Westport residents will find that the majority of politicians, anchors, and corporate leaders resemble their white classmates.
All three essays can be read here.