The presidential candidates at Monday’s Iowa Brown & Black Forum, broadcast from Drake University in Des Moines, were well-prepared for the ebb and flow of questions about such topics as immigration and criminal-justice reform and inequality. The event, broadcast by Fusion TV, was the first of its kind this campaign season, focusing primarily on issues related to Latinos and African Americans.
The format, which allowed each Democratic candidate to spend 28 minutes alone onstage with a panel, elicited thoughtful, probing and sometimes humorous responses from Bernie Sanders, Martin O’Malley and Hillary Clinton.
But when a Drake student asked Clinton to explain her white privilege, not everyone, including the questioner, was satisfied with her response. Here’s how Fusion.net reported the story:
Hillary Clinton’s attempt to unpack her white privilege failed to convince everyone during the Iowa Brown and Black Forum on Monday.
The Democratic presidential hopeful was asked pointblank by a Drake University student to say what white privilege means to her, and to “give an example from your life or career when you think you’ve benefited from” white privilege.
Clinton began her answer by citing the “wonderful” educational opportunities and other “great experiences” she had in her childhood.
“I was born white, middle-class, in the middle of America,” the former Secretary of State said. “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.”
She said that she “knew [she] was a lucky person” growing up, but didn’t begin to connect that luck with a sense of race or wealth privilege until she had two experiences—the first of which happened when she was 11.
Read more at Fusion.net.