TORONTO

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) is offering their members a workshop on “white privilege.”

That’s right. It doesn’t question whether white privilege exists.

That’s a given. No debate about whether all white people have special status. They just do.

And the union representing more than 76,000 teachers is teaching its membership how to deal with it.

White privilege exists, therefore ETFO will have a workshop on it.

Frankly, as a white person who’s struggled all my life to become privileged, I really wish I knew what white privilege is, because I’d like a heaping helping.

If I’d had a chunk of white privilege, I wouldn’t have had to bust my butt every day working to make a living. I could be eating bonbons on a yacht in the Mediterranean.

A note on the ETFO website says the union is looking for people to put on the workshops.

The “ideal presenter” will have “demonstrated commitment and understanding of white privilege and systemic issues.”

Interested in the job? Then you should submit a cover letter that outlines “your understanding of white privilege.”

Well, here’s my understanding of white privilege.

It doesn’t exist.

This is a racist notion put forward by ETFO and it is as dangerous as it is corrosive.

I don’t know what “systemic issues” they’re talking about, but it’s presupposing a whole bunch of false assumptions.

By their very nature and label, these workshops are aimed at creating resentment of one race by all others.

What on earth is a union doing giving workshops on something that’s so alien to Canadian society?

The purpose is clearly to indoctrinate teachers into believing it exists.

The next step is for them to brainwash the children in their classrooms.

Do you really want that? Should white parents allow their children to be guilted by their teachers into believing they’re privileged because they’re white?

This has no place in our society.

We don’t have a problem with “white privilege.”

We have a society built on successive waves of immigration. We have no deep-rooted aristocracy that inherits wealth.

Just living in this great country that rewards hard work, ingenuity and initiative is a privilege — no matter what your colour.

Most people who consider themselves “privileged,” do so because either they, their parents or their grandparents made incredible sacrifices to give them the way of life they enjoy.

A teacher forwarded the information on the workshops to the Toronto Sun. His question was why the union is putting on toxic workshops like this when they should be dealing with education issues.

The teacher, who didn’t want to be identified, says his union should be fighting for more up-to-date textbooks and better classroom materials. The ones he’s working with now are old, decrepit and inadequate.

Shouldn’t teachers be taking workshops that refresh their teaching skills in subjects such as math, French, English and geography?

ETFO turned down my request for a comment Thursday.

“The decision is that at this point in time we do not wish to comment on that,” said spokesman Jennifer Drope, wishing me “good luck with your story.”

Well, thank you for that.

Other topics for workshops include “Islamophobia” and “homophobia.”

Hmm. Wonder if they’ve checked what Islam’s view on homosexuality is.

“Dated resources and teachers spending their own money on supplementing the elementary school system in Ontario impacts teachers more than ‘Islamophobia’ or ‘white privilege,’” said the teacher, by e-mail. I suspect most teachers agree.

Their union should stick to doing what their members pay dues for — representing them at the bargaining table, supporting them in the classroom and helping them in disputes with school boards.

Stirring up hatred, resentment and division in a society that does its best to promote tolerance, equity and understanding is stunning in its stupidity.