The debate is heating up on campuses in North America around the term "check your privilege." Some students say it's used to silence Caucasian students. Others say those in racial minorities are the ones still fighting to be heard.

If the Check your Privilege movement slipped in under your radar, it may be because you're not a college student.

"Privilege comes with the uneven distribution of power within a society. Privilege is a fact, not an insult. You can't help it if you have it, and you don't have to feel guilty about it. Privilege is not absolute. Most people occupy multiple social positions with multiple levels of priviliege or disadvantaged."

from a poster titled Managing Privilege

At the University of Ottawa this winter, the student union tried to address racism on campus with an event called In My Skin.

White students sat in one room, and students of colour in another. White students discussed their privileges. The other students were asked to talk about their experiences with racism. Later, the two groups were brought together. The event was derailed when some students called the experiment segregation.

"Our entire university campus should be a safe space."

Harrison Fleming, president of the University of Ottawa's Conservative club

Still, some say the facts must be faced, even if it's hard to accept the realities of privilege.

"Thinking about privilege...lets us see the ways in which our society continues to be structured around racism."

Rinaldo Walcott, Associate Professor at the University of Toronto

We discuss:

Harrison Fleming is a student at the University of Ottawa and president of the university's Conservative club.

Sheila Sampath is a social justice activist, an instructor at the Ontario College of Art and Design, and the Editorial Director of Shameless Magazine.

Rinaldo Walcott is an Associate Professor of Humanities, Social Sciences and Social Justice Education at the University of Toronto, and a Broadbent Fellow.

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This segment was produced by The Current's Pacinthe Mattar, Cynthia Vukets, and intern, Deanne Bender.