"In classroom settings I have often listened to groups of students tell me that 
racism really no longer shapes the contours of our lives, that there is no such 
thing as racial difference, that "we are all just people." Then a few minutes 
later I give them an exercise. I ask if they were about to die and could choose 
to come back as a white male, a white female, a black female, or a black male, 
which identity would they choose. Each time I do this exercise, most 
individuals, irrespective of gender or race invariably choose whiteness, and 
most often male whiteness. Black females are the least chosen. When I ask 
students to explain their choice they proceed to do a sophisticated analysis of 
privilege based on race (with perspectives that take gender and class into 
consideration)." -bell hooks