Story highlights The contest asked Connecticut high schoolers to describe 'white privilege'Smerconish asks a former African-American classmate for his thoughts(CNN) After an essay contest for Connecticut high schoolers on 'white privilege" sparked controversy, CNN's Michael Smerconish decided to look back at his own school days and call the only African-American child in his elementary school class. Smerconish began his trip down memory lane after the diversity committee in the predominantly white upper-class Connecticut town of Westport posed the following question as part of its annual essay contest for grades 9 through 12:"In 1,000 words or less, describe how you understand the term 'white privilege.' To what extent do you think this privilege exists? What impact do you think it has had in your life -- whatever your racial or ethnic identity -- and in our society more broadly?" Some Westport residents called local officials and complained on social media about the question, gaining national media coverage"It's not surprising," Smerconish noted, that "some adults in Westport -- which, by the way, voted 2-to-1 for Hillary Clinton -- bristled at the fact race was in order due to their success."

Source: CNN February 11, 2017 21:30 UTC