What is Privilege?

This week’s article summary, Different Types of Privilege Explained, is a follow-up to our preplanning DEI session.

 

What initially caught my attention in the article was this quote: “Privilege isn’t about what you’ve gone through; it’s about what you haven’t gone through.”

 

Privilege is a tough topic because all of us worked hard to get where are, and, as a result, we view the world as a meritocracy where success comes from toil and effort.

 

But as Jackie and others shared during preplanning, we need to move beyond our individual story/experience and try to see the larger historic, institutional structures embedded in our society. And from that view, many of us are privileged.

 

As a white, heterosexual, Baby Boomer male who whose parents were able to afford a private school education for me, I clearly had it easier than many others and had many available safety when I erred. And to this day I benefit from societal privileges I often don’t see and take for granted:

• When I’m on an early-morning run and a police car passes me, I never worry that I will be stopped and asked what I’m doing and why I am in this neighborhood
• While my preference is not to hold hands with my wife in public (PDAs are just not my thing), I would get no stares or glares from strangers if I did
• When my wife and go out to dinner, I am given the check at the end of the meal, not her
• As we kept receiving paychecks during the pandemic home quarantine, I never had to worry about paying my mortgage or utility and food bills
• My skin color and gender are commonly reflected in the movies, television shows, and books I read
• When I visit another country, most people I encounter have familiarity with the English language
• …And the list goes on

 

Again, these privileges don’t mean I haven’t worked hard to get where I am.  Yet I do need to take stock that others haven’t had the same opportunities as I. To me, recognizing institutional privilege doesn’t mean I need to feel bad about the benefits I may have; it’s about seeing that others aren’t afforded those same benefits and then supporting equity of opportunity for all.

 

The article lists a number of privileges. Spend a few minutes reflecting on which areas you are privileged in and more importantly those who aren’t.

 

What does this mean for us as educators?

• As we’ve discussed before, our classrooms need to provide our students with both ‘mirrors and windows’—they need to see themselves in what we teach (mirrors) but they also need to explore difference (windows).
• Help them see that their experiences and perspectives are not the experiences and perspectives of everyone. Encourage them to think with multiple perspectives, looking for both similarities and differences.
• And in age-appropriate ways guide them to see that the world is not fair to all and resources and opportunities are not equally available and distributed. Kids have an innate sense of fairness: help them see that they can indeed help level the playing field and help the world get better.

 

FYI, the acronym BIPOC in the article stands for ‘Black, Indigenous, People of Color.’

 

Thank you for the wonderful start of the school year (with two first days of school)! There was so much positive energy, excitement, and smiles (even if hidden behind masks). Enjoy a well-deserved weekend!

 

Joe

 

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Conversations around privilege can be tricky, as Black Lives Matter Toronto co-founder Janaya Khan discovered in the course of her anti-racism activism. What white people often hear when confronted with the idea of their privilege, she found, was not that they enjoyed advantages over BIPOC, but rather that they had never experienced hardship in their lives. This, she has said, would shut them down to dialogue.

So, she reframed the idea of white privilege to better enable discourse, in a quote that’s been widely circulated in recent weeks: “Privilege isn’t about what you’ve gone through; it’s about what you haven’t had to go through.”

This is critical to understanding that you can lack privilege in some areas while still retaining it in others. As Nicole Cardoza, an anti-racism activist, noted holding privilege in one area—e.g. race, gender, socioeconomic—doesn’t mean you don’t lack privilege in other areas; however, it also doesn’t exempt you from the benefits of the privilege you do hold. Cardoza says she’s experienced white women, for example, counter confrontation around their white privilege with evidence of their gender disadvantage. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the way privilege works, and many of us are guilty of it. Understanding the various privileges you hold can help you to become more self-aware, commit fewer microaggressions, and practice more effective social justice activism.

Below, an exploration of different types of privilege—by no means an exhaustive list—so we can all better understand ourselves and our role in equality.

White privilege: Having white skin is a global privilege due to colonialism, but it is especially privileged in the United States. America was founded around systemic racism, and everything from policy to pop culture reinforces white privilege. Longtime anti-racism activist Peggy McIntosh once described this privilege as, “an invisible package of unearned assets.” If you possess this privilege, it’s typical for you to exist in spaces where the majority of people look like you, to turn on the TV and see the same, to be treated more generously and less violently by authorities, to know that if you aren’t offered a job or approved for a home, it’s not because of your race, and on and on the advantages go.

Male privilege (or gender privilege): Being cis male is also a global privilege, and America was specifically designed as a patriarchy, aka a system of government in which men hold the power and women are excluded it from it, to institutionalize this advantage. If you are a cis man, you benefit from this setup in many invisible ways. Holding male privilege means you aren’t greatly disadvantaged by not fitting into ideals of conventional beauty, that your “masculinity” is not connected to your childbearing or rearing decisions and capabilities, that you will likely do less of your household’s labor, that you may be able to walk alone at night without fear, that you can be sexually empowered without it being positioned as a negative, that you earn more money than women who do the same work as you, and more. Male passing privilege also exists. If you are a trans man who passes as a cis man, you may be entitled to the same privileges.

Heterosexual privilege: Globally, heterosexuality is a privilege. It means that you benefit from identifying as straight and will not face the same discrimination or threats to your safety as a result of your sexuality. It can also mean that you have more rights. More specifically, heterosexual privilege can mean you don’t have to fear others finding out about your sexual orientation, that you can hold hands with your romantic partner without being scorned, mocked, or threatened, and that you are not identified as deviant or damaged because of who you are attracted to, among many other things.

Cisgender privilege: Cisgender privilege is when you identify with the gender to which you were assigned at birth. If you have this privilege, you are not likely to be harassed in public restrooms or locker room spaces, face questions about your genitals from strangers, be clinically considered mentally unwell, be regularly assigned the wrong pronoun, and more.

Socioeconomic privilege: Socioeconomic, or class, privilege relates to financial security. It’s navigated and shown when you don’t have to worry about affording necessities (e.g. food and shelter), you don’t have the burden of debt, you have control over your time, you’re able to only be exposed to others with the same privileges, you’re more likely to be perceived as innocent by the criminal justice system, you can afford good physical and mental health care, and much more. Most societies, including America, are designed in a way that reinforces and upholds class privilege.

Religious privilege: Religious privilege is when your religion is the dominant religion, or the one considered to be the default “norm” where you live. In the U.S., that privilege falls to Christians. You can easily spot this bias in our country’s holiday calendar, which makes Christmas a bank holiday, or in the fact that we routinely swear oaths on the Bible. (These are just two of many examples.) Religious privilege also means you are not likely to be persecuted based on your religious affiliation—you can worship freely and safely.

Passport privilege: Passport privilege has to do with how easy it is for you to travel around the world based on the passport you hold. Those who carry American passports have historically been privileged in this manner.

Location-based privilege: Where you live has other implications with respect to privilege, too. If you live near a big city, for example, you will have access to a greater number and variety of job prospects than someone who does not, including those which promise higher wages and greater prestige.

Beauty privilege: If you are attractive in a way that aligns with the dominant beauty ideals of your culture, you are likely to benefit from that attractiveness. You may also benefit from being perceived as attractive even if your appearance does not fit those dominant ideals. In any case, possessing the privilege of beauty means you’re likely to experience greater career success and make more money, be less persecuted within the criminal justice system, and have more positive social interactions, among other things. Don’t believe it? Consider how hard you work to achieve beauty ideals, and then ask yourself why you would bother so much if there were no inherent benefits.

Age privilege: In America youth is highly valued, especially in women. So, if you’re young, you have a privilege that older people don’t, and that privilege incrementally decreases with age. The younger you are (as an adult), the more likely you are to see yourself represented in pop culture and advertising, be valued for your ideas/art, be considered attractive (which is its own privilege), and more.

Couple privilege: In our society, being traditionally coupled, 1:1, is an advantage because it’s considered to be a norm versus remaining single or opting for a less traditional relationship structure, e.g. polyamory. You may enjoy a greater number of rights, benefit financially, and be less likely to be stigmatized.