Let's Talk About Privilege

"Privilege" has become an incredibly loaded word. Let's unpack some of what it really means.

Let's Talk about Privilege

Just hearing that word “privilege” makes some people become defensive. They immediately jump to their preconceived notions and want to yell down the throat of who said it or type furiously at the post that used it. It has become a common word in our day to day discussions on social issues, but what does it mean?

Privilege is defined as “a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group of people.” So, a privileged person enjoys something extra by way of rights or advantages that the non-priviliged person does not enjoy. The important part of this definition is what it leaves out. There is nothing in it that says it is due to some action of the privileged person. For example, somebody born into an extremely wealthy family has a privilege, wealth, that they did nothing to acquire. A simple accident of birth provided them with something that many other people don’t have.

What we don’t think about is that often privilege is something that we did nothing to earn. Think about being in the United States. How many of us had a choice that we were born here? Our parents happened to live here, happened to get together, and happened to have us. We didn’t do anything to deserve being born in this country, but it happened anyway. And look at the benefits we receive: a wealthy western country with infrastructure, a strong army, and a high standard of living. Good education, plenty of resources, and a competitive economy. We live in a country that hasn’t had war on its soil in over 100 years. We’re lucky; we’re privileged. And the vast majority of us, natural citizens, enjoy these things simply because we were born here. We enjoy these things and we stay, have our own children, and the cycle continues. People from other countries see our way of life and some of them want to enjoy those some privileges. So they immigrate here. They are taking action to raise their level of privilege to that of an American citizen.

In America, we can see there are sometimes disparities in privilege. For instance, take Christians in contrast with other religious groups. Christians make up the majority of religious people in this nation. If you’re a Christian, think about the holidays you celebrate. Have you ever had to worry about getting one of from work? Some may have, if you work in the service industry, but for most people, Christian holidays are marked as free. Schools close, government buildings shutdown. We switch to necessity only mode during Christian holidays. Now, how many other religious holidays are nationally recognized? Do we get off for Jewish holy days? Muslim? No, we don’t. For non Christian religious people, there is no guarantee they’ll be able to get off work or school to celebrate their religion. That’s something that Christians just don’t have to think about. That’s a privilege.

Any group that a particular society prioritizes is privileged in that society. If you look at American history, we can see which groups those are based on the benchmark of rights accrued by those groups. African Americans were held as slaves for the early half of our country’s history. Women were not allowed to vote until the early 20th century. Native Peoples have a history of being forced off their lands and mistreated by our country. In a country created by white men, for white men, it makes sense that they are the most privileged group.

This is the part that always has people up in arms. Cries of personal struggle and hard work overshadow what we’re actually discussing. To be privileged in no way means you have not worked or struggled in your life. Read that twice, because it needs to be understood fully. What privilege means is that you have some societal advantage that other people simply do not. I think we’ve discussed that pretty well, but the next example is the prickly one: race.

Please, follow along. Don’t yell, don’t decide that you already know the answer, that this is just liberal nonsense. Please, pay attention. Now, look at it this way: assume your ancestors came here on the Mayflower. They were part of that first group of settlers and helped plant the seeds of this nation. They, against many odds, survived those first difficult years, built a family here, and eventually prospered. Your family grew over the years, and eventually became prominent members of society. Your people had land and wealth and power. Some of the men became local government members, then state, then federal. Your people helped run the nation you helped create. Your ancestors attended some of the best universities, and now your family name is a legacy at several Ivies. They were educated, and they got the best education for their children. Your family benefited from the wealth they were able to create, the land they maintained, and the power they accrued in government office. Today, you may not have the same wealth and land and power. Maybe you do. The point is, you have good foundations, and the possibilities are limitless.

Now, assume that your ancestors were brought here by the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. You were bought and sold into slavery in a new land. You and your family worked in the fields for your owners, as did your children. You did this for generations. You did not know how to read, you had little connection to your past or heritage. You do not have a say in the country you live in. At times, that country does not consider you to be a person. War breaks out, and eventually you are set free. What do you do now that you’re suddenly not a slave? Where do you go? How will you eat? Some people become share croppers, hardly a step up from bondage. Others get arrested for loitering, vagrancy, and other petty offenses in the first sweep of mass incarceration in this nation. Gone from private slaves to slaves of the nation state. Your family manages to stay out of prison, sharecrops for a few generations before industrialization moves them to the cities. They have gotten the right to vote, but legislation is passed to make it incredibly difficult. Literacy tests, ID laws. They work in factories, hard work, and get basic education for their children. This is the first time the children learn to read, and they teach there parents. Legislation is passed that desegregates universities, restaurants, and all public buildings. You can finally send your kids to a good school, but will they be admitted? You have no built up wealth to pay for school, no land to live on, and no power to leverage on your child’s behalf. The opportunity has never been there, so now you have to fight to make it happen.

That is privilege. A society that has never worked in favor of black people and was designed, built, and ran by white men still benefits them today. It does not matter if your family never owned slaves. It does not matter if your family was poor and powerless.

Privilege is not just race. It isn’t just color. It is religion, class, economic status, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, native language, ability, and age. There are privileges associated with these things, because society is built around a certain set of characteristics. Our history has led us to this set of privileges and oppressions. Because every privilege, whether accidental or otherwise, oppresses another group. Anytime when one group is favored over another, the other is feeling the strain of that privilege.

Now, I know people aren’t going to agree with this. It is in our nature to challenge the things that are contrary to our experience. But that is the thing about being privileged: it often affects you without your knowledge. Don’t think of this as you, but here’s an example: think of a bratty, entitled rich kid. Their parents have paid for everything they could ever want, they don’t know the value of a dollar, and have never worked for anything in their life. Their dad buys them into Harvard, they get bad grades, but their mother is a partner at a law firm and gets them a cushy job. They stay rich, stay entitled, and chock it all up to their own brilliance and hard work, without any regard for the huge help from their upbringing. Obviously, this is an extreme example, but the sentiment is there. Most people aren’t boldly ignoring their privilege, but it will help the way you relate to other people to recognize your privilege, realize when you’re making a judgement rooted in privilege, and be able to use your privilege to help those oppressed by it.