If you are like me, in the last two months you've have heard at least one fairly well-off usually white person rail about white privilege about once a day.
Privilege matters. Here's an interesting story by Toby Morris from Auckland that shows how two different lives ended up because of different privileges (if you can't see it, click here: http://deadstate.org/youll-never-see-privilege-the-same-way-again-after-looking-at-this-comic/)
Besides changing Richard's ignorant attitude once he reached the pinnacle of success what should the arc of his life or Paula's have looked like to not make the story end this way? Could Richard have helped Paula? Could society (we) somehow boost Paula's privileges or diminish Richard's?
I have a dirty secret. I try to triple-coat Vivian and Evan in privileges every waking second of every day. Organic local food from Whole Foods to stave off the early onset of strange modern maladies. Private education to bypass the whims of the Texas State Board of Education. A Land Rover so their drive to and from said private school is safer. Spanish language education to help make them globally more marketable. Trips to Sweden and Tahiti to teach them about the world. Tutoring to beat dyslexia. Taekwondo to build self confidence. Dinner table discussions about Einstein. Limited screen time to give their nascent creativity a chance. Lots of Harry Potter, god knows why. In the coming years I'll try to protect them from drugs and teenage pregnancy and naked snap chat photos and push and shove them towards a meaningful higher education and perhaps even nice mates.
People richer in resources and/or more neurotic or dedicated in the pursuit of privilege than me laugh at my feeble efforts as they go about bestowing yacht sized privileges on their offspring. And others with fewer resources/hangups smile and shake their heads. And prepare to complain about privilege later.
As long as everyone in the world is not literally exactly equal, individuals (and groups) have privileges due to the very nature of being unequal. That sucks big time. Even worse - they/we put in systems to maintain structural differences in privileges. Meta privileges. Everything that separates your child from the most underprivileged wretched disease/war/poverty/uncertainty/crime filled child's life in the world is due to individual, structural or generational privileges. How much of this can be legislated away? Or do we crave privilege while we very hypocritically complain about it.
Privilege matters. Here's an interesting story by Toby Morris from Auckland that shows how two different lives ended up because of different privileges (if you can't see it, click here: http://deadstate.org/youll-never-see-privilege-the-same-way-again-after-looking-at-this-comic/)
Besides changing Richard's ignorant attitude once he reached the pinnacle of success what should the arc of his life or Paula's have looked like to not make the story end this way? Could Richard have helped Paula? Could society (we) somehow boost Paula's privileges or diminish Richard's?
I have a dirty secret. I try to triple-coat Vivian and Evan in privileges every waking second of every day. Organic local food from Whole Foods to stave off the early onset of strange modern maladies. Private education to bypass the whims of the Texas State Board of Education. A Land Rover so their drive to and from said private school is safer. Spanish language education to help make them globally more marketable. Trips to Sweden and Tahiti to teach them about the world. Tutoring to beat dyslexia. Taekwondo to build self confidence. Dinner table discussions about Einstein. Limited screen time to give their nascent creativity a chance. Lots of Harry Potter, god knows why. In the coming years I'll try to protect them from drugs and teenage pregnancy and naked snap chat photos and push and shove them towards a meaningful higher education and perhaps even nice mates.
People richer in resources and/or more neurotic or dedicated in the pursuit of privilege than me laugh at my feeble efforts as they go about bestowing yacht sized privileges on their offspring. And others with fewer resources/hangups smile and shake their heads. And prepare to complain about privilege later.
As long as everyone in the world is not literally exactly equal, individuals (and groups) have privileges due to the very nature of being unequal. That sucks big time. Even worse - they/we put in systems to maintain structural differences in privileges. Meta privileges. Everything that separates your child from the most underprivileged wretched disease/war/poverty/uncertainty/crime filled child's life in the world is due to individual, structural or generational privileges. How much of this can be legislated away? Or do we crave privilege while we very hypocritically complain about it.
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