How Should We Acknowledge Our Privilege?

By TAPTI SEN ‘21

“Check your privilege” has become a common saying in our everyday language, and discussions about privilege have permeated our everyday lives, changing the way we look at other people. But how often do we really acknowledge our own privilege?

We love talking about how hard our lives are and how much we hate whatever racist, sexist, or homophobic institution is impeding our success in life. I’m not denying that these discussions are important because they are, especially in such a diverse place like Milton. These are the discussions needed for change to happen. But, while discussing the disadvantages that we face in society, do we also discuss our own privilege? As a person of color, I am very aware of the extra discrimination I will face because of my skin tone. However, when I hear one of my black friends describe the stares they get as they walk down the streets or see yet another instance of the police shooting an unarmed black man on the news, I am reminded of just how much privilege I have. I have never had to worry about walking down the street because there was a police car nearby or about how the shopkeeper may automatically assume that I’m a thief. 

That’s not to say that I haven’t faced forms of discrimination--my identity as a brown international student does not necessarily make life easy by any regard. But because for a large portion of my life I was so focused on the problems that I faced, I forgot to be aware of the problems that I don’t face. Of course, no one should have to be grateful for not being discriminated against in certain aspects of their identity, but I think being grateful for our privilege leads to more thought about it. This awareness will empower us to gradually recognize the discrimination that the people around us encounter, especially the situations that don’t necessarily affect us. 

But, you might ask, don’t we talk about our privilege enough? We do, but we tend to talk it about in terms of a balancing game, like being white is a +1 and being bisexual is a -1. But why do things like this have to be mutually exclusive? We talk about the intersectionality of issues, of white feminism vs black feminism, but we don’t really apply it to our own lives. In my experience, this issue is particularly common among the POC community, with people believing that their race alone justifies their life as difficult. Well, I’m not denying the truth of this statement, but often, the people discussing the problems they face for being POC are also the people who go out to buy $3,000 shoes. There’s nothing wrong with buying $3,000 shoes, but there is privilege in being able to afford items like these shoes, and people often go out of their way to ignore their privilege in such instances. People often try to change the subject by justifying their privilege in a way, such as by using the fact that they’re LGBT+ or POC to “balance it out”. 

Intersectionality should not be about the balancing game that we play with our identities. It should be about understanding the ways in which we, and the people around us, are privileged and not privileged. Viewing people as the complex beings that they are, rather than twenty different identities strapped together, is what will help us truly begin to understand intersectionality and privilege. If you continue to tiptoe around your privilege, you’re just as bad as the straight white rich male politicians you claim to hate.