The Importance Of Privilege In Society

In the beginning of the year I entered this class with a very sheltered and ignorant view of current and past events. Through time and sociological evolution I have begun to see things in a different light. The development of my ability, to look at something or some kind of situation, lets me use the sociological terms in such a manner to relate them to micro and macro problems in society. This started with the assigned readings of the class; the aim was to decipher the messages the authors were presenting. The goal was then to dig deeper and use my experiences to help myself understand the concepts throughout the course. "The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be ignited." Plutarch (46-120 CE--common era) I was no longer

An alumni group, Check Your Privilege organized by Dr. Ja’Nina Walker, works to raise student and faculty awareness about privilege on a San Francisco campus and increase social equality. The group defines privilege as “unearned access to social power based on membership in a dominant social group.” The group desires to increase consciousness about privilege, especially in the among social justice influences. They work to bring privilege into regular public discussion and urge those with privilege to use it for public benefit.

Minorities are still fighting to be seen as equals and treated as human but people still think we have achieved equality today. It really is up to educators to teach children about white privilege and how it affects people. White privilege is something that white people benefit from just because of what they look like, but they have no control over it. This can range from having more opportunities for jobs to being more likely to have enough money to go to private school. I am focusing more on the idea that white people have these benefits and have the privilege to deny that such a divide exists. Being able to dismiss the idea of white privilege shows ignorance and can minimize the experiences of those who have suffered at the hands of white privilege.

“White privilege refers to the fact that in many societies, “white” people have access to greater power, authority, and privileges, than non-white people” (Robbins et al. 2013:81). It goes beyond letting white people get away with more than other races; it also discriminates against them. This is well illustrated by the history of white privilege in America and how it changed over time (Nkomo & Ariss 2013) and how white privilege is used to benefit white people (Blum n.d). Without white privilege, people would be equal and perhaps live in a more peaceful society. Therefore, if white privilege has been around for years and continues to be an issue in America and all around the world, than without educating the population and making them aware of the issue it will continue to happen.

Privilege and oppression are concepts that provides clarification on people’s experience. They both contribute to intersectionality which explain notion that people’s perspectives and experiences differ in term of the categories of identity. Each person may experience privilege and/ or oppression from institutional structures depending on their situations. It mean that systems of privilege and oppression can intersect and a person could experience privilege and oppression simultaneously. These systems are influence by the micro level and micro level of people’s lives and experiences. Privilege, oppression, and intersectionality affect people’s experiences of key social issues, such as rape culture and beauty norms and appearance standards. These issue will be discussed in this essay.

After I read the article, I had to sit back and digest the material for an entire day. The article force me to do some soul searching regarding my position on power, privilege, and oppression. Have I been so oblivious to my surroundings? I quickly thought about the six core values of social work: service, social justice, dignity and worth, importance of human relationships, integrity, & competence. Will I be able to help others; because like Spencer (2008) I took somethings in life for granted? It was ironic when I was reading the article that Martin Luther King Jr, Desmond Tutu, and Nelson Mandella came to mine. They all fought for the injustice and sacrificed much to change the minds of the one in the position of power.

What is White (male) privilege? Discuss the core components of White privilege and provide some examples.

“White Privilege and Male Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh discusses about white privilege and male privilege as an invisible privilege that does not become a topic for discussion in white communities. The children of white communities are taught to not recognize what is white privilege same with male. Instead of recognizing what is white privilege or male privilege, they become ignorant of the privilege they have compared to other races without privilege. Peggy uses herself as an example to understand white privilege and the advantage of occupying a position of privilege. In addition, she lists a list of conditions that she meets as a white individual compared to her friends, who may not meet the conditions.

What is privilege? What does it mean? Is privilege inherited or is it earned? As an American resident of color I’ve learned that privilege in this country is something that is innate and inherited. The privilege that I speak of is that of White privilege.

In the year of 2015 A.D., white people always wanted to come up with ways how can they further their benefits of their white privileges in America. They wanted more benefits to fulfill their greed, so of course they continued on seeing how can they make it worse for people of color— especially for the black people. So, one day they made a banking system and use a card to get any job, sort of education without trying, not to be stereotyped, never have to worry about becoming the next hash tag, being attacked and killed by the law enforcement, never having to enforce your children about the terrible, cruel realities of systematic racism. The list goes on, how white privileges exists.

“Privilege.” What really is a privilege? Do you even consider yourself privileged? Well, the word “privilege” means “a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group of people” and whether or not you consider yourself privileged really depends on how you define the word and whether you take it for granted or not.

Collins, L., & Barnes, S. L. (2014). Observing privilege: Examining race, class, and gender in

At the end of the exercise I was only nine steps away from the wall, making me one of the individual’s with the most unearned privilege. As I was looking around the room, I felt embarrassed to be one of the ones so close to the wall. I feel as though I have not done anything in my life to have earned this much privilege. I know that is why it is called unearned privilege, but until now I never realized how much unearned privilege I have had handed to me throughout my life. I also felt embarrassed to be so close to the wall because I know that the individual’s in the back with unearned disadvantage had done nothing to deserve it, and they had just as much right to have as much unearned privilege as me.

Right on the first page in chapter six it discusses the privilege groups discomfort about discussing privilege. Yes, it is true for so many and for those who don’t feel discomfort, I call you brave and open minded. But, it is a hard thing to discuss especially with a non-privileged group of individuals. I, for one also feel discomfort and defensive sometimes in those situations, and that could be from a number of different reasons. Whether it is because I feel guilty, ashamed, judged, etc. For this I will talk about race, for those who are white, we are born this way, we didn’t choose to be white and there’s nothing you can do about it. You were born into the privileged group here in America. But, it is something that we need to accept and admit to, we are the privileged group but, we don’t because of this nasty stigma about race. Race has turned into this sharp word that scares people when it is mentioned. We, as educators need to change the stigma of that word. We need to make it so people of privilege and non privilege can discuss privilege and race with out discomfort or being offended. In this class, our race discussion had brought up white privilege and at first it was not comfortable but, as you admit to it, the easier it is to discuss.

The book, Privilege, Power, and Difference brought awareness to where I stand as a Latina female in the United States. Growing up, I did not like to focus on the differences I experienced or saw others experience. These differences made me feel angry, scared, nervous, confused, and hopeless. Instead of focusing on the unfairness I was a part of I decided to look at it as a challenge, I would prove to myself that I could do whatever I set my mind to. I took every opportunity handed to me and tried to make the best of it, to make myself proud and my family proud. At least that is what I thought at the time, but now that I have had time to reflect on my desire to succeed I know that part of that desire comes from proving to the dominant culture that minorities can succeed.