If I am aware of the injustices that are built into American society, and if I am conscious of all the privileges that society has given me as a straight, white-skinned male from an upper-class background, then it's kind of hard to be public with that privilege, admit it, and talk about it. We're talking deeply-rooted shame: "I don't deserve this...I didn't earn it...people around me are struggling every day...what can I possibly do that can make me deserving of the comforts I enjoy?"
So people like me, sometimes we go into hiding. We work to convince the world around us, "Hey, I'm just like you! I'm not special. I don't think I deserve anything more than anyone else. Solidarity, right?"
And in trying to hide our privilege, something goes horribly wrong: we end up reinforcing the American myth of a "classless society." Our refusal to embrace and admit our class privilege makes it seem like we're all in this together. We may be all in this together, but we ain't starting from the same place. IRONY: in solidarity with classes of people who struggle financially, we conscious upper-class people sometimes present ourselves as less-privileged than we are, which maintains the system of financial inequity by preserving the "we are all born with equal opportunity" myth.
If I have privilege and want to be a part of change, then I can start by talking about my own privilege and how it affects my world. That's risking something (like judgment, anger, confusion, isolation, and rejection). In my next post, I'll talk about other ways I can risk something in order to disrupt the status quo.
So people like me, sometimes we go into hiding. We work to convince the world around us, "Hey, I'm just like you! I'm not special. I don't think I deserve anything more than anyone else. Solidarity, right?"
And in trying to hide our privilege, something goes horribly wrong: we end up reinforcing the American myth of a "classless society." Our refusal to embrace and admit our class privilege makes it seem like we're all in this together. We may be all in this together, but we ain't starting from the same place. IRONY: in solidarity with classes of people who struggle financially, we conscious upper-class people sometimes present ourselves as less-privileged than we are, which maintains the system of financial inequity by preserving the "we are all born with equal opportunity" myth.
If I have privilege and want to be a part of change, then I can start by talking about my own privilege and how it affects my world. That's risking something (like judgment, anger, confusion, isolation, and rejection). In my next post, I'll talk about other ways I can risk something in order to disrupt the status quo.
RSS Feed