It was hard for me to come up with an article subject this week. So much has happened in this short week that I wanted to talk about that it was hard to narrow down a specific topic so I’m just going to group them all together and talk about something that every single person in the world should be aware of: privilege. Privilege is defined as “a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group of people”. Privilege is expansive, while this definition gives readers a broad sense of the word it doesn’t encompass the complete elasticity that is privilege. Everyone has privilege of some sort. Whether it be the privilege of being a parent and being able to dictate the lives of your children. Or the privilege of going to college and getting a crack at the jobs out there before someone with a GED. Privilege is applicable to all aspects of someone’s life. You can’t capture the magnitude of what it means to have privilege in one singular definition that isn’t accompanied by numerous examples. So I’m going to give you some examples so you can all stop arguing about things on Facebook like immature, uneducated children.
Race. I am privileged because the color of my skin is white. It took me a long time to realize that I have a large amount of privilege because of my skin color. I grew up in North Dakota and was shielded from the vast diversity of the world because North Dakota is a largely conservative state, and there isn’t much diversity. I was literally bombarded with examples of understanding of my privilege once I moved away for college. My best friend is Mexican, Native American, and African American. I’ve been friends with her for eight whole years, and it took me six years to see the way people stared at us when we went places together. I first understood this two years ago when we stopped at a gas station late at night to grab some snacks. We were the only ones in the store, the worker was an older white male. He glared at us when we walked in, an action I attributed to him not wanting to be interrupted this late at night. But then he went and followed us as we went through each aisle keeping a careful eye out in case we were to steal something. Once we’d paid and gotten back into her car I asked her about him, if she’d noticed it too. She shrugged and informed me that that’s how most people act towards her. People don’t see her they see her skin color and assume that she’s up to no good. They see mine and assume that I’m a normal law abiding citizen. That’s privilege.
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Gender. Men have been at the forefront of History since history began. There are far more stories documented about men doing great things than that of women. Because of this men are thought to be more important than women. Stronger. Smarter. Worthy of more pay. It’s 2016 and men are still getting paid more than women. That’s complete bull shit, it’s also privilege. Being cis gendered is also a privilege. People are fighting for the right to use the fucking BATHROOM for Christ's sake. Why is it that we live in a society where people cannot go pee without being emotionally and physically abused? Being cis gendered is a privilege.
Social Class. Let’s talk for a moment about Brock Turner. If you read that name and immediately rolled your eyes please carefully read this entire article because you’re probably more privileged then you’d like to admit. Brock Turner raped an unconscious woman and got let off with a gentle wrist slap. Brock Turner raped an unconscious woman and tried to say it was her fault. Brock Turner is an amazing athlete with a rich daddy and raped an unconscious woman and got his 14 year sentence reduces to six months (three with good behavior). Brock Turner is a privileged piece of human garbage and so is his father. People like Brock Turner who have money piling up so high they can hardly think of what to spend it on know that they can get away with committing a crime because they have money and in our society money is valued more than human life. Brock Turner raped a girl and is sad because he can’t eat snacks anymore. That’s privilege.
Donald Trump. If you’re still confused about privilege please just look at Donald Trump. He stands high of a pedestal made of bad hair, orange skin, and privilege.
There’s many more defining raindrops that fall off of the “Privilege” umbrella but if I were to list all of those this article would never end. What I want people to realize is that they have privilege and should think of that privilege before they judge someone or before they endorse someone’s political campaign that is run on privilege and discrimination. Really, what I want you to get out of this article is that you can have privilege and still be a decent person. You don’t have to be an asshole just because you have the privilege and the opportunity to be one. If you just take a moment out of your day to breath in the world around you I think you'll be able to understand how grotesque it is that privilege is still benefitting people who carry it about themselves like a shield and wield it like a hammer against those who have no shield or whose shield is smaller than there's.
