Reply to Teacher told kids on zoom class to write about their white privilege

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]NP: "Privilege" is a broad term that can be applied to a multitude of circumstances. Wealth and beauty have their privileges; education has its privileges, heritage has its privileges, VIP passes have attached privileges, age has its privileges, citizenship has it privileges, and so on. Each of those things can also carry with them disadvantages, and having them doesn't not always mean you enjoy the benefits. Cinderella certainly did not feel that beauty was was a privilege at the beginning of her tale because it made her the object of jealousy, scorn and abuse; but it would have been silly of her to try to argue that her individual circumstance meant that the privilege of beauty did not exist at all.

You do need to educate yourself on what "white privilege" is because your argument makes you look ignorant. "White privilege" means something very, very different from the kind of "privilege" you are referencing when you say poor kids in Appalachia are not privileged. "White privilege" doesn't mean "all white people enjoy the privileges of safety, wealth, education, and health." It does not mean all white people enjoy all the advantages in this world. Everyone knows they don't. That fact is not relevant to the discussion of "white privilege." Why? Because that is not what "white privilege" means. Do some open minded research and learn what people actually are talking about if you want to enter the argument, because you are failing in your uninformed attempt at this time.[/quote]

I'm the PP who grew up in a shockingly poor area, in a rural community decimated by meth. If you asked me to complete the assignment in the OP, I would start with:

Privileges: white, able-bodied, cis, English speaking in the US, college degree

Marginalizations: 1G college student, grew up poor, abuse survivor, no safety net

See how my whiteness didn't protect me from the other marginalizations, but neither did they contribute to them? It's hard to be a 1G college student, working while I go to school, and dealing with a history of abuse. But it would be harder to be all those things and Black, because race intersects with other marginalizations.

My path from poverty to a stable middle-class life was not easy, but it wasn't made harder by my race.

That's all this assignment is about, and I wouldn't hesitate at all for my upper elementary schooler to begin wrestling with all of this. [/quote]

Why all the focus on immutable traits though?   How about focusing on character and responsibility?  Hard work and perseverance?   Resilience?    All this “check your privilege” talk is about knocking people down a few pegs.   [b]How about acknowledging that those fortunate to have resources have a responsibility to give back to [i]their[/i] communities? [/b]  Where is that discussion?

What does examining privilege get us beyond guilt or resentment? [/quote]

Yes absolutely this! [/quote]

Why do you think examining privilege is the end state instead of the first step?  Also the responsibility isn’t just to help your own community.  In the case of 1G students, would you expect someone with no one in the family that has gone to college to help other 1G students fill out college applications or someone that has recognized that one of their privileges is having generations of college educated family members and uses that privilege to help someone without it?  That doesn’t mean that people that were the first generation have zero responsibility to give back but rather they shouldn’t be expected to carry that responsibility alone as the marginalized community.   Also, the “check your privilege” talk IMO isn’t about knocking someone down a peg.  Like I woke up this morning and thought ohhh, that will sure knock Larlo down a peg if we talk about privilege.  Just no.  Now if Larlo is insistent that we lead the exact same lives and doesn’t see why we could possibly need a program that helps first generation college students transition to college or a volunteer/mentoring to help with college applications this is where understanding privilege and marginalization is helpful to either feel a responsibility to help or not make it harder for the people that are helping.

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