Opinion

Better ways to talk about ‘privilege’

By Shannon Boley ’17

In my life, the word privilege comes up when I am discussing almost every liberally-minded topic. Unless someone has been exposed to these conversations, there is a good chance they have never heard it before in this context. The term ‘white privilege’ had not been used until 1965, when Theodore W. Allen began studying it with his pamphlet “White Blindspot.” The term began to be publicized in newspapers, but even now the concept of privilege is new to many Americans, even threatening to some. From first-hand experience, I can say that introducing the term ‘privilege’ can easily lead to defensiveness and outright hostility from either side.

There are several steps I have encountered to educate about privilege without it becoming frustrating. Talking about privilege is acknowledging issues that deal with race, citizenship, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic class, wealth and abilities. Sometimes people perceive privilege in only racial terms, and although that is a tremendously important aspect of privilege in our society, it is not the only one. Addressing other forms of privilege can help defuse this from being an “attack” on race, gender or another specific part of the identity. Sometimes starting with a less complex privilege, like right-handed privilege, is a way to teach the concept without major emotional blowback. Then, applying those principles to overarching systems can help create an open dialogue on more “controversial” privileges.

It is important to show how people lack privilege, and it is important to listen to people’s frustrations. Showing how they are affected by systems of oppression may help open them up to hearing other people’s stories. For example, white privilege was socially constructed by wealthy Europeans to keep their money and hierarchy by pitting poor whites against African-Americans and Native American people. Explaining this not only shows how systems of oppression hurt everyone, but appealing to class privilege can help show how middle-working class whites are affected by this system. Focusing on one aspect of privilege at a time, like class, and showing the intersectional repercussions (like white privilege) is a good way to control the conversation while bringing it back to something the listener relates to. If someone does not seem to have awareness of privilege, perhaps discussing how past relatives did not have certain privileges can be a way to address the issue with them.

Truth be told, discussing privilege oftentimes seems to devalue a person’s accomplishments or hard work. Talking about privilege should not lead to feeling guilt. We do not want listeners to feel guilty because it can lead to too much defensiveness. Instead, people should focus on little, concrete ways to undermine these systems. We should also be aware how men and whites often dominate conversations, so people can reconsider whether to step up or step back. At the end of the day, empathy is the best way to achieve a meaningful conversation, while focusing on positive actions, like listening to other people’s narratives, to prevent the conversation from being perceived as a personal attack.

All Opinion