Re: Absolute truth, the testament of truth.
And I'll provide a short follow-up, because this really helped me.
I sat down over a period of a couple of days and analyzed my life, categorized my experience as honestly as I could.
I've never been harassed by a cop because of my skin colour, or been stopped in an airport because of my name or race. I have been stopped randomly in an airport for no good reason, mind you.
I've never really worried about being raped, although walking in dark places late at night does make me a bit nervous.
I've never worried overmuch about getting paid less due to my gender. I have, however, worried about getting a job due to my blindness.
And on, and on, and on.
And I realized that other people had it pretty good in some ways, while others still did not. I began to sort of unpack all the little things I go through life -not thinking about.
And here's what I realized:
A lot of those things were so natural to me that I had not, as yet, conceived of a world where anyone else would worry about them either. Except they do. Many of them do. And that, right there, is privilege.
When you can first look at yourself and say "Yeah, I don't have to worry about that", and then you think, "Most people probably don't have to, so that's cool", and then you get slammed with the realization that yes, people do in fact contend with these apparent non-issues, that's privilege, clear as the nose on your face.
It doesn't mean you should give up everything you have. It doesn't mean you're awful. It doesn't mean, conversely, if you're experiencing oppression, that those who are oppressing you are even aware of it. It's simply a method by which to categorize what's happening.
I urge each and every one of you to sort of unpack your privilege knapsack one day. Really take apart the stuff you count upon and rely upon. I bet you dollars to doughnuts that you will be able to find other people who don't have at least some of these things that you automatically assume are your due. And if they don't, why don't they? Is there anything you, being part of the group which as the advantages, can do to lessen the gap?
And as a final point:
Yes, each and every one of us has some privilege, and lacks others. Privilege is usually a case where there is an oppressive group and oppressed group, within the parameters set by the interaction (which is why white privilege is so very rare, by the way, since whites have historically been powerful in whichever interaction you want to examine). This difference of privilege and oppression is defined as intersectionality. Learn to accept it and internalize it. We can learn a ton from one another. Everyone has valid experience, and the sharing of and recognition of that experience as equal is the cornerstone for equity in future.
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