8 ms·

There are a few situations I am extremely wary of — how I'm perceived when I'm interacting with children, being accused of inappropriate behaviour in the workpl

There are a few situations I am extremely wary of — how I'm perceived when I'm interacting with children, being accused of inappropriate behaviour in the workplace, or being accused of being racist or otherwise bigotted. These moments help me empathise with people who live their entire lives with that fear. On the whole I have it good. I can walk down the street without people assuming I'm looking for cars to break into. Or fly on a plane without people wondering if I am going to blow it up. But at the same time I get the feeling that some people see those behaviours as punishment for my percieved privilege, and might even enjoy seeing me squirm. Which doesn't sit right with me. I think the answer to bigotry is to be aware of it, counter it, and fix it so we can lift everyone up. Rather than wield it as a weapon to cut down those you perceive as being unfairly advantaged by history.

orthecreedence 6y ago
The catch for me is that so much of what people consider privilege is effectively just skin color or other outward attributes. Yes, those are attributes that are discriminated on so we should be hyper aware of those attributes, but those aren't the only attributes that constitute privilege. You absolutely cannot make the determination of someone's privilege just by skin color or hair or whatever else. It's impossible. You can make a generalized, probabilistic guess, but you don't know if a white person grew up in a leaky trailer with abusive parents, or if a black person grew up in an upper middle class family. You don't know if someone sleeps in their car, or if the bank won't give them a loan, or if they're chronically depressed or in pain. There are so many vectors to privilege beyond race. There's so much more to a person's position in society, whether cultural or economic, than can be determined just by looking at them. And it seems to me that so much of "punishment" you speak about is directed towards people specifically based on outward attributes. The old phrase "never judge a book by its cover" really does apply here.

orthecreedence 6y ago

The catch for me is that so much of what people consider privilege is effectively just skin color or other outward attributes. Yes, those are attributes that are discriminated on so we should be hyper aware of those attributes, but those aren't the only attributes that constitute privilege. You absolutely cannot make the determination of someone's privilege just by skin color or hair or whatever else. It's impossible. You can make a generalized, probabilistic guess, but you don't know if a white person grew up in a leaky trailer with abusive parents, or if a black person grew up in an upper middle class family. You don't know if someone sleeps in their car, or if the bank won't give them a loan, or if they're chronically depressed or in pain. There are so many vectors to privilege beyond race. There's so much more to a person's position in society, whether cultural or economic, than can be determined just by looking at them. And it seems to me that so much of "punishment" you speak about is directed towards people specifically based on outward attributes. The old phrase "never judge a book by its cover" really does apply here.