I’ve noticed in my life that a lot of people don’t understand what it means to be privileged. They may understand that they are very lucky and live a privileged life but they don’t understand what privilege looks like in society. I could go on and on about the different aspects of privilege when it comes to money, race, nationality, sexual orientation, gender, etc. But right now I just want to give a basic explanation, in the simplest terms, of how privilege operates in our society. Let me introduce you to Ben and Sadie.
Let's start by introducing Ben. Ben grew up in a middle class neighborhood (one privilege point) with his mother and father. His family is white (one privilege point) and both of his parents are college graduates (one privilege point). His father is the source of income for the family while his mother stayed home and helped Ben grow up to the young man he is by reading to him and helping him with his homework (one privilege point). Throughout high school Ben played varsity sports and was the captain of the debate team. Every Night when he came home from school his mother had dinner ready so the family could all eat together.
Now let's introduce Sadie. Sadie is a black (minus one privilege point) female (minus one privilege point). Sadie grew up in a low income, dangerous neighborhood (minus one privilege point). She was never allowed outside to play when she was a child. Although, there wasn’t much to do inside either, her mother couldn’t afford to buy toys even while working two jobs. Sadie pretty much grew up alone, older siblings or neighborhood families took care of Sadie when her mother had to work, which was all the time so “family time” didn’t really exist. When Sadie got to school she was already behind a lot of other kids in her grade, (minus one privilege point) those kids' parents had already taught their children how to read. Sadie didn’t have such a luxury. When Sadie entered high school she studied hard and made decent grades considering she also had to work at the local fast food restaurant in her town to help pay the family bills (minus one privilege point).
Just so everything is clear, when tallied up Ben has four privilege points and Sadie has negative five privilege points. Another thing that needs to be made clear, these points where one hundred percent undeserved for both parties. So now let's put this into perspective. College A, the college both Ben and Sadie want to attend only accept students with a minimum of 10 points. So both students worked really during school to get enough points to get into college A and by the end of all of their hard work they each had 10 points. However, only Sadie got accepted into college A. What?! That is an absolute outrage. How is that possible? This is what some of you may be thinking, but lets look a little closer shall we. Ben started off with five points, he ended up with 10 points meaning that his efforts gained him five points. Sadie started off with negative five points, she ended up with 10 points meaning that her efforts gained her 15 points. Yes, they both have 10 points but perspective is key. Also, before someone even thinks it, it isn't about punishing Ben it's about rewarding and uplifting Sadie and people like her.
I’m hoping that it is a little more clear to you why Sadie was accepted into college A while Ben was not and I hope this gave a basic outline of how privilege works in our society. I also want you to understand that this is a very simple explanation of privilege and that there is much, much more to be said.
