Recently, one of my friends asked me why I wrote about what I did, and although I at first thought the answer was simple, it’s actually not.
Of course, all of us writers choose topics we’re passionate about, but in my self-discovery as a writer, I’ve come to understand a few things. My voice is power, and it is privilege. The fact that I’m able to live in a country in which my government won’t persecute me or force me to pay with my life for my opinions is a privilege. The fact that I’m able to receive an education, and have a family at home who cares enough about me to make this a priority for me is a privilege. When I say the word privilege, most people think of racial privilege but there is socioeconomic privilege, geographical privilege, gender identity and sexual orientation privilege. To put this simply, there are things and hardships I will never face just because of who I am – conversely, there are things and hardships I will exclusively face just because of who I am. The conversation about privilege is one that needs to be had, and not delicately.
Beyond its racial implications, the word privilege instantly causes those who are labeled it to become defensive and even uncomfortable. But privileged people need to feel uncomfortable. When you hear about what someone else faces because of who they are, but you do not face because of who you are, you need to feel uncomfortable. When your friend has to come out to their family members because we live in a heteronormative society and they explain how terrified they are, the discomfort you feel is necessary. The same can be said of a person of color describing racial discrimination to a white person, or a trans person explaining their struggles to a cis person.
My point is that members of marginalized groups shouldn’t have to edit or censor their struggles for anyone's offended, privileged ears. Privileged people need to speak up to other privileged people on the injustice they hear of and the discomfort they feel upon hearing from their friends and colleagues who are members of marginalized groups.
Straight people need to be angry and disgusted over LGBTQ+ hate crimes not just because they have that “one gay friend” but because we shouldn’t have to live in a world were someone is persecuted, harmed, or killed because of who they are. White people need to be outraged over the #AllLivesMatter “movement” – if it can even be called that – because it is trying to negate and deny the specifically black lives lost in civilian-officer relations, and that is not okay. Christians need to be saddened and moved to action over the treatment of Muslims and those who practice Islam because the love they are free to practice and preach without persecution is a privilege and needs to be on offer to all. Because it is the right thing to do. Action is not always standing at the front of a protest line – if it is within your power or your courage, I encourage you to do this. But if it is not, use your voice, use your words. But you have to decide that you will not stand for injustice.
My voice is my power, and that power is privilege. I choose the topics I do because I refuse to be a silent bystander. If I can enlighten and inform, just by shedding light onto the social injustices I’ve either encountered or studied, then I’m leaving the world a better place than it was when I first inhabited it. And that’s something I can live with.
