Privilege Checklists

I suppose since the first "real" post was so topical, this is an opportunity to take a step back and look at the broader theme of being a minority. Just by existing, we are assigned certain traits or labels that help determine our place in society, which is what this blog is all about. Skin color, gender, appearance, gender identity, etc. Sometimes it is difficult for a person in a majority category, like a white person or an able-bodied person, to imagine what it's like to be in the minority category– a person of color or a disabled person.

Enter privilege checklists. Privilege checklists are essentially a way for people who have some sort of privilege to try and understand people who do not have that privilege. The first privilege checklist was introduced in 1988 when Peggy McIntosh published a paper called "White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming To See Correspondences through Work in Women's Studies." An important excerpt to which I will refer can be found here. In the paper, McIntosh listed several things that most white people don't think about that make their lives easier, and which people of color may have to deal with on a regular basis. Some of these things include:

"6. I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented."

"18. I can swear, or dress in second hand clothes, or not answer letters, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty or the illiteracy of my race."

"21. I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group."

"35. I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having my co-workers on the job suspect that I got it because of my race."

These are issues and obstacles which white people don't have to think about; indeed, they may not even know exist. It's a sobering list.

But wait, there's more! Obviously, skin color is not the only indicator of privilege. There are a lot of different types and degrees of privilege– so, naturally, there are a lot of different lists. This post on adult privilege has several links to other good checklists: white, male, able-bodied, average-sized, cisgendered (that is, not transgendered), and neurotypical (that is, without neurological disorders, sometimes specific to autism). The link to the heterosexual privilege one does not work. One of many straight privilege checklists can be found here.

Privilege checklists are not to show people of privilege how mean they are or how they are bad people. It's just to show someone "how the other half lives." There are so many things to think about when dealing with the complicated issues of marginalized or minority people, and checklists are a way to remind people of the different experiences that others have based on who they are.

I encourage readers to take a look at a checklist or two. If you can, look at one where you are the minority and one where you are the majority. Do you agree with the aim of privilege checklists? Did you know they existed at all? Do they apply to you?

Classism - Occupy Wall Street

No war but the class war.

Because, ultimately, that's what a lot of oppression comes down to-- when people are marginalized financially. It makes sense, on a basic level. First, have the ability to hold a job and feed a family. Second, voting rights and the like.

Spurred by an anti-consumerist magazine’s call to action (and operating under the slogan of "We are the 99%), for the past three weeks around 5,000 people have marched on America's most famous symbol of the higher-ups in finance.


But why did they start this? What do they want?

The first question is not terribly difficult to answer. Most of the United States is not in its happy place, economically. People are not very confident in the economy's future, and unemployment is at an undesirable 8.7%. It is certainly not unfathomable that a large amount of people would take to the streets in protest. Again, back to the nucleus of a lot of oppression-- the ability to provide for oneself and one's dependents. Doesn't seem unreasonable.

This leaves the second question: Why? What do they want?

The protest movement has been criticized as unfocused. It is modeled after the Arab Spring, yet the recent Middle Eastern protests seem to have the pretty clear goal of government overthrow/reform. It would be easy to dismiss 5,000 people in the largest city in the country as ignorant, disenchanted youth.

But anyone who calls these protests unfocused is clearly not listening. Occupywallst.org, the "unofficial de facto" voice of the protesters, released both a list of grievances (cleverly modeled after the Declaration of Independence) and a popular but unofficial Proposed List of Demands. The grievances are very broad but include workers' rights, education, and how money is handled; the demands, while equally far-reaching, are mostly for legislation for responsible banking and to minimize the influence of corporations of lobbyists on elections and the democratic process.

Of course, the protests are not as simple as that. There has been some debate over the role of unions in the protests, and many Republican politicians have expressed their contempt for the movement. But is there anything really all that reprehensible in the Occupy Wall Street sentiments? Don't most people agree with the basic tenet that corporate greed is bad? Or are they asking for too much?

I'd love some feedback concerning your personal feelings regarding the protests. Feel free to leave a comment. =)