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?
I never knew these existed, and I've definitely never thought about this before. A little anecdote, somewhat relevant, but undeniably interesting (at least to me): today I started work in helping one of the new freshman girls on my speech team to find a dramatic piece to perform (she's Korean). When she left the room, my other coach and I began talking about how difficult it is to find a piece for an Asian girl because so much literature and passable material is written for either a white girl or a black male. And you really can't have an Indian or Hispanic person, really anyone not in the race of the narrator, talking about the perils of being a black man in America if you expect to do well in tournaments. It's a tough balance to maintain, wanting to be racially sensitive and wanting to win. I guess this is just one more personal thing I overlook that should be on my privilege checklist.
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