The concept of privilege refers to any advantage that is unearned, exclusive, and socially conferred. One way to see this is through a survey in which respondents were asked to close their eyes and picture a drug dealer. When asked to describe what they saw, almost 95 percent mentioned a black person, even though the vast majority of drug dealers in the U. What privilege does is load the odds one way or the other so that the chance of bad things happening to white people as a category of people is much lower than for everyone else, and the chance of good things happening is much higher.
A system of privilege—a family, a workplace, a society—is organized around three basic principles: dominance, identification, and centeredness. A system of white privilege, for example, is white-dominated, which means the default is for white people to occupy positions of power.
When a category of people is named the standard for human beings in general, the path of least resistance is to see them as superior, there being no other reason to make them the standard. These are nice men. And I realized this is why we were oppressive to work with—because, in parallel fashion, I had been taught that whites make knowledge. This is when you came up with the forty-six examples of white privilege? It was like a prayer. The first one I thought of was: I can, if I wish, arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.
Other people had been writing about privilege before you—why did your paper attract so much attention? I think it was because nobody else was writing so personally, and giving such clear examples, drawn from personal experience, which allowed readers to understand this rather complicated subject without feeling accused. Well, at first, the most common responses were from white people. The right wing wanted to paint it as craziness. Have those reactions changed much?
The colleges and the universities are the places where you get a hearing. In order to understand the way privilege works, you have to be able to see patterns and systems in social life, but you also have to care about individual experiences. Is that the challenge—or the usefulness—of the idea of privilege, as you see it?
That it asks you to combine an individual view of life with an abstract one? Indeed, many people have never been asked or required to reflect on their own privileged status, and in regards to racial identity, doing so might feel uncomfortable or even discordant with the common narrative regarding social and political changes over the years.
As a result, many White Americans either may not be aware of or may avoid considering how simply being White confers special status or experiences, potentially to the detriment of others. While many Americans may not view themselves as privileged because of their economic or social status, the advantage of being in the majority racial group is real, even if often hidden.
Consider simple life activities such as shopping in a store without the fear of being followed or buying or renting a home in an area that you can afford without consideration of your race. Privilege can be assigned to populations within a group, such as athletes, individuals perceived as attractive, individuals who attain higher levels of education, or membership in certain religious groups.
Loosely defined, privilege includes the following aspects. Unearned advantages that are highly valued but restricted to certain groups. Unearned advantages are those that someone receives by identifying or being born into a specific group. It is important to note that the groups who have received these advantages have not earned them due to their own hard work but rather their affiliation e.
Equally important to note is the reality that while some benefit from unearned advantages, others are victims of unearned disadvantage. Unearned entitlements are things of value that all people should have; however, they are often restricted to certain groups because of the values of the majority culture that influence political and social decisions.
The example below illustrates this concept. Example: John a boy is perceived to understand science better than Jane a girl. Privilege oppresses certain groups.
As explained by Wildman and Davis , Members of the privileged group gain many benefits by their affiliation with the dominant side of the power system. Privileged advantage in societal relationships benefits the holder of privilege, who may receive deference, special knowledge, or a higher comfort level to guide societal interaction.
Privilege is not visible to its holder; it is merely there, a part of the world, a way of life, simply the way things are. Others have a lack, an absence, a deficiency. Privilege exists when one group has something of value that is denied to others simply because of group membership and not based on what a person or group has done or failed to do Johnson, For those who routinely benefit from privilege, the challenge is to not quickly deny its existence.
For example, although being female or a person of color does not necessarily directly determine an outcome, these characteristics can easily and quickly make these individuals less likely to be hired, recognized, or rewarded in a variety of situations. Privilege is problematic a when it skews our personal interactions and judgments and b when it contributes to or blinds us to systemic barriers for those who do not possess a certain privilege, thereby creating or perpetuating inequity.
Again, this concept refers to any advantage that is unearned, exclusive, and socially conferred. For example, with White privilege, White people are generally assumed to be law abiding until they show that they are not. On the other hand, people of color, in particular African Americans and Latinos, are routinely assumed to be criminals or potential criminals until they show that they are not Johnson, In schools, privilege-based bias plays out in many ways but perhaps most acutely in discipline.
Unconscious bias at its core speaks to lack of awareness of—or literally not thinking about—internal biases when engaging in disciplinary practice. When adults who are working with young people make fast decisions, the data suggest an increase in the likelihood of disproportionate disciplinary practices that unfortunately continue to perpetuate the stigma of perceived criminal behavior from African American and Latino students.
As practitioners continue to develop and grow in their own self-awareness, the potential to change the current outcomes seen in disciplinary practices is promising. Lindsey, Robins, and Terrell suggest that culturally competent educational leaders should engage in the following:. These practices allow culturally competent educational leaders to recognize their own cultural values, norms, and expectations, while allowing them to collaborate with students, staff, and families from other cultures.
These interactions support the management of conflicts that may arise as a result of cultural differences. Adapting to diversity suggests embedding equitable practices in classroom management, instructional practices, and social—emotional learning.
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