There’s a popular story making the rounds on social media to help people in positions of privilege understand exactly what the concept means and what it affords them.
The essence of the story is that a high school teacher sets a recycling bin at the front of the room then gives his students wads of paper and asks them to hit the target. Those in the front row hit the target easily and often. Those in the middle do less often and those in the back rows barely hit it at all. The people in the front barely notice the struggles of those behind them while those in the back quickly start complaining about how unfair the deal is since they can see the advantage given to those ahead of them, even as they try to achieve the same goal.
That’s a really good analogy for the privilege(s) that many of us enjoy, often without even realising it – being caucasian or male or heterosexual or part of whatever majority groups there are in our society. Often through no choice of our own, we immediately have a massive head start over those who have are at a disadvantage, again, through no choice of their own.
And yes, there are things that people can do to improve their lot in life – get educated, work hard, etc. But the reality is that those things are often much harder than those of us in the front rows can even begin to contemplate, given the vast differences in our lifestyles, upbringing and cultural history.
Even seeing the challenges through our own privilege (“Well, why don’t you just work hard like I did?”) undermines the extent of what many people in our society have to overcome (or fail to overcome) every day.
I see that at my library every single day. Sometimes I see it twice in one day. 🙁
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