Why should you care about Privilege?

Incidents like this happen in plain sight all the time, and it needs to stop. (via World Trust)
Posted by Upworthy on Tuesday, 1 December 2015

I've heard many people state "I'm not racist". I've heard many "non-racist" people complain about all the attention and debate around privilege. After all, white people have problems too! And there are times when white people are at the disadvantage! Can't we just talk about equality and leave it at that?

"Privilege" is a term used to describe the systematic mechanisms that favour one group over another. Talking about "equality" does not always address, and is sometimes incapable of identifying societal discrepancies.

Acknowledging privilege is not about making you feel bad. It's not about dumping blame on those who those who happen to move through life lacking certain types of struggles. Really, it's about everyone recognizing and claiming their power.

When we claim our power, we can use it towards transforming our society into something more just. When we ignore or pretend we don't have privilege, we give it away to reinforce the systems that give us that privilege. In this video, the woman debated standing up for herself knowing she would likely be further marginalized for doing so. She didn't want to be labelled the "angry black woman", just for asking to be treated the same as the white people in line. Her sister-in-law, however, claimed her power from her inherently lighter skin and used it to turn the situation around.

The good news is, we all have some form of privilege. We all have some sort of power inherently given to us by society that is not shared by everyone. And like this story, where someone who was "half black" was able to use her white privilege, what our privilege is and how we can best utilize it will vary by situation. Does your gender, age, ethnicity, income, ability or some other factor give you an advantage in a particular situation? Is someone else having a hard time with a situation you've never had to even think of? Is there something you can do in that situation that  the other person cannot do in the same way or with the same effect?

That's why we talk about "privilege". The more we talk about it, the more we foster our own awareness of it. And the more we notice it within ourselves and the situation, the more we can claim it to turn the situation around.