Somehow the topic of privilege always seems to become a heated discussion among differing groups. The outstanding facts that came through the video were that often those with privilege are not aware of it or don't believe it has much effect on their lives and opportunities. In my life I have reaped the benefits of privilege as a white person but have been put down by it due to being bisexual, low-income, and female. I never really became aware of how much the privilege I possessed effected my life until I started learning more about it in college. Now I think I better understand why, for example, scholarships are offered to minority students. This used to be a concept I couldn't grasp in high school but is now clearer to me as a more educated version of myself.
I think that becoming aware of whether or not you have privilege and how much you have is important because it help people understand the importance of working towards equality. The article I chose discusses Harvard's choice to make privilege a more apparent thing for their students. I believe that it is a step forward for universities that are exclusive like Harvard to start raising awareness of what privilege is.
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27417109
Hey Lindsay! I think what you said about not learning about it until college is something important because it really is not until one enters a higher educational facility we really start learning about this stuff. And even then, not many people have the privilege of going to a university or college in the first place, so we really are at an advantage there too. I've heard that the more years of higher education one has, the more liberal they become. The places where I would have reaped the most benefit is probably being able-bodied, because in most other aspects I am at a disadvantage (woman, low-income, not straight either). I agree that if we were to start recognizing privilege for what it is, we can work toward making things better.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you both, if I didn't go to college, I would never have learned about many of the issues surrounding our community. I knew of the problems in the world, but not to the extent of its influence. College really opened my eyes to the social justice issues in our community.
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