I thought the article and video were very interesting! I really liked the video because it gave a good explanation of what privilege looks like in simple terms. Overall, I believe that privilege is an extremely sensitive topic, whether you are privilege or you are not. It can stir up heated arguments and can cause someone to be judged the wrong way. Let me use myself as an example. I am obviously a white female that has lived in the city of Gilbert for my whole life until I came to NAU. For those of you who don't know where Gilbert is, it is a suburb in Phoenix that has been known to be a really preppy mormon area. Based off the school I went to and my ability to participate in sports and ability to go out with friends, I could see as being privileged. What people don't know about me is that my parents are divorced and my mom has been my sole provider since I was in jr high. Being a single mom is tough and she supported me and my two other siblings the best that she could. Even though I went to a nice high school, my mom struggled to put food on the table some nights, especially when she was unemployed for 6 months. From this experience I have learned not to judge a "book by its cover" or judge someone based off of the things that they have or where they live.
The article I would like to address is about Hillary Clinton running for the presidential election in 2016. I can assume in saying that almost everybody has heard about this situation. But honestly, I don't think it should be that deal. Just like it was a big deal for Obama to run for president because he is black, it's a big deal for Hillary Clinton to run because she is a female. If privilege didn't exist, I believe this wouldn't have even made it to the news. In this case, African Americans and females are not known for running in congress and they can be seen as unprivileged because having this opportunity can be seen as different or rare.
Here's the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/13/us/politics/hillary-clinton-2016-presidential-campaign.html?_r=0
You brought up a good point that people who are not a white male have a more difficult time getting into politics. The only privileged ones are white males and everyone else gets criticized. It is very unfair that an intelligent black woman with incredible ideas and charisma cannot get elected into the white house because she lacks that privilege. I wish this would change in our country.
ReplyDeleteI like how you talked about privilege not being just about race but about other things in someones life like gender and socioeconomic status. Most people focus so much on just the race aspect they forget to actually learn about other things in that persons like how you were judge for your privilege like a book and its cover. I think that was also an interesting article and perspective on the article.
ReplyDeletei liked how you focused on privileged in a different way. People always do focus on the race part so it was nice that you brought up a different side to this.
ReplyDeleteJocelyn,
ReplyDeleteFirst I want to say how I appreciate you sharing your own personal story and I can relate to some extent of being brought up by a single mother and the struggle single mothers' have to go through. I think you have a good understanding about privilege especially when incorporating your experience and not judging a book by its cover. I believe you using those tools will aid you in being a peer mentor but also keep an open mind & an open heart.You will get mentees from all types of backgrounds, some you may be able to relate to and others it will take more time to develop a peer mentor/mentee bond. If you can relate do not be shy to tell about your experience and if you cannot let them have the floor. I hope this helps and thank you again for sharing your story.