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Why “Privilege” Is Complicated
When is a person forced to reckon with their privilege?
When some part of it is taken away and your new reality becomes more difficult. A newly-lost advantage makes it easier to see how lucky you once were…that you were once privileged in a way you no longer feel you are.
If only that were true.
Instead, people usually get depressed, angry, or defensive when they have slipped on the socioeconomic ladder, and their new reality makes life more difficult.
Seeing…noticing and appreciating how lucky you are takes practice and attention. Most of us fail on a regular basis.
Let’s define privilege. Merriam Webster’s entry:
privilege (n): a right or immunity granted as a peculiar benefit, advantage, or favor
immunity, especially in this global moment of corona-virus, is a particularly useful word here. Let’s define that:
immunity (n): a condition of being able to resist a particular disease especially through preventing development of a pathogenic microorganism or by counteracting the effects of its products
The word “privilege” generally makes people nervous because nobody wants to acknowledge the complexity of privilege, and the fact that they were born into something. Societal and cultural…
