Let’s explore our privilege
written by ARP editor Tami Winfrey Harris
The discussion that resulted from Liza’s post on privilege is such a good one that I thought it might be useful to further explore the topic. The Privilege Meme, which made the rounds in the blogosphere a few months ago, generated a lot of discussion and controversy. The post below originally appeared on What Tami Said. Look for other discussions about privilege linked at the end.
What do you think? How privileged are you? Is this meme a valid, though unscientific, indicator of privilege? Do the questions themselves reveal a privileged outlook?
**********************************************************
No doubt many of you have come across the Privilege Meme that is making its way around the blogosphere. The exercise developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker and Stacy Ploskonka at Indiana State University, explores the markers of privilege as a way to encourage discussion about class and, to some extent, race. (Read more about this exercise here. Also look for a link to a social class quiz on this page.)
Participants are asked to take a step forward–in this case a virtual one–for each statement that is true for them. Below, I have bolded the statements that are true for me.
Take a step:
If your father went to college before you started
If your father finished college before you started
If your mother went to college before you started
If your mother finished college before you started
If you have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor.
If your family was the same or higher class than your high school teachers
If you had a computer at home when you were growing up (To be fair, in the 70s and 80s, home computers weren’t as ubiquitous)
If you had your own computer at home when you were growing up
If you had more than 50 books at home when you were growing up
If you had more than 500 books at home when you were growing up (Unsure about this one)
If were read children’s books by a parent when you were growing up
If you ever had lessons of any kind as a child or a teen
If you had more than two kinds of lessons as a child or a teen
If the people in the media who dress and talk like you were portrayed positively (this is tough–I would need to separate portrayals of black people from middle class black people, who really weren’t portrayed at all outside of The Cosby Show.)
If you had a credit card with your name on it before college
If you had or will have less than $5000 in student loans when you graduate
If you had or will have no student loans when you graduate
If you went to a private high school
If you went to summer camp
If you had a private tutor
(US students only) If you have been to Europe more than once as a child or teen
(International question) If you have been to the US more than once as a child or teen
If your family vacations involved staying at hotels rather than KOA or at relatives homes
If all of your clothing has been new
If your parents gave you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
If there was original art in your house as a child or teen
If you had a phone in your room
If your parent owned their own house or apartment when you were a child or teen
If you had your own room as a child or teen
If you participated in an SAT/ACT prep course
If you had your own cell phone in High School (Again, not so much with the fancy technology in the mid 80s)
If you had your own TV as a child or teen
If you opened a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
If you have ever flown anywhere on a commercial airline
If you ever went on a cruise with your family
If your parents took you to museums and art galleries as a child or teen
If you were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family
What this exercise underscores for me is that I–a black woman in America–have been very privileged, despite sexism and racism. While I certainly can congratulate myself for the good decisions I’ve made along the course of my life, I should be honest about how my class privilege has given me a leg up. Certainly, my middle class background has made it easier for me to transcend the stigma of my race and gender. Conversely, a black woman raised in poverty has a steeper mountain to climb. I don’t think anyone reading this is unaware of the important role that class plays in this country, but sometimes it is useful to have a quick reminder of where you stand.
Something to note: A number of bloggers have discussed this meme and pointed out the biases inherent in the questions. Racial bias is especially apparent in the social class knowledge quiz (link above) that includes questions about Nascar and Bill Engvall, two markers of the white working class that mean nothing to a lot of people of color. There is also some age bias to be aware of, given that the exercise was created on a modern college campus. Questions about computers and cell phones are not particularly relevant to me as a Generation Xer and less relevant to Baby Boomers and others.
Check out LaToya’s post on Racialicious.
Visit Rachel’s Tavern.
Stop by Education and Class for criticism of bloggers’ responses to the Privilege Meme.
Also, stop by the Quaker Class blog that started it all.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of 
Jane wrote:
Class Action has taken the idea of generating conversation about class privilege a bit further than this meme (which was designed for a particular group of college students). They published their list of potential class markers in a paper newsletter, but I posted it on my blog:
http://educationandclass.com/2008/05/16/middle-class-privilege/
They welcome additions and critique.
Posted 11 Jun 2008 at 12:11 pm ¶
professor what if wrote:
More great analysis of privilege — thanks for the post.
I use a ‘privilege line’ in my women’s studies classes at the start of each semester and year after year, it is one of the activities that impacts students most.
For yet another link on the topic, I posted on white privilege yesterday at my blog http://professorwhatif.wordpress.com/
I argued perhaps we should start using the term powp (person of white privilege) as analogous to poc (person of color).
Posted 11 Jun 2008 at 12:55 pm ¶
BCmomtobe wrote:
Privilege is relative. I grew up in situational poverty. My parents separated, we got a lousy alimony settlement, and my mother was too depressed to get a job. My father was too cheap to care. When I compared myself to others in my predominantly white, middle class neighbourhood and High School, I thought I was far from privileged. Even before looking at this list I know that I came from considerable privilege. We kept our house, mowed the lawn, had enough food for ourselves and our houseful of pets. We never had to live on macaroni, or Spam. My clothes were not fashionable, which was pointed out to me by the school Queen Bee and her sycophants, but they weren’t second hand, and they weren’t thread bare. Our car was crap, but we had one and it worked.
I did not realize just how middle class we were. It was at a Pro D conference on teaching students from Generational Poverty, that I realized just how well off I was, even during some tough times. I had parents that valued education, got me to school every day, and I was expected to do the work. It was safe for me to walk to school. I also lived in a print rich home, and had the vocabulary to express myself in an academic environment. I also didn’t have anyone discouraging me from pursuing an education. Many aren’t so lucky.
I also realize that I have some classist notions that I need to work on. I am more comfortable with other middle class people, regardless of race or culture than I am with anyone else. I also realize I have some ‘blame the victim’ attitudes. While I don’t feel guilty for having what I do (and of course want more), it doesn’t make me a better person. While hard work is necessary for success, it is not always enough. I remember a quote from that Pro-D stating we can neither excuse, nor condemn (people from poverty)”. Another was “They can’t just do it for themselves, but we can’t just do it for them”. I also believe that not everything will be equal in financial matters. Everyone has advantages and disadvantages, but some have greater impact than others. I don’t know where I’m going with this anymore, so I’ll stop here.
Posted 11 Jun 2008 at 3:09 pm ¶
dianne m wrote:
This was fascinating.
I am generally perceived as white (I am mixed “white” and American Indian) and this perception affects my experiences. I answered “yes” to 7 of these 30-some questions. Here is what I find so interesting about it - although I am now clearly in the middle class (maybe even upper middle), my life-experiences are much more in-line with those shared by women of color than my caucasion peers. People who see me, however, assume otherwise (and often insist that I cannot have experienced what I say I have).
BUT when I comment “anonymously” on my life experiences, the assumptions folks make about me are astonishing (and insulting).
I am not sure what this means; I just found it interesting to put my experience & this meme together.
Thanks for sharing it.
Posted 11 Jun 2008 at 4:13 pm ¶
Yvie wrote:
This is very interesting. In my country, it’s somewhat the same when it comes to class. I was also lucky to be born in a middle-class family. I was able to go to College and have a decent job. I don’t know how to classify myself now as I may be certain that I may be multi-racial or biracial.
In my country (the Philippines), discrimination also comes with the way you look and sadly, also our skin color. My fellowman is very obssessed in getting a lighter skin. The norm is so crazy here that I think people are being turned into complete robots. *shudder*
Though we may have grown into different backgrounds, I am so with you on this one. Children has to grow up in a home where parents teach them to be non-racists.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful insight.
Posted 12 Jun 2008 at 4:35 am ¶
Gillian wrote:
This is totally unapplicable to non-Americans. It asks for example if you had your own phone in your room when you were a child or teen. I remember seeing those Princess phones in films and being wowed, but when I was a kid in 70s England, we were privileged because we had a phone, period.
According to this list I am not that privileged, with only 25% of the list. But I know that is patently untrue. We didn’t have more than 50 books at home but we were regular users of the library. I had less than $5000 of loans because I benefited fron a state grant and worked throughout my college days, but not like someone in the US would have had to do.
Also, Americans consider class to be only a question of money, or at least this questionnaire does, but in Europe you don’t have to have money to benefit from class privileges - it’s about how you were born. Certainly I didn’t have that. In terms of race, like Tami, it wasn’t a case of people like us being portrayed positively, but being portrayed at all.
Like I said in my comment to Liza’s post, privilege to me is not having to think about things - it is being able to take stuff for granted. Unfortunately this meme reduces all that to tallying your mostly material wealth.
Posted 12 Jun 2008 at 8:49 pm ¶
bms2000 wrote:
Well, congratulations, you’re more ‘privileged’ than me (a 30 something caucasian female). But a lot of the things on that list are things that, while I lacked them, did not impact my growing up. I was not unhappy as a child because I didn’t travel to Europe, or have my own phone and TV, or had lower middle class folks. In fact a lot of the ‘privileged’ kids I knew in high school (I went to a private college prep school on scholarship) seemed pretty miserable. Why would I want to be them?
Posted 13 Jun 2008 at 12:12 pm ¶
Julia wrote:
What I found interesting about this is that many parents can and did provide aspects of privilege mentioned is this quiz despite being on the border of financial security.
I grew up in a family where learning was never, ever squandered and books came before - WAY before items like clothing. I had hand-me-downs whenever possible and wore pants long after their length had “expired” for me, but I never lacked for books or educational (free) experiences.
Neat meme. Good stuff to think about.
Posted 14 Jun 2008 at 11:43 am ¶
bfwallis wrote:
If the people in the media who dress and talk like you were portrayed positively
I have trouble with this one. I was a geek, which totally informed the way I dressed and spoke. I can’t remember a geek in the media (particularly not a female one!) who could arguably be said to be a positive portrayal until Willow on Buffy, and I was an adult by then.
Posted 16 Jun 2008 at 1:01 am ¶
Anonymous wrote:
” I had less than $5000 of loans because I benefited fron a state grant and worked throughout my college days, but not like someone in the US would have had to do.”
Yes but the taxpayers had to pay for your grant thus others had to have more taken out of their paychecks for you to go to college so it evens out. As far as privilege, the best privilege one can have is to have a stable, caring, loving family.
Posted 01 Jul 2008 at 2:31 pm ¶
kc wrote:
” I had less than $5000 of loans because I benefited fron a state grant and worked throughout my college days, but not like someone in the US would have had to do.”
Yes but the taxpayers had to pay for your grant thus others had to have more taken out of their paychecks for you to go to college so it evens out. As far as privilege, the best privilege one can have is to have a stable, caring, loving family.
Posted 01 Jul 2008 at 2:32 pm ¶