I remember thinking in that moment well I didn’t get to pick my parents, race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation before I was born and I also didn’t pick in which country I was born. I surely didn’t choose the systems in place in that country. So, why are you yelling at me?”
He went on to say “You have to be aware of it!” To which I thought, this guy doesn’t even know my name. I literally have to write my name in sharpie on a paper name tag. How does he know how aware or unaware I am?
And therein lies the problem.
The assumption of privilege is that everyone who falls into the privileged group is an active participant in maintaining privilege and ensuring no one else enjoys similar privileges.
The modern movement of political correctness thrives off of victimization and guilt. People with power—politicians, ideologues, those with agendas of various shapes and sizes tell some people they are victims and others they are guilty. They push identity politics and a type of thought crime enforcement straight out of George Orwell’s 1984.
I have friends of all different backgrounds and when we hangout I don’t analyze my privilege in relation to them. We go get tacos, watch the game and have some laughs. I don’t sit at lunch and feel guilty for my white heterosexual privilege, nor do I try to identify the structures of oppression that affect them. We are equals. Anything else would be superficial and make for awkward friendships. People want to be treated with kindness and respect. I know of few people of any background who consciously think about the institutional inequalities of society when they are carrying on their daily routines.
Most people just want to work hard, provide for their families and enjoy life.
Indoctrinating an idea of inherited victimization to one set of groups while indoctrinating guilt into another set about factors they have no control over is a losing game.
The message we should be sending is one of self-empowerment. Self-empowerment happens within us and is durable regardless of outside conditions. Political correctness and the war on privilege is just a new tactic of division and control, as it empowers no one.
Freedom and equality are never obtained through censorship and the putting down of others. Those are competing ideas. Freedom and equality are obtained through rigorous work and struggle. Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Amelia Earhart, and all who have followed have proven that. The people who are creating change don’t do it by playing the victim. They do it by being great at whatever they do, not by censoring people, or legislating behavior. Their self-empowerment breaks barriers and creates real change, which in turn, empowers others.
I have grown up with a powerful movement of political correctness. I’ve lost track of how many people I’ve seen lose their jobs for off-the-cuff coarse comments that apparently justify no hope for redemption.
These people seem to just disappear into the ether. Their legacies forever tarnished, their successes disregarded.
As a young male, this has a chilling affect on my relationships. Anything can be deemed offensive or inappropriate; making it difficult to express myself for fear of being attacked for whatever innocent missteps I may make.
There are very real structures of oppression in this country. The drug war and the segregation of American cities are two off the top of my head. Political correctness and soapbox speeches about privilege aren’t going to solve real issues like those.
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Photo credit: Getty Images
The first thing you learn is that life is unfair. You don’t like this initially, but you realize that it cannot be any other way. My gametes met years ago, and it was a one in a million, with all the rest doomed to an infinite non-existence – very unfair. Privilege conversations are trivial and petty, at best, destructive and divisive at worst. The privilege conversation, in many ways, mirrors free speech discussions. Everyone knows there are some restrictions to free speech and that you cannot simply create new restrictions that are based on annoyances, bullying, or whatever new comes… Read more »
“Freedom and equality are obtained through rigorous work and struggle.” Bullsh*t. Tell that to a young black man who has been arrested for a drug crime who can’t get a job because nobody will hire him. I agree that the PC police quite often go overboard. But that does not mean that their arguments and goals are wrong. As a white male I may not be an active participant in white privilege, but I benefit from white privilege in many ways. I don’t get pulled over by police because I am driving while black or brown. I don’t get followed… Read more »
Yeah, except DOJ stats don’t support your anecdotal imaginary ‘evidence’ White men are far more likely to be shot by police than black men precisely because of the fear of being perceived as racist. White privelege is an imaginary, arbitrary idea or theory, more a rhetorical device than any actual phenomenon. Evidence to support it is dubious at best often relying on highly questionable interpretations of statistics and never peer reviewed. Enjoy the guilt Kool Aide. Want to help people? Treat them like individuals. Treat them well. And don’t take anyone’s shit from anyone for any reason. Have self respect.… Read more »
He went on to say “You have to be aware of it!” To which I thought, this guy doesn’t even know my name. I literally have to write my name in sharpie on a paper name tag. How does he know how aware or unaware I am? Not only that but how does he know what advantages and privileges you have in relation to your actual experiences. The assumption of privilege is that everyone who falls into the privileged group is an active participant in maintaining privilege and ensuring no one else enjoys similar privileges. And we all know how… Read more »
Would it be correct to summarize this by saying that political correctness is about identity politics rather than respecting people as individuals? I think that’s the crux of the issue. Specific groups do face unique issues that need to be addressed. You really got to a central problem, though, when you noted that your professor (who doth protest too much) was making assumptions based on group stereotypes instead of getting to know people as people. And, I like your point about indoctrination via guilt being a losing game. Religions often do this, and I think it’s no coincidence that the… Read more »
Thank you I agree. Opportunities to create divisiveness have spread to the realm of political correctness where alleged discrimination, hate speech, privacy, and most recently “fake news” have become tools of setting people against each other. We must remember that people are just people and they all have rights and challenges not targeting select groups of victims and wrongdoers. It’s getting far beyond the spirit of fairness.
Well put. There’s something to be said for honoring the sanctity of being, for humility and compassion, for the power of a good example, for joining together, shared humanity, “one for all and all for one.” We need to recognize when a person, an organization, a corporation or government breaks the Golden Rule, breaks faith, and we need to acknowledge and respect that the violator has removed himself from the game. We need to give our energy to what we want to grow.
Good article. I’m a big believer in personal accountability. I’ve been all over this country, and have not seen the divisiveness that’s being portrayed by the activists between black and white. People are decent with each other. They are going about their daily life as you pointed out.