My Aha Moment

In order to change the world and make all social injustices go away we must do one thing. That one thing is to recognize our own privileges. Privileges from the very beginning have always referred to the word “dominance”(McIntosh, 1989, pg. 3). This dominance is given to those with a certain race and gender. Most may think, what privileges could I possibly have if I am not a white male or female in this country? But as Tiffany Jana says, it is time to “change our frames.” What this means is those who think they may not have any privileges at all should try to think their own way of thinking and see maybe some of the privileges they do have. Take myself for example, I am a hispanic, middle class, heterosexual female. Just by reading that one sentence I could easily point out the privileges I do not have and all the social injustices my family and I have faced in this country. However after reading that sentence again I had an “Aha” moment. I realized all the privileges I did have. I had the opportunity to go to school, to get raised by a middle class family, and I am heterosexual. Those I listed are just some of the many privileges I could think of. If I would have recognized those sooner and not have been so blind maybe my outlook on life would have been a lot more different. Those of you reading this may think is it too late to recognize my privileges and do something about it? No, it is never too late. As Peggy McIntosh says, it is like “unpacking the invisible knapsack”(McIntosh, 1989, pg.1). Unpacking this knapsack is so crucial in helping all those “vulnerable communities”(Melissa & James, 2015, pg.6). However, for some it is not so easy to unpack this “invisible knapsack.” Most of the country is taught that the way white America lives is the normal and average way. Therefore what privileges could possibly exist if that is the average way of living and everyone else should be living that way. It is such an ugly truth our society must face and recognize. We must recognize that not everyone gets to get the education they need to have a decent paying job, or even have a car to get to that job. It is those privileges that are taken for granted on a daily basis. That is the first step in changing our unequal treatments and biases. Just as said in our readings it is very obvious what can happen the moment we stop remembering the privileges we have and the impact it can have on the more vulnerable communities. Take for example, New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. A decade later after the hurricane and homes and school in the lower income communities are still not re-built. Maybe if the people of New Orleans understood the privileges and advantages that came with their race it would be a different story. I hope as many read this start to think of their own privileges and the many ways they could make those privileges useful in our own society just as Tiffany Jana and Peggy McIntosh did. 

Sources

Jana, T. (2014, February 05). The power of privilege: Tiffany Jana at TEDxRVAWomen. Retrieved February 10, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0acvkHIiZs

Perry, M. H. (2015, August 19). From New Orleans to Ferguson, a Decade of Asserting Black Lives Matter. Retrieved February 10, 2018, from https://www.thenation.com/article/from-new-orleans-to-ferguson-a-decade-of-asserting-black-lives-matter/

Adams, M., Blumenfeld, W. J., Castañeda, C., Hackman, H. W., Peters, M. L., & Zúñiga, X. (Eds.). (2013). Readings for diversity and social justice (3rd ed.). Routledge.