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Social Privilege
Beneath the cut is an exercise designed to facilitate sociological discussion. If you reproduce it for your own blog, be sure to include the discussion and copyright information.
Americans are screwed up when it comes to class and privilege. We don't like to think of ourselves as having advantages that have nothing or little to do with hard work, or contemplate that a large part of our success and failure in life is due to our upbringing. The patronizing "bootstraps" plan of American success, wherein even the poorest crack-addicted baby can become a captain of industry if only he was willing to work for it like the rest of us upstanding citizens, necessarily includes the idea that the poor are not deserving of our help and charity Interestingly, politicians and leaders who claim to be the most religious are the biggest proponents of bootstraps; Christ's extensive ministry to the poor and message that all are deserving of our esteem and dignity are never part of the program for even "compassionate" conservatives. (Note: Not a Christian, but I think helping the poor is a terrific idea. It's why I want to teach at Metro, because I believe open admissions helps level the playing field.)
Paradoxically, "bootstraps" for the poor exists in the same mindset and is propogated by the exact same people who manipulate class sentiments and tell the middle class they are justified in feeling as though they deserve more breaks than other social classes. If the rich get breaks, it's because the system is designed for them; if the poor get breaks, it's because some pink bleeding heart liberal wants them to have a free ride. The middle class never get breaks, man. They work and slave all their lives (at companies making profit from outsourced and underpaid lower castes in other countries which also give them tax breaks and freedom from regulation) to get the house (financed by banking laws and regulations) in a suburb (constructed via a complex network of tax breaks to developers and infrastructure cost-shifting to inner cities), send their kids to a decent school (subsidized by yet another complex tax-shifting scheme to lower middle class property taxes), and afford basic medical care (insurance subsidized by negotiated cost breaks and employers at the expense of the uninsured and the hospitals that sometimes deign to serve them). They do this to get a better life for their children (which earns them tax credits) and send them to college (in large part subsidized by research grants and the federal government). Even though the mere existence of a middle class indicates that a United States citizen exists, in a global context, because of massive amounts of privilege. Almost everything I see when I look around my apartment is, in some small way, the economic result of pushing someone else's face in the mud.
And yet you might say I grew up poor. I know what it's like to sleep with roaches and go to school with trashy people, swinging from the poverty line like the the apes the Reagan administration said we all were. Yes, even the kids - Reagan Republicans extended being poor as a personal failing to even the children. I know that there are people who didn't start working until they were 15 or 16, but damned if they weren't lucky they never had to work under the table or get up at 4 am to finish a before-school job or shovel shit. Yes, shovel horseshit. And be happy to have the opportunity.
Part of this exercise in privilege is to take a detailed stock of how people have different kinds of privileges. It's as much mental and intellectual as it is financial, and none of these criteria are supposed to be cut-and-dried. For blog purposes, bold what applies to you, add comments where you wish, and add them all up.
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
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
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
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
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
My total is 14. So there you have it - I was privileged growing up. These exercises are important because we are not encouraged to think about our advantages, or the fact that some people don't have them. There are a million other things they could have included on this list that also indicate privilege - more about utilities, personal safety, victims of violent crimes - but I think this is meant to be more about subtle advantages and privileges we may not even pause to consider. And none of this is meant to indicate on a black-and-white level whether one person is quantifiably more privileged than another; there are plenty of people who have had all the advantages in the world and still can't seem to convert them to real-world success. But it never hurts to consider these issues every now and again, and there's nothing wrong with leaving the exercise feeling damn lucky.
I disagree with some statements in the exercise directions. The intent in saying that some people have had to work harder than others - that people with privilege have had to work less - is contradicted by the last part of the directions in exercise. Because this is meant to spark facilitated discussion, I wouldn't worry about it too much; however, I have been in classes in which the rich were automatically the devil because of their advantages. People sitting there, in college, white, wearing clothes likely made in south-of-the-border sweatshops, will stare at a depiction of life amongst the rich and just hate. Hate Paris Hilton all you want, but tarring the rich with the brush of callow uncaring does not make sense when people like Bill Gates or the recently-departed Astor matriarch use their money for the greater good. It makes no more sense to hate someone for being born rich than it does to hate someone for being born poor. Properly applied, I then hope that the examination of non-monetary privilege can show that finances can take a backseat to mindset and the availability of good upbringing regardless of money. While rich parents must carefully teach their children to not rely on their trust funds and treat people with kindness and dignity, poor parents must teach their children to create opportunities and take advantage of everything that can get. Simply because someone grows up not having to worry about food and shelter does not mean that they are happy or functioning human beings or have never faced hardship of any kind. Conversely, simply because someone grows up worrying about their personal safety and food supply does not mean that they cannot appreciate activities not directly central to daily survival. That is what it means to live in the American class system, which does exist but is not so rigid and immovable as a caste.
Step into Social Class 2.0
A Social Class Awareness Experience
Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka
Indiana State University
© 2008
Introduction: An activity designed to help the participants gain awareness of the vast range of social class that exists within themselves and others. This has been updated based on the wide range of feedback we received as this was becoming a popular experience.
Explanations and Notes:
All of the ‘step taking’ is about things not requiring effort on the students’ part, that were things done by others. While some of these are important to some people, others will be important to others. The list includes experiences, objects, and other things which reflect social class.
Equipment:
A big room with space to move for all participants
Chairs to sit for discussion
Rules:
Pay attention to how you feel. Angry, sad, happy, winner, loser . . .
No talking – we will talk about this a lot when it is over
Line up here and take a step forward of about 1 (one) foot or one foot length
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
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
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
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
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
Now everyone recognize that you are at the same place academically.
Everyone turn around.
Everyone has permission to talk.
No one has permission to accuse any one or any group of anything.
Everyone must use “I” statements.
Note that the people on one end of the room had to work harder to be here today than the people at the other end of the room. Some of you had lives of more privilege than others. There is no one to blame, it is just the way it is. Some have privilege and some don’t.
(this can be said now or later, I don’t know where it will be appropriate)
Discussion:
What were the feelings that you had during this experience? Who was angry?
(Anger will be a primary emotion at this point.)
What, specifically, makes you angry?
Who are you angry at?
Who was happy?
Which item do you want to argue about most? Why? Do you want more or fewer steps?
Summary Statement
This experience was about creating awareness of privilege. What it is, what it does, and what it means. Having privilege does not mean that you worked less hard. All it means is that you had a head start, so maybe it does mean you didn’t have to work as hard . . . .
Beneath the cut is an exercise designed to facilitate sociological discussion. If you reproduce it for your own blog, be sure to include the discussion and copyright information.
Americans are screwed up when it comes to class and privilege. We don't like to think of ourselves as having advantages that have nothing or little to do with hard work, or contemplate that a large part of our success and failure in life is due to our upbringing. The patronizing "bootstraps" plan of American success, wherein even the poorest crack-addicted baby can become a captain of industry if only he was willing to work for it like the rest of us upstanding citizens, necessarily includes the idea that the poor are not deserving of our help and charity Interestingly, politicians and leaders who claim to be the most religious are the biggest proponents of bootstraps; Christ's extensive ministry to the poor and message that all are deserving of our esteem and dignity are never part of the program for even "compassionate" conservatives. (Note: Not a Christian, but I think helping the poor is a terrific idea. It's why I want to teach at Metro, because I believe open admissions helps level the playing field.)
Paradoxically, "bootstraps" for the poor exists in the same mindset and is propogated by the exact same people who manipulate class sentiments and tell the middle class they are justified in feeling as though they deserve more breaks than other social classes. If the rich get breaks, it's because the system is designed for them; if the poor get breaks, it's because some pink bleeding heart liberal wants them to have a free ride. The middle class never get breaks, man. They work and slave all their lives (at companies making profit from outsourced and underpaid lower castes in other countries which also give them tax breaks and freedom from regulation) to get the house (financed by banking laws and regulations) in a suburb (constructed via a complex network of tax breaks to developers and infrastructure cost-shifting to inner cities), send their kids to a decent school (subsidized by yet another complex tax-shifting scheme to lower middle class property taxes), and afford basic medical care (insurance subsidized by negotiated cost breaks and employers at the expense of the uninsured and the hospitals that sometimes deign to serve them). They do this to get a better life for their children (which earns them tax credits) and send them to college (in large part subsidized by research grants and the federal government). Even though the mere existence of a middle class indicates that a United States citizen exists, in a global context, because of massive amounts of privilege. Almost everything I see when I look around my apartment is, in some small way, the economic result of pushing someone else's face in the mud.
And yet you might say I grew up poor. I know what it's like to sleep with roaches and go to school with trashy people, swinging from the poverty line like the the apes the Reagan administration said we all were. Yes, even the kids - Reagan Republicans extended being poor as a personal failing to even the children. I know that there are people who didn't start working until they were 15 or 16, but damned if they weren't lucky they never had to work under the table or get up at 4 am to finish a before-school job or shovel shit. Yes, shovel horseshit. And be happy to have the opportunity.
Part of this exercise in privilege is to take a detailed stock of how people have different kinds of privileges. It's as much mental and intellectual as it is financial, and none of these criteria are supposed to be cut-and-dried. For blog purposes, bold what applies to you, add comments where you wish, and add them all up.
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
- My mother finished her master's degree before I started college. Consider that she was a teenage unwed mother, that she bounced from crap job to crap job between undergraduate and graduate school, and that she didn't go to grad school until I was a teenager and she'd had damn well enough of being poor. BUT consider also that the support of her family allowed her to complete her undergrad instead of having to drop out. And consider that even thinking that an undergrad degree and a master's degree for someone in her situation is usually wildly inappropriate. In this case, the privilege does not lie in having an easy road to college, but in being allowed the freedom to presume to go. Most people in her situation would be told, through a variety of lifelong ingrained social cues, that she fucked up and college was now out of the question for the rest of her life. Her privilege, and mine, is a supportive extended family. Edit: I don't agree with the mindset that teenage mothers should not go to college, of course, but tons of people do.
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
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
If were read children's books by a parent when you were growing up
- Starting with the questions about computers, here the lack of response is misleading. In this area I had an immense amount of privilege. As a teenager I did finally get an old hand-me-down Mac SE, but more importantly I had access to a school that also had computers and the resources to teach me how to use them. That's huge. Also, we may not have had a lot of books, but we had a large, well-staffed community library that had not been forced to close from lack of budget, been destroyed by a natural disaster, or forced to hire unqualified personnel because they're cheaper. I spent most of my afternoons there after school and read just about everything I could get my hands on. Also, I learned how to read at an early age. A shocking and depressing percentage of families are aliterate - they do not read, and they raise children who struggle with reading their entire lives. These children also struggle with reasoning and analytical skills. Why don't parents read to their children or take them to the library? Like most aspects of poverty (intellectual or economic) this is probably cyclical. Parents whose children struggle with reading usually struggle themselves. Their parents didn't read to them either. They attend overcrowded schools where teachers don't have the time to do anything except prepare them for the next standardized test. We tend to repeat the patterns we grow up with; rebellion against the things we didn't do as kids is an exceptional event, sociologically and educationally. For a child of a non-reader to become a reader is rare and usually the result of luck of geography or finding that one person who is willing to take the time.
If you ever had lessons of any kind as a child or a teen
- I had horseback riding lessons through 4-H and a private trainer. I cleaned stalls, groomed and exercised my trainer's horses, worked at horse shows, and helped teach beginners. I also entered horse shows to win tack and equipment as well as the occasional cash prizse. I had a job outside of horseback riding to afford these things. I didn't pay for it all myself, but on the surface even horse ownership looks like an immense amount of privilege - when in fact we did it on the cheap, and it was closer to subsistence ranching than the country club. Still, though, this was an option that was open to me. While it's not as much of a privilege as it may seem on the surface, often privilege exists in merely having the freedom to choose your hobbies and interests.
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
- I am a white person of Midwestern origin. The anchorpeople on the evening news look and talk like me. That's huge. This is a subtle, but very effective, way of teaching children to accept later roles of authority and expertise. People who do not look and talk like you delivering the news teaches you only to accept a hierarchy of authority that does not include you or people like you.
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
- Girl Scout Camp. We learned how to survive in the wild and we milked goats and learned how to operate a farm from a bunch of butch lesbians. It was a weird camp for the '80s. My mother's car barely made it up the mountains every year to take me, but still - I got to go, and the lessons I learned there have gotten me out of many scrapes.
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
- Still, I had a car. Not bad, even if it was falling apart. See, someone died, nobody wanted his shitty car, and I got it. It ran - just barely.
If there was original art in your house as a child or teen
- My grandmother paints, so of course we had her paintings. On another message board someone questioned the inclusion of "original art," specifically because art produced by family isn't in the same league as having an original Picasso hanging over the mantle. However, in thinking about this question family art should count, and count a lot. Seeing your family and other people you know as creative allows you to imagine yourself creating art or other types of media. Being a creator and not a drone is a form of privilege, often moreso than seeing yourself as an attorney or doctor because it involves risk with little hope of financial reward.
If you had a phone in your room
If your parent owned their own house or apartment when you were a child or teen
- Thanks to HUD and the fact that nobody with any goddamn brains wants to live in Pleasant View. But it was a huge step up from where we were before. For one, nobody decapitated their significant others.
If you had your own room as a child or teen
- Only child. This is questioned, too, by people - what if you're an only child, and so had your own room by default? However, being an only child means that your mother had both access to and freedom to use contraceptives, that she was not forced to stay with men who would forego contraceptive use at her expense and have another child, and that she does not have multiple children in the hopes that one of them will be able to grow up and support her in old age. Family planning in an IMMENSE privilege, globally and nationally. Simply having enough private space in your house or apartment indicates that family planning was likely successful and allowed.
If you participated in an SAT/ACT prep course
If you had your own cell phone in High School
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
- As cheap as commercial airfare is these days, can you think of many poor families who can afford to spend $150 on a place ticket for any reason?
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
- Again, this is privilege of outlook and intellect. My mother took the time to make museums a priority, and I went to schools that could take us on field trips as well.
If you were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family
- I was insulated (har!) from knowing the cost of energy bills, just not much else. Aside from being connected with the knowledge of what it takes to survive in the U.S. on a basic level, parents privilege their children by allowing them freedom from financial anxiety. Even though I grew up with plenty of financial anxiety, it wasn't as bad as many of my poorer friends.
My total is 14. So there you have it - I was privileged growing up. These exercises are important because we are not encouraged to think about our advantages, or the fact that some people don't have them. There are a million other things they could have included on this list that also indicate privilege - more about utilities, personal safety, victims of violent crimes - but I think this is meant to be more about subtle advantages and privileges we may not even pause to consider. And none of this is meant to indicate on a black-and-white level whether one person is quantifiably more privileged than another; there are plenty of people who have had all the advantages in the world and still can't seem to convert them to real-world success. But it never hurts to consider these issues every now and again, and there's nothing wrong with leaving the exercise feeling damn lucky.
I disagree with some statements in the exercise directions. The intent in saying that some people have had to work harder than others - that people with privilege have had to work less - is contradicted by the last part of the directions in exercise. Because this is meant to spark facilitated discussion, I wouldn't worry about it too much; however, I have been in classes in which the rich were automatically the devil because of their advantages. People sitting there, in college, white, wearing clothes likely made in south-of-the-border sweatshops, will stare at a depiction of life amongst the rich and just hate. Hate Paris Hilton all you want, but tarring the rich with the brush of callow uncaring does not make sense when people like Bill Gates or the recently-departed Astor matriarch use their money for the greater good. It makes no more sense to hate someone for being born rich than it does to hate someone for being born poor. Properly applied, I then hope that the examination of non-monetary privilege can show that finances can take a backseat to mindset and the availability of good upbringing regardless of money. While rich parents must carefully teach their children to not rely on their trust funds and treat people with kindness and dignity, poor parents must teach their children to create opportunities and take advantage of everything that can get. Simply because someone grows up not having to worry about food and shelter does not mean that they are happy or functioning human beings or have never faced hardship of any kind. Conversely, simply because someone grows up worrying about their personal safety and food supply does not mean that they cannot appreciate activities not directly central to daily survival. That is what it means to live in the American class system, which does exist but is not so rigid and immovable as a caste.
Step into Social Class 2.0
A Social Class Awareness Experience
Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka
Indiana State University
© 2008
Introduction: An activity designed to help the participants gain awareness of the vast range of social class that exists within themselves and others. This has been updated based on the wide range of feedback we received as this was becoming a popular experience.
Explanations and Notes:
All of the ‘step taking’ is about things not requiring effort on the students’ part, that were things done by others. While some of these are important to some people, others will be important to others. The list includes experiences, objects, and other things which reflect social class.
Equipment:
A big room with space to move for all participants
Chairs to sit for discussion
Rules:
Pay attention to how you feel. Angry, sad, happy, winner, loser . . .
No talking – we will talk about this a lot when it is over
Line up here and take a step forward of about 1 (one) foot or one foot length
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
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
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
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
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
Now everyone recognize that you are at the same place academically.
Everyone turn around.
Everyone has permission to talk.
No one has permission to accuse any one or any group of anything.
Everyone must use “I” statements.
Note that the people on one end of the room had to work harder to be here today than the people at the other end of the room. Some of you had lives of more privilege than others. There is no one to blame, it is just the way it is. Some have privilege and some don’t.
(this can be said now or later, I don’t know where it will be appropriate)
Discussion:
What were the feelings that you had during this experience? Who was angry?
(Anger will be a primary emotion at this point.)
What, specifically, makes you angry?
Who are you angry at?
Who was happy?
Which item do you want to argue about most? Why? Do you want more or fewer steps?
Summary Statement
This experience was about creating awareness of privilege. What it is, what it does, and what it means. Having privilege does not mean that you worked less hard. All it means is that you had a head start, so maybe it does mean you didn’t have to work as hard . . . .
