As with too many of the words being weaponized by the tribal Left these days (like “racism,” “social justice,” “white supremacy,” etc.), part of the power of call-outs against “privilege” is the nebulous character of its definition when so used. Both an offensive rhetorical weapon and a semantic moving target? Tactical genius! I’ve realized recently that its use denotes two separate definitions, and those who use the word unconsciously switch between them in the course of a single conversation, like the wave/particle duality of social debate shutdowns. The commonality between the definitions, naturally, is that they’re both bad.
The first was brought to my attention by this article in Areo Magazine, and the fact that it took an undergrad — a freshman, no less — to introduce a (to me) novel objection to the standard rhetoric tells me something about how the language permissible in discussing these topics frames the debate and hobbles the exploration of important concepts from the get-go.
The short version the article, which I encourage you to read in full, is that many examples used of “white privilege” of the “white drivers don’t get stopped for ‘driving while black’” variety mislabels the aberration. The fact that white drivers don’t get unjustly pulled over isn’t something to blame on the privilege assigned to whites, it should be blamed on discrimination against blacks. Pointing to the injustice of the situation by focusing on the “privilege” of those who are receiving the treatment that all should receive, as if being a recipient of fairness is something worth apologizing for, is pulling down the just act to the level of the unjust act instead of vice versa.
The second is the more nebulous version which assigns any specifically inherited advantage to “privilege,” provided that it’s white, of course. In this version (as seen in a noised-about-the-internet video “wokesplaining” the concept of “systemic racism” to recalcitrant Caucasians who don’t get it), the riches and educations gained by grandparents (the example used in the video) is a major determinant of the current generation’s range of options. In essence, White Boy’s grandparents went to an Ivy League school; Black Boy’s grandparents were sharecroppers. Therefore White Boy has privilege that Black Boy doesn’t.
Even on the surface, that’s incredibly tone-deaf — whoever made that video assumes that all white people are like him, probably because all the white people he knows ARE like him: liberal, well-to-do, and educated at the “right” schools.
My perspective is a little different. My grandfather was a high school drop-out who lied about his age and went into the Army for a career. I’m the oldest of eight children; my father was a freelance graphic designer who spent most of my childhood on the verge of bankruptcy until, in my late teens (i.e., after my formative years), he got a teaching position. I grew up on a rural island in eastern Canada; I was an American ex-pat without the strong familial links that characterized everyone else in my rural school. Most of my classmates were children of farmers or fishermen. I was ostracized for my religion, for my disinterest in sports, and for my academic inclination. A significant fraction of what would have been my graduating class left school as soon as they could (age 16) to fish or farm. For higher education, my family was poor enough that the rule was “If you don’t get a scholarship, you won’t go to college.” My eventual degree in English Lit came from a small state university in Utah (too long a story of how I got there to go into).
In other words, most of the privileges that the video cited above were not present in my family’s life for generations, and my entire community growing up was poor and white. The idea that some standard level of “white privilege” should be assessed of me solely because of my skin color is nonsensical.
But here’s the thing: I DO have “privileges,” although I would refer to them under the terms “heritage” and “blessings.” I grew up in a family that placed a high value on education and faith, and those learned traits have determined my life and character far more than racial determinism. And those are definitely NOT a multi-generational inheritance. As I mentioned, my grandfather was a high school drop-out, and while intelligent, he was not learned. He was also an alcoholic without faith, and only dropped the one and gained the other when my grown father converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, married my mother, and led his parents and grandmother to Jesus.
(Why am I ignoring my mother? Mostly because I didn’t live close to her side of the family. Her father was a poor teacher who moved around Utah and Idaho, not having a posting for more than a couple of years while eventually raising twelve (!) children on one paycheck. He ended up as a college professor in agriculture — again, not the kind of “privilege” that our liberal friend envisioned in the video cited above.)
My “privilege” doesn’t date back to the Mayflower. It’s the specific product of my father and mother, teaching their children well. It’s the heritage I gained from their emphasis to seek after the good, to lean on Jesus Christ and His teachings, to strive to be good and capable and decent.
And no one will EVER succeed in making me feel ashamed of it.
Because here’s the lynchpin to it: I’m not hoarding my privilege. I want to spread it around. I try to pass it on to my children. I try to be an enriching influence on those around me. I show how proud I am of my country, my family, my values, and my faith. Everyone is welcome. Heck, I spent two years in a foreign country at my own expense trying to share with others the Good News that has blessed me.
My grandparents don’t define me. My skin does not define me. The labels that racebaiters and identity politicians assign to “people like me” do not define me.
I define me.
That’s the greatest privilege I have. And everyone else has it too.