Privilege (pt 2 of 3): You Made the List

Privilege (pt 2 of 3): You Made the List

This post is part 2 of a piece from last week on privilege.  Part 1 was primarily intended to lay the foundation for the discussion here, where I’ll explicitly highlight different types of privilege.  If you haven’t, I definitely encourage you to read it, but I’ll highlight some of the definitions I used for privilege below, because we’ll need them for thinking through the benefits of privilege in different situations.

Privilege can be thought of as sustained access to scarce, valuable resources.

Privilege can be thought of as getting the benefit of the doubt in ambiguous and/or questionable situations.

Privilege can be thought of as license to engage in certain behaviors that would, otherwise, be considered impermissible.

Privilege can also be thought of as a deliberate (intentional) or naïve (unintentional) unawareness to the plight of others, especially those in marginalized groups.

These need not be mutually exclusive.  That is, one situation may fit many different definitions of privilege simultaneously.

At this point, maybe it would be good to go through different types of privilege.  Uh oh… THE LIST.  Yes, you’re on it.  And if you’re not, we can make a longer list.  Some of us have a lot more, and some of us have a lot less, but I’m inclined to say we all have it in one situation or another… I’ll pick some of my [highly applicable] favorites.

Male Privilege

Male privilege is exactly what it sounds like.  These are privileges afforded to someone primarily, or exclusively, on the basis that they’re of the male gender.  Part of this privilege is based on sociohistorical gender roles.  The other part of this is a systematic and ubiquitous form of oppression that we take for granted in some ways.  It shapes everything from interactions on the street to dynamics at work. I could speak to this for a while, as there’s an abundance of research on male privilege, in management, psychology, and sociology, but I’ll try and be brief.

Sociohistorically, women have taken on certain roles.  You have to understand; the idea of a WORKING woman is a relatively new development in global history (ie. less than 100 years).  Prior to that, women were primarily, if not exclusively, dependent on men in their life.  Women got married, and their husband was their livelihood.  Today, women want men, but they don’t necessarily need men, per se, if you catch my drift.  This wasn’t always the case, you know.  We’d do well to make sure we don’t forget that.

If you look closely, you’ll note expectations we have of women.  They’re expected to look presentable, all the time.  Not so for men.  I think it’s a luxury to be able to wear sweatpants wherever I want.  While women can, and do, do this as well, it’s not considered as taboo for men.  But there’s more.  As a man, it’s perfectly permissible for me to be the loudest person in the room.  And talk the most.  Everyone should stop what they’re doing and listen to me.  I have important things to say!  For a woman?  Not so much.  She should be more modest… talk less, and try not to get in the way… be seen, but don’t be heard.  Oh yeah, and make sure you wear makeup, too.  Because we like our women quiet, attractive, and out of the way.

Good luck trying to get a decent job with an attitude like that.

Speaking of work, this manifest in some interesting ways from a career perspective.  There was a study done a couple of years ago, and research found that the more power and influence a male politician had, the longer he chose to speak on the Senate floor, in meetings with other politicians.  Interestingly, even when female senators were equally prominent and influential as their male counterparts, they opted to speak far less.  The paper went on to argue that women fear backlash in the work place: they’re concerned about being penalized, by both men and women, for talking too much.

Men, on the other hand, do not seem as concerned about being penalized.

For women, that fear of penalty, generally speaking, seems well supported.  Women are penalized, by both men and women, for stepping outside of their gender role.  I’ll highlight with another point.  Research has found that men tend to be characterized in terms of agency: assertive, aggressive, competitive, self promoting, etc.  Women tend not to be described in these ways, as they tend to be expected to take on more maternal characteristics, like selflessness, empathy, communality, etc.  As a result, women aren’t actually socially permitted to be angry.  Studies have actually shown that when men are perceived as angry at work, their coworkers, both men and women, see them as being more competent and more deserving of higher pay.  Interestingly, angry women at work are actually perceived as less competent and deserving of lower pay.

That’s crazy to me.  Both men and women believe an angry woman is less competent but an angry man is more competent.  Oh, wait, it’s not crazy… it’s male privilege.  I’m allowed to be angry… women are not.  Can you imagine if Donald Trump was a woman… would he be allowed to carry on the way he does, throwing his tantrums?

*Insert inappropriate joke about PMS’ing here.*

This plays out from a leadership perspective, too.  You know what we call an assertive man?  We call him a leader.  You know what we call an assertive woman?  We call her the B word.  And I ain’t talking about bossy.  I’m talking about the other B word!  Think about it.  When someone uses the B word for a guy, it’s usually because he’s being emotional, or moody, or other characteristics we usually associate with femininity.  But when we use the B word for women, sometimes they’re just doing the things that men usually do… like being a leader.  But we say they’re being controlling… or headstrong… or aggressive.  What’s interesting is both women and men have a tendency of exacerbating male privilege, here.  We see leadership as belonging primarily, if not exclusively, to men.  These are just a few examples, based on papers I’ve read, written, and conversations I’ve had.  I’m sure MANY women could speak to this better than I, so feel free to chime in.

Of course, you could say because of their gender roles, women get certain luxuries, too.  I don’t get to cry in public, whereas that’s probably more acceptable for a woman.  That said, if you look at existing power structures in society, social structures, and social hierarchies, I would argue that male privilege trumps any luxuries that come with being a woman.

I haven’t said anything about pay equity.  I haven’t said anything about gender discrimination in employment.  I haven’t said anything about differences in performance evaluations.  We didn’t touch on discrepancies in social networks, based on things like mentoring, support systems, and gravitating to similar individuals (men gravitating to men and women gravitating to women).  I have yet to comment on the representation of women in visible, influential leadership positions in the private sector (less than 3% of Fortune 500 CEO’s are women).  There’s PLENTY to unpack here, and I can’t speak to all of it.

But it’s definitely a thing.

White Privilege  

This is probably a term we’re more familiar with, although I think it’s a term that doesn’t resonate with many.  But white privilege functions in a very similar way to male privilege: white privilege is privilege afforded to someone primarily or exclusively as a result of the fact they’re white.  For most of American history, white privilege is glaringly obvious to see.  Up until 1967, blacks in America were explicitly recognized as second class citizens (Internationally, I should mention as late as 1991, blacks were recognized as second class citizens in SOUTH AFRICA, which is a really backwards concept, for so many reasons).  Some are under the impression that white privilege ended at the close of the Civil Rights Movement, but unfortunately, that’s wishful thinking.

I have more to say about this, but maybe here, I’ll pause and visit the case of the black patrons in Starbucks in Philly.  Let me start by saying I spent 3 years in Philly, and I only moved recently.  These black men were waiting to meet a friend in Starbucks, and the store manager called the police on them and asked them to leave.  While I respect Starbucks right to do what they please on private property, even customers in the store couldn’t help but feel something wasn’t right.  “I wait here to meet my friends all the time,” customers noted.  “Nobody calls the police on me.  Something seems fishy!”

It’s tough being black in mostly white spaces.  People either assume you’re not supposed to be there, or you have some illegitimate motives for being there.

I deal with something similar, you know.  At least during the winter months, what I wear to school is pretty hideous: sweatpants and a thermal.  Every single day.  I wrestle with that sometimes though.  I wrestle with that because I’m afraid someone is going to think I’m a janitor.  I think anyone who pays close attention will probably see otherwise.  I wear my Raybans every day to school, and they’re very expensive (I think I got mine for $450, on sale… anti scratch, and transition lens).  Most janitors probably don’t wear Raybans (most people of lower socioeconomic status probably don’t spend that much on glasses).  But otherwise, one may note that many of the black people under the age of 35 (perhaps especially men), in this building, the PhD suite, are janitors.  That, or they work at the coffee shop on the ground floor.

“This guy is black.  He’s wearing sweatpants.  And he has on a hideous burgundy thermal.  He must be a janitor.”

I can’t blame you.  At this level of higher education, there just aren’t a ton of people who look like me… and the ones who do are secretaries or janitors.

That conclusion would not be incorrect.

There has only been one black graduate of my PhD program.  In its entire history.  Just one.  Uno.  My very presence is a historic moment for this program. Not a whole lot of people who look like me get to roam these halls.  They were absolutely ecstatic when I signed my offer letter.  I don’t think male privilege and white privilege are all that different, for the record.  The higher up you go in law, medicine, engineering, education, etc., it tends to be more and more male dominated.  I’ll extend that argument: the higher up you go in law, medicine, engineering, education, insert any high paying, selective prestigious profession here, it tends to get whiter and whiter.

I don’t think for a second that means white people are bad people.  Just like I don’t think for a second that men are bad people.  But you have to be able to connect the dots.  You are systematically disadvantaged when in virtually any high paying career path, barring entertainment, nobody in the room is going to look like you.  It’s true for women just like it’s true for people of color.

While I was doing management consulting, do you have any idea how many black women would ask me questions about ‘natural hair’ (an afro, in case you were wondering)?

Can we pause here… you mean to tell me that you need to get permission from your employer to wear your hair the way it naturally grows out of your scalp?  Your employer would prefer that you chemically alter your hair, damaging it by the way, so black hair more closely resembles the hair of our fairer complexion counterparts with more European features?  Not only that, but permanently damaging your hair in the form of a perm has become so ubiquitous, that most people who aren’t black don’t even know that black hair does NOT naturally grow out of our scalp that way.  Who are you to tell someone that their hair is unprofessional because of the way it naturally grows out of their scalp?  That’s like me telling somebody that their eye color is unprofessional.  Or their cheekbones.  Or I think brown hair is unprofessional, so you need to dye it blond instead.  I am genetically incapable of producing blond hair, in the same way I am genetically incapable of producing straight hair… it’s not in our genes, man.  That’s why we have to chemically alter it.

Further, who was in the room when you decided that it’s unprofessional the way hair grows out of black people’s scalp?  Get the heck out of here with that stuff, man.  Honestly, if you’re not black, these are probably things you don’t think much about, if at all (note, that also fits one of our definitions of privilege).

I’m not saying anything about Donald Trump and how he would have difficulty conducting himself the way he does if he weren’t white.  I’m not saying anything about how around the world, white people are recognized as the most respected, esteemed, influential, and powerful individuals on the face of the planet (not kidding.  If you’re white and don’t believe me, visit South America, Africa, or Asia… when you get back, let’s grab a coffee).  I’m not saying anything about how there are psychological biases (both gender and race) towards familiarity, essentially disadvantaging those who are nonwhite (or female) as they try to enter high status roles, occupations, and career tracks.  Guys, there’s a lot to unpack here; I’m just grazing the surface.

Christian Privilege

This one isn’t talked about very much.  Especially not in my circles.  The PhD program has certainly been good in helping me see things through a social-science lens, whereas I find most [Christians] tend to only view things through a spiritual one.  Christian privilege is the privilege afforded to you primarily, or exclusively, on the basis that you identify as a Christian.

It’s worth noting that this privilege doesn’t exist everywhere.  In fact, in many countries, the opposite is true: self-identifying as a Christian is actually a liability, including but not limited to paying in the form of your life.  In the case of America though, we do seem to have an underlying preference/bias for Christianity.

Before you argue with me, pull out a dollar bill.  It’s right there!  Money talks.  And it says, “In God We Trust, homie.”  I win.  Personally, I don’t think America trust in God.  Further, I think we trust in money far more than we trust in God, so it makes putting “In God We Trust” on MONEY an… in-your-face sarcasm, if you will.

Anyway, can you imagine what would happen if we put “In Buddha We Trust” on money instead?  That would never happen.  Not because we have beef with Buddha… but because Christians in America have Christian privilege.  There’s honestly very little basis for making reference to ANY religion on our money… as if we can’t conduct business in America without having a prayer meeting first.  If that was ever the case, America has long since strayed from those days. 

It’s in our pledge, too.  One nation under God, homie.  So, I guess you can’t pledge allegiance to the US, unless you have some underlying belief in a deity of some sort.  I’m sure many agnostics and atheists feel alienated in that respect.  In the same way Christians would be angry if it were taken out of the pledge, [some] atheists and agnostics probably aren’t particularly thrilled it’s in there to begin with.  Again, beyond paying tribute to America’s religious heritage, tradition, and roots, I don’t think there’s a strong argument or basis for having reference to any religion in the pledge.

This isn’t just something that shows up in official documentation either.  It shows in our dialogue as well.  Trump wanted to do a ban on Muslims, and many were in support of it.  I was reading one discussion on Facebook, and one man, part of a congregation I’m familiar with in Atlanta, stated something to the extent of, “The Muslim ban is justified.  Islam is an inherently violent religion.”

PAUSE.  Are we going to sit here and overlook all the violent things done in the name of Christianity?  What about the Spanish Inquisition?  Remember that thing called Colonialism?  The Transatlantic Salve Trade?  American slavery?  Jim Crow?  Not to mention anti-abortion violence (ironically, the most well known group is called ‘Army of God’).  That wasn’t Islam, homie.  Those were all done in the name of Christianity, in the same way ISIS is advanced using Islam.  It’s a PERFECT comparison.  If we’re going to sit here and argue that blowing up abortion clinics doesn’t embody Christian values, I think we have to be open to the fact that September 11^th doesn’t really embody Muslim values, either.

Why should Christianity get the benefit of the doubt and Islam doesn’t?  Privilege (note our earlier definitions).  That’s why, although it certainly doesn’t help [some of] those Muslims are from a strange land, with strange clothes, and have strange accents.  We’ll reserve that conversation for another time.

Do you think we’ll elect a Muslim person as president anytime soon?  Probably not.  Aside from scrutinizing whether or not they’re a terrorist (sarcasm, by the way), we’d be concerned that the President will turn us away from our wholesome, Christian values.  But don’t Muslims have to worry about that when they come to the US?  Should I really have the luxury of dictating what people can and can’t do, based on how I believe God has inspired me to live my life?  There are some Christians who think it’s wrong to eat meat.  Should we all lobby to purge America of all of its meat?

“From now on, it’s illegal to be anything but vegan in America!”

Muslims don’t drink alcohol… you don’t see them lobbying for prohibition 2.0.  Mormans don’t drink coffee.  You don’t see them trying to outlaw Starbucks and Caribou Coffee.  As far as I can tell, they don’t insist that their religion becomes the lifestyle of every man and woman living in America.  With a philosophy like that, America, in some ways, is just a lesser version of many of our Muslim counterpart nations overseas that make things illegal on the basis of the Quran.

Yet, we still consider ourselves so noble, when we motivate our arguments with many of the same propositions.  It’s no surprise, then, that many of our counterparts overseas don’t think fondly of us for our doublestandards.

The reality is, Christianity is so ubiquitous in American culture that we just expect people to accept it… that’s not true for Mormonism.  It’s not true for Islam.  It’s not true for Buddhism.  But it’s a luxury afforded to people who identify as Christian.

** Interestingly, I benefit from this privilege.  Just like I benefit from male privilege and I benefit from American Privilege (which I discuss next); however, I can still see it, explicitly recognize it, and talk about it, hopefully in an objective way.  Can I be honest?

American Privilege

American privilege functions like other forms of privilege: this is privilege afforded to someone primarily or exclusively on the basis that they’re American.  I definitely think this one should be easier to follow.  America’s the wealthiest, most influential country on the face of the planet.  People talk about the Chinese economy, but they fail to consider that China has 20% (1.4 billion, literally 20%) of the world’s population.  America’s population, at 320 million, affords us the opportunity to spread our wealth amongst a much smaller base of citizens.  That, and America has a middle class.  Most people outside of America are filthy rich or incredibly poor.  America actually has an in between… we call it middle class, although that term is becoming a bit more ambiguous.

So, pretentiousness aside, America actually does pretty well for itself, in spite of its shortcomings.  I digress.

I’ve mentioned this before: Americans are the cool kids.  I’ve been to almost 15 countries (I’m visiting Spain and Portugal very soon).  Everywhere I go, people want to speak to me in English.  They want to talk about American music, American movies, and other things that you probably wouldn’t expect leaving America.  You think I go to Brazil and people want to talk to me about Nigerian movies?  Of course not.  They’re talking about the Avengers.  You think I go to the Philippines and people want to talk to me about Nigerian music?  Heck no, they’re talking about Beyonce.  I’ll admit, part of that is generational.  If I were talking to people in their 40’s and 50’s, they may not be as interested in American culture.  For our generation though, there’s a huge interest in American culture.  In fact, you can say to be cool in your country of origin, you need to stay abreast what’s happening in America.  If you’re particularly cool, you may organize a visit or two to The States.

This is a blessing and a curse.  It’s great because America is incredibly influential.  In fact, we’re probably idolized to some extent.  Since I’m talking about privilege though, I’ll highlight the downsides of our influence: we don’t have to give a crap about anything happening outside of America, because people are always going to be more interested in us than we are in them.  Honestly, we don’t have to care about other people’s problems, and in some ways, they don’t expect us to, either.  I mean, I think politicians are expected to, because they’re expected to be versed on what’s happening around the world.  But the common American man or woman?  No, I don’t think we’re expected to know what’s happening outside of America.

It’s kind of like if you met Oprah Winfrey one day and found out she knows your name.  You’d probably be surprised.  Similarly, people outside the US are surprised when they find out you actually know a thing or two about their country (this is truer for countries that don’t have as global an influence, ie. less economic reach)

I remember I went to Brazil in 2016, and they were in the midst of a pretty big political scandal.  The president was involved in some form of fraud and embezzlement (if I remember correctly), and crap was starting to hit the ceiling.  Interestingly, I didn’t know a ton about the situation when I got off the plane in Rio de Janeiro, but a friend caught me up to speed.  She also vocalized being concerned about finding a job, and losing funding for school, as a result of the political instability.  This same friend had a great conversation with me about American politics.  Sure, she did an exchange program in the US, so she was a bit more attuned than most people, but you HAVE to give her kudos for staying abreast the political developments for two different countries.  As for me… I knew 0 Portuguese.  I knew 0 about the Brazilian scandal.  And honestly, I didn’t have to, because I’m American.  It is my luxury to not have to give a crap about anything outside of the borders of my country.  It stinks.  But it’s true.

In that sense, I could go almost anywhere in the world and people will accommodate me, because I’m American and I speak English (quite well, in fact).  You think the world makes accommodations for people from Senegal when they travel?  Or people from Mexico?  Or people from Morocco?  Or people from Argentina?  Or Cambodia?

For many reasons, the answer is no.

I’m not saying anything about socioeconomic inequality.  I’m not saying anything about the free schooling, K through 12, that we have in the US that many other countries do not.  I’m not saying anything about how the US probably has more millionaires, per capita, than most countries in the world, if not all of them.  I’m not saying anything about how we go on vacation to foreign countries sign up for tourist attractions to study poverty (have you heard of slum tourism?), because poverty is that foreign to the American lifestyle.  I’m not saying anything about how we seek out neighborhoods in foreign countries that are exactly like the neighborhoods we frequent in America (a somewhat backwards concept).  Of course, you probably know already about our not-so-attractive tendency of expecting people to talk to us in English, when there’s over 5,000 languages in the world, and most of the 7.2 billion inhabitants of the Earth do NOT speak English… to be fair, the richest, and most influential people in the world tend to speak English, but I guess that’s part of the privilege narrative, having English as my first language in America, as opposed to learning English as a foreign language as I would in many other countries (China, for instance).  There’s lots to unpack here, too.

This is a lot for one post.  We’ll get to Part 3, next steps, in the following week.  Until then, feel free to weigh in if you think there are other types of privilege I left out (this isn’t a comprehensive list by any stretch).  Feedback welcome.

Nnamdi