What Privileges Do You Have?
I saw a blog game on a
Quaker blog, so I thought I'd see how privileged I am. It's based on an exercise developed and copyrighted by
Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University.Note: I'll comment in my next entry on what I think the results say about me, and how much I (don't) agree with some of them. If there's a somewhat interesting story behind any of these, I'll add that too. If you post this in your blog, please leave a comment on this post.1. Father went to college
2. Father finished college
3. Mother went to college
4. Mother finished college (in my mother's family, both my grandparents and even one of my great-grandmothers finished college. I believe I'll take an extra step for that.)5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor
(lots of teachers though...)6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers
7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home
9. Were read children's books by a parent
10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 1811. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 1814. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs
15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
16. Went to a private high school17. Went to summer camp18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18
19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels
20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
21. Your
parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
22. There was original art in your house when you were a child
23. Had a phone in your room before you turned 18
24. You and your family lived in a single family house25. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home
26. You
had your own room as a child
27. Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course
28. Had your own TV in your room in High School29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 1631. Went on a cruise with your family
32. Went on more than one cruise with your family
33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family
In
the group exercise which was originally designed for college students,
staff and faculty, everyone stands in a line and steps forward if any
of these things are true for them.
If we were all in a big room, I would have taken
16
steps forward. How about you? How many would you have taken? How many
steps will your kids have taken by the time they're 18 (or how many did
they take before they turned 18)?
Notice that each of these are
things that were given to you or provided for you rather than things
you necessarily earned yourself. The exercise instructions note that
just because you've taken a lot of steps doesn't mean that you haven't
worked hard to get where you are. But perhaps consider the things
you've had handed to you that others didn't have.
To participate in this blog game, copy and paste
the above list into your blog, and bold the items that are true for
you. If you don't have a blog, feel free to post your responses in the
comments.
Comments (2)
Hope you don't mind me copying this one from you later on!
@Novietaaa - Not at all -- that's what I posted it for! Enjoy!