The Privileges I Have
In the previous entry, I indicated which of the 34 ‘privilege’ indicators were true for me according to the “What Privileges Do You Have?” blog activity. 15 were true for me. Here are my reactions:
4. Mother finished collegeI gave myself an extra point for this one. Whereas on my father’s side my generation is the first to go to college (eight of us have gone to college; I was the sixth to go, and the third or fourth to finish; two are in college now), my mother’s family has obtained college degrees for generations. On her side I am the fourth generation to graduate from college; the first to complete a bachelor’s degree was my great-grandmother (consider that she was a black woman in rural South Carolina who was born in 1896, and you’ll begin to understand just how amazing that is). Additionally, I am the third-generation to get an advanced degree, as my mother, her sister, and both grandparents all have master’s degrees (my grandfather had two).
7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood homeIn part, I think, because of the heavy value that my family placed on education, and partly because I was such a voracious reader of my own volition, it seems as though I always had new books. And I’m thoroughly convinced that having easy access to books at a young age is a big privilege – I must say I’m appalled whenever I see a dearth (or a complete absence) of reading material for children.
10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18Initially I balked at this one. I began to think of hobbies that I had as a kid – playing soccer, Boy Scouts, singing, bowling, academic competitions. I would say that I had lessons in each, but it was always within some group context. In elementary school I also had trumpet lessons twice a week for a couple of years, but it was only because DC Public Schools had a free program and all my parents had to do was sign a permission slip.
12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively in the mediaI definitely said NO to this one, because people who dress and talk like me (read: professionally dressed, educated-sounding black males) are not portrayed in the media at all, which is ten times worse IMO. The only portrayals of people like me in the media are of newscasters (e.g., CBS’ Russ Mitchell, CNN’s Bernard Shaw) who have ‘broken though’ the national newscasting color barrier, though at great expense to their perceived blackness (if they ever even cared about such a thing).
16. Went to a private high schoolYup. As preppie as it gets. Catholic (Jesuit), ultra-preppie, ultra-rich, ultra-conservative. Families with insane amounts of money sent their kids there, with the majority of them coming from two of the wealthiest counties in the entire nation (Montgomery County, MD and Fairfax County, VA). And even though I came from the wealthiest black county in the nation (Prince George’s County, MD), I was still from the wrong side of the suburbs by a long shot, and had to prove my worth almost every day. Academically, though, I am grateful for the most part for the experience – imagine having a 4.3 GPA over three years and only finishing 19th out of 176?
17. Went to summer campWell, Boy Scout summer camp… I didn’t have to pay for it though! And it wasn’t really optional.
30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16I did – twice – but paid for neither. At 12 I was one of two students selected by my junior high school principal to go to Space Camp (didn’t pay for that either); the other when I was 15 and I was flown out for a scholarship competition at the University of Chicago. Fortunate indeed, I know. At 16 I was flown out to what would become my alma mater twice.
34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your familyThis one was not true for me. Not only was I aware of how much the heating bill was, I was also aware of the mortgage payment, what the 30-day overdue payment envelope looked like, what the 60-day overdue payment envelope looked like (it was bright red and not placed in the mailbox with the rest of the mail), how to get to the phone company after school to pay the bill in person the day before disconnection, where our regular neighbourhood hiding spot was when the car was about to be repossessed, leaving the stove on with the door open for warmth, and having to do homework by candlelight when there was no electricity.
I've done this activity with my current students, and not surprisingly I had two students who took 30 steps. I also explained to them that as a black male in the US, having 15 of those 'privileges' is WAY above norm. They seemed quite surprised.
Comments (1)
Hi.. I'm just passing by, but didn't wanted to leave without dropping you a comment. :)
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