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| TransGriot |
For those that don't know. I grew up as a straight, white, upper-middle class man, who happens to also be Jewish. My friends and I sometimes jokingly talk about me as "Privilege Man," and then invariably start thinking about the comic that would result, where I end up declaring victory over some vanquished villain, with the next panel showing me standing on a pile of women, people of color, and stereotypically gay-looking people. Then we pretty much decide that the comic is guaranteed to be offensive to just about everyone, so we move on. Anyway, it took me a while to learn about the concept of privilege, because in this country (more specifically, in NY and northern NJ, where I grew up), being Jewish is barely being a minority in a meaningful sense. But now that I realize that it's an inevitable part of my existence, I strive to recognize it in myself whenever I can, and to teach my fellow superheroes in the Privilege League that they are in fact members.
That this thought experiment made me profoundly uncomfortable was educational for me. The discomfort of existing in a place where the government declares you as separate from them for all time is quite real. Unfortunately, that's pretty much exactly the current state of affairs for LGBTQ people in this country, and of course it was the state of affairs for black people and women for ages as well. Without experiencing it, it's impossible to understand the effects of the government telling you you're an outsider every single day you wake up. You can be an ally and sympathize, and try your best to understand, but in the end, that's all you're capable of doing. It can be a lot, and there's no reason not to, but the point of the invisible knapsack is that while we can pretend to try to feel the weight, and we can learn to guess what's in the knapsack, we can't simply rifle through it and take things out. That's what privilege is.
This brings me back to Rob Portman and Michigan Law graduation. I wrote a few days ago that I'm going to have to walk out of my own law school graduation. I actually ended up in charge of planning the walkout, and various other protests are proceeding. There are a lot of people who do not want to walk out, and I definitely understand that. There are some, however, who are writing emails or blog posts or talking to us, saying that the best way to show Rob Portman that his views are vile is to sit there and take the higher moral ground. The people I've heard this from are invariably straight (with one notable exception who does not believe we should be protesting on a "political" stance). It's easy to say "I agree with you, but this is not the place for a protest," as many of them have. But the response is that there's a time and place for homophobia--never and nowhere--and so we're responding in kind. If you're straight, your privilege allows homophobia to be an intellectual, political issue, while if you're gay, it's someone rejecting your existence. That's a big difference, and it's the essence of privilege.
This also goes to the intentionality issue that Jacob and I disagreed on in the comments of his last post. He says that in the way structural racism is operationalized, say housing and school choice, there is intent. The same is true in the choice either to not walk out or to actively oppose the walkout. However, while the action is intentional, I don't believe the oppressive aspect always is. As Privilege Man, I had to learn to understand what privilege was, and I know there are people out there that simply do not understand, but they can be educated. Some people, for sure, are intentionally holding others down, but we don't have to write them all off. Perhaps I have too much faith in my fellow man, but I believe some people can still be reached.
