Felix Daniel Velasquez

Period 6
Humanities 9

Privilege Essay

“There is no such thing as race. None. There is just a human race, scientifically,
anthropologically.” Tom Morrison. We are so used to accepting the fact how privilege grants
access for people to discriminate against others on subjects that are not caused by themselves.
Due to this, products that you would normally find in stores are biased towards those that are
rich in privilege. This in turn, would spark the idea of racism in the first place. Interpreting
information from multiple sources, I have taken a different perspective on what privilege really
means. I believe that you shouldn’t feel down about being judged by the abundance or lack of
privilege you have because it is not in any means caused by you. I’m certain that I myself have
privileges similar to others where my lack of privilege prevents me from doing certain things but
at the same time permits me to have the ability to do other actions.

The privilege walk made me enlightened because some people just aren’t that lucky and
it isn’t their fault. You should not hold resentment for those that lack or are rich in privilege.
According to a blog supporting feminism, it states how discussing or even bringing up privilege
troubles people. The article says,”The fact that you get benefits that other people don't is really
messed up. So when someone says you have privilege, it can feel like they’re accusing you of
oppressing groups.” While some people may feel down because some have superiority over
others, just know the absence of privilege is not in any circumstances caused by yourself.
Therefore, I believe that I am more aware of the concept of privilege and how it affects people's
mindsets.

This activity also changed my point of view on my concept of privilege. Privilege is more
than just a convenience and an advantage granted by birthright. The lack of privilege just makes
you have to work harder to achieve your goals and vice versa for those who are lucky enough to
have an abundance of privilege. This gave birth to the virus that currently lives in the veins and
arteries of humankind today, racism. This world we are living in biases towards other people,
specifically whites over any other person. For example, Some people walk into a store and find
band-aids that match the color of their skin. We can infer how some people use tangible or
intangible items that are biased towards themselves and create an evil idea thinking that just
because they have access to such items, they are better than other people. In addition this
activity, along with a source from the New York Times and In a different section of Tolerance
also changed my perception on privilege. The article says,” A person might consciously or
unconsciously believe that people of color are more likely to commit a crime or be dangerous.”
For instance, a police officer shoots a person of color who is unarmed because he “fears for his
life”. Another instance is where a local Staten Island police officer Daniel Pantaleo choked Eric
Garner for a crime that should not have ended with death. All things considered, this activity
along with the aforementioned sources have changed my approach on privilege because
society uses privilege as a clutch that gives rise to racism.

My scarcity of privilege prohibits me from doing certain activities but I just got lucky that I
have some amounts of privilege. I don’t feel at all discouraged or conflicted about the amount of
such privileges enables or disables me from doing certain actions. For example both of my
parents have graduated college and got college degrees. However at the same time I am
nearsighted and my hearing is slightly impaired. That being said, I am neutral on what I have
the ability to do and vice versa.

Privilege has a huge impact on society as a whole. White people are especially involved
due to their actions against people of color. Some privilege biases certain people just by pure
luck. Therefore, you should not feel bad about yourself. The responsibility of privileged bias
relies not only on companies but ourselves to end the actions of racial beliefs. Taking everything
into account, I believe humanity should only act as one race and not put each other down.
 Works Cited:

Baker, Al, et al. “Beyond the Chokehold: The Path to Eric

Garner's Death.” ​The New York Times​, The New York Times, 13 June
2015,
www.nytimes.com/2015/06/14/nyregion/eric-garner-police-chokehold-state
n-island.html.

Dillard, Coshandra, et al. “What Is White Privilege, Really?” ​Teaching

Tolerance,​
www.tolerance.org/magazine/fall-2018/what-is-white-privilege-really.

Johnson, Maisha. “What Privilege Really Means (And Doesn't Mean)

– To Clear Up Your Doubts Once and For All.” ​Everyday Feminism​, 13
Aug. 2020, everydayfeminism.com/2015/07/what-privilege-really-means/.