Privilege 101

Privilege.  Let’s see.

Privilege is what happens when a group has so much power that they expect explanations and catering when none is deserved.

Privilege is what happens when closed spaces are opened, bigotry is exposed, and the powerful group demands 1) resuming closure of the ranks, or 2) opening all spaces created to avoid the closed spaces to them to import their ignorance.

Privilege is failing to understand why epithets are offensive at all.  Forget context or the speakers.  Language becomes “communication for human beings” instead of another mechanism for control and exclusion.

Privilege is a powerful group not having to worry about what they wear or who watches them as they perform daily tasks.

Privilege is a powerful group not being questioned about income sources, and escaping scrutiny and regulation because society deems them fit to live.

Privilege is never having to apologize and only regretting the possibility of offense.  Because surely, for privileged people, offense does not exist except when accused of offending.

Privilege is a group’s outrage when accommodating others unlike themselves with complete obliviousness to the customized world in which they thrive.

Privilege is a group bending and shaping unbreakable rules when applied to the unprivileged.

Privilege is a face with no eyes, no nose, no ears, and no mouth.  It is a steamroller that forges paths on the bodies of the powerless.

Privilege looks at the faces of the Others and only sees itself reflected back.  It does not look for common ground, only redemptive qualities and trends to absorb and possess.

Privilege is not friendship, scholarship, or authority.  It is chaos warped into world order.

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