Meritocracy and Privilege

It seems that even today, at a time where diversity has become a topic heard quite often, whether it be diversity initiatives at work or school, in the media, and in research, the topic of privilege – both white privilege and male privilege – is still something that still seems to make people uneasy at best and is heavily debated as nonexistent in some circles. Being told that you are privileged is something that seems to go against what many people were taught growing up. The myth of meritocracy, an idea that many Americans grew up with, goes against the idea of privilege, and thus it becomes hard for many people to accept it as a reality in society.

Peggy McIntosh talks about privilege and meritocracy and how she came to notice them in her everyday life. She says, “I came to notice privilege because I noticed male privilege and then I noticed in parallel fashion white privilege and both of these things are very distressing.” [if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>CITATION TED12 \l 1033 <span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element: field-end'></span><![endif] I think this realization of white privilege is becoming more and more common among young white women as they have become very much aware of the male privilege around them and are becoming more educated on social injustices as a whole, however there is still much improvement and awareness that needs to be raised. According to Kathleen Fitzgerald, “White privilege refers to the rights, benefits, and advantages enjoyed by white persons, or the immunity granted to whites that is not granted to people of color; white privilege exempts white people from certain liabilities others are burdened with.” [if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span>CITATION Fit171 \p 41 \l 1033 <span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif] Meritocracy is the idea that individuals get what they have worked for or earned from life and therefore all rewards in society are based upon effort and talent. [if supportFields]><span style='mso-element: field-begin'></span>CITATION Fit171 \p 53 \l 1033 <span style='mso-element: field-separator'></span><[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]

Most people that benefit from privilege actually don’t even realize it. This is because an important part of privilege is that it is meant to be invisible and it is based on the simplicity of being viewed as what is viewed as a societal norm. Privilege affects things such as the community that you live in, your neighborhood, and your occupation simply by not limiting your choices of these things in the way that minorities are limited. People don’t realize that a big aspect of white privilege is just having the ability to live your life and make decisions without the same constraints of being a minority. The worry of discrimination isn’t something that would cross a white person’s mind when choosing a house or looking for a job. For many minorities, however, that is a legitimate concern when looking to move into a new neighborhood or when applying for a new job.

The American view of meritocracy significantly hinders our ability as a society to acknowledge that certain groups of people are not born with the same advantages as the dominant group. Beyond that, privilege is complicated in the fact that you may belong to an advantaged group and a disadvantaged group simultaneously – for example, white privilege may be hard to understand from the perspective of a poor white male, who while disadvantaged economically is unable to see the other ways his white male privilege benefits him. In moving forward, in all social issues, I think it is key to put more emphasis on the experiences of minorities to better understand the social systems that we so often unknowingly take for granted.

Bibliography

Fitgerald, K. A. (2017). Chapter 2: White Privilege: The Other Side of Racism. In K. A. Fitzgerald, Recognizing Race and Ethnicity: Power, Privilege, and Inequality. Boulder: Westview Press.

TEDx Talks. (2012, November 5). "How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion": Peggy McIntosh at TEDxTimberlaneSchools. Retrieved February 18, 2018, from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-BY9UEewHw

#inequality #sociology