Why am I always being told to “check my privilege”?

[Pam]

In Chapter 4; Oluo talks about Privilege. Privilege has been a buzz word in the social justice corners in the past few years with the statement "Check your privilege" as a closing statement against those who don't realize that their experiences in life are not the same experiences shared by everyone else.

Oluo states "Privilege, in the social justice context, is an advantage or a set of advantages that you have that others do not.

... When somebody asks you to “check your privilege” they are asking you to pause and consider how the advantages you’ve had in life are contributing to your opinions and actions, and how the lack of disadvantages in certain areas is keeping you from fully understanding the struggles others are facing and may in fact be contributing to those struggles. It is a big ask, to check your privilege. It is hard and often painful, but it’s not nearly as painful as living with the pain caused by the unexamined privilege of others.

Questions to the Group:
- What did you realize about privilege from this chapter?

- Oluo argues that privilege does not invalidate disadvantages nor your own hard work. Instead, she says, it's important to understand one can be privileged in some areas and under privileged in others. What ways can we be more aware of our own privileges in life?

- What aspects does privilege blind you from seeing. Whose work do we need to follow to learn more about those who are underprivileged in these aspects?

- It's now October... BLM and the emotional responses are fading from memory. How do we continue to move the conversation forward?