Privilege

How are we privileged? Let me count the ways…

White

Male

Youthful

Physically Able

Protestant

Heterosexual

Monied

Living in a non-war-torn, non-violent, geographically stable area

That leaves an elite few on the planet… The First Worlders who may never have suffered the challenges of sexism, racism, classism, age-discrimination, persecution, poverty, war and natural disasters. If you haven’t experienced these challenges, does it mean you cannot have compassion?

Is empathy what we’re really talking about here? The ability to put ourselves in another’s shoes - to feel as if a challenge were happening to us - and act to help our fellow humans.

Am I privileged if I can't put myself in the shoes - soaked shoes - of those struggling to find ground in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma’s thievery?

What was solid has become wet, muddied and drowned ground. Folks have had torn away from them the basics: Shelter, food, clean water, and clothing. Can I identify with that? My child self can, yes.

I have experienced being white since I was born, but not being a male. I was raised in an 

a-religious, middle-income, broken and dysfunctional home. Just like most folks, I had some challenges.

Do we really have to have been at the effect of the exact same adversities to have empathy for those who suffer? I don’t think so. We are hard wired to feel with our tribe... to have compassion. There is even hard wired into us the reflex of yaaking when we see someone else throw up. If Glorg and I have been feasting on the same mastodon that’s gone bad, chances are I should purge if I see him do it. It’s pro-survival. (I’m not sure about why yawning is so contagious! Maybe carbon monoxide build-up from our cave fires caused us to yawn for more oxygen? Something to explore another time!)

How about childbirth? If you've never given birth, might you be excused from knowing how intense the experience is? Or can I count on you to be empathetic in an EMERGENCE-y. That’s where the word comes from, you know… a person is being born here, THIS very moment. The event won’t wait! It’s an emergence, SEE?!

How about women’s privilege? We get to experience the joy of childbirth or not, now that there are more choices at preventing pregnancies.

Privilege in this realm of childbirth choices is afforded those who can go outside the mainstream medical field to soften the blows which technological birth keeps jabbing at moms and newborns. Under-served women in communities of poverty are treated rather poorly and the birth stats show it… with poorer outcomes in weight, Apgar scores, and more drugs being used during the birth.

Without empathy, we’re creating trauma quicker than we can heal it. Mother Nature is doing fine all on her own to create traumatic events. Must we assist her with acts of violence, war, intolerance, and hatred?

It is heartening to see how neighbors in Texas are helping one another through the biggest storm crisis to hit that state in nearly a hundred years. Individuals with boats are paddling house to house to check on folks who may be unable to get out. We cannot count on government to become Deus ex machina. Help must come from within our own hearts… the internal prompt to see what we may do to make a difference. I believe the same will hold true in Florida and the whole Eastern Seaboard. The people of Louisiana already showed their mettle during Katrina, when there was virtually no help available from governmental agencies.

Sunday was Pride Day in Oakland. The march was the most colorful I’ve ever been in. Rainbow colors everywhere, and not just in articles of clothing. Skin tones run the gamut from pale to deeply hued. We are a rainbow colored people standing together in solidarity and love. 

Here’s a different take on privilege: It is a privilege to live in a democracy where we each can decide each moment how we will act toward our sisters and brothers. What a privilege to unify to celebrate our diversity!