Check Your Privilege
One of my facebook friends posted a link (No I Won't Check My Privilege) talking about how "Check Your Privilege" was illegitimate.
My initial response is this:
While I will concede the "How dare someone with no knowledge of my personal history make such sweeping assumptions?" point, the author completely misses the point. Folks with privilege (and I have to count myself among them) Do Not See It. I'm a relatively intelligent guy (there is some debate on this point). I went to a liberal arts college. I read the newspaper (seriously, who does that?). And I still didn't get it. People don't see it because it does not happen to them. And that it doesn't happen to them informs their entire world view. And for a lot of folks that live in homogeneous regions, they have no hope of getting it. For a lot of folks, you have to See It before you get it. One way to see how deeply racism is systemically embedded in our society is to research a thing called The Talk. This is the training black parents give their children so they are not (hopefully) killed by the police. Driving while black. Beyond white privilege, there is male privilege. While the numbers of women who experience sexual assault or domestic violence is impossible to know, it is at least 50%. That means millions of men are assholes. And this is not, in any way, a blue collar thing. The discrimination against women in professional ranks is unconscionable.
That you don't see that you're an asshole does not mean you aren't. Check Your Damn Privilege.
My facebook friend suggested that I has misunderstood the piece. My response is below:
It is indeed possible I have misunderstood (I try to keep that possibility always in mind). And I do agree that "Check your privilege" can be used as a silencing maneuver. I've been in situations where this appeared to be what was being attempted with me. I certainly agree that if this is what is happening it is indeed illegitimate. If my style above is too extreme, I do apologize for the style it was written in. I still think I'm right though. I will try to explain in a more moderate voice.
I was trying to refute the authors argument by saying that even smart guys (using myself as an example) can be experiencing privilege without being aware of it. Even if you think you are thinking through all of the nuance. I'm saying that when you are being asked to "Check your Privilege", that you should mentally stop and actually do that. It may well be that it is an unwarranted attack, but you should check anyway. The author's statement "Calling on someone to check his privilege is a cheap form of ad hominem attack" asserts that being asked to check is always unwarranted. I assert, based on my own experience, that it is frequently entirely fair.
The rest of that paragraph ("It focuses on the person rather than what they are saying...") is misleading. Surely being asked to check can be based on the strength of your argument. There is no necessity that it always be ad hominem (of course it may be ad hominem; I wouldn't deny that).
The following paragraph ("It turns out it’s not all about me...") sounds like an attempt to categorically blame the victim. Again I will not deny that some folks attempt to use this "Check" as a shield against further argument. But I also believe that racism and misogyny are systemic diseases in our culture. I think these diseases are extremely widespread. So to assert that folks asking for "Check" are always playing the race or woman card strikes me as an invalid argument.
I will agree with the author, to some extent, about what is happening on university campuses ("...promoted on campuses..."). It is certainly possible to take this "Check" too far. Some of the stories one reads describe this taken to ridiculous lengths. But even here I wonder if these stories are written to emphasis this aspect. I always try to keep in mind that there may be more to the story than is being reported.
As for class and privilege ("By far the biggest determinant of privilege is social class..."), again, I think this is misleading. Privilege is the exploitation of a power structure. There are many of these, and the largest is probably gender. Indeed there is quite a bit of discussion of this in professional circles (including university circles) where class does not enter into it.
The concluding paragraph ("... well-worn rhetorical trick ...") sums up what I think is a flawed argument. The author asserts that these "Check" responses are universally a "rhetorical trick". I think the depth of racism and misogyny in our culture successfully argue that this is not the case.
Again, let me apologize if I've been immoderate in my argument above. My intent was to jump into the discussion and toss some ideas around. Not to intimidate or badger anyone. If I have been a little too excited it is because I have seen a lot of injustice in recent years. And it is because I have found that I have failed to personally understand the depth of the injustice. This is my way of trying to be a better person and to better understand the culture around me.
My initial response is this:
While I will concede the "How dare someone with no knowledge of my personal history make such sweeping assumptions?" point, the author completely misses the point. Folks with privilege (and I have to count myself among them) Do Not See It. I'm a relatively intelligent guy (there is some debate on this point). I went to a liberal arts college. I read the newspaper (seriously, who does that?). And I still didn't get it. People don't see it because it does not happen to them. And that it doesn't happen to them informs their entire world view. And for a lot of folks that live in homogeneous regions, they have no hope of getting it. For a lot of folks, you have to See It before you get it. One way to see how deeply racism is systemically embedded in our society is to research a thing called The Talk. This is the training black parents give their children so they are not (hopefully) killed by the police. Driving while black. Beyond white privilege, there is male privilege. While the numbers of women who experience sexual assault or domestic violence is impossible to know, it is at least 50%. That means millions of men are assholes. And this is not, in any way, a blue collar thing. The discrimination against women in professional ranks is unconscionable.
That you don't see that you're an asshole does not mean you aren't. Check Your Damn Privilege.
My facebook friend suggested that I has misunderstood the piece. My response is below:
It is indeed possible I have misunderstood (I try to keep that possibility always in mind). And I do agree that "Check your privilege" can be used as a silencing maneuver. I've been in situations where this appeared to be what was being attempted with me. I certainly agree that if this is what is happening it is indeed illegitimate. If my style above is too extreme, I do apologize for the style it was written in. I still think I'm right though. I will try to explain in a more moderate voice.
I was trying to refute the authors argument by saying that even smart guys (using myself as an example) can be experiencing privilege without being aware of it. Even if you think you are thinking through all of the nuance. I'm saying that when you are being asked to "Check your Privilege", that you should mentally stop and actually do that. It may well be that it is an unwarranted attack, but you should check anyway. The author's statement "Calling on someone to check his privilege is a cheap form of ad hominem attack" asserts that being asked to check is always unwarranted. I assert, based on my own experience, that it is frequently entirely fair.
The rest of that paragraph ("It focuses on the person rather than what they are saying...") is misleading. Surely being asked to check can be based on the strength of your argument. There is no necessity that it always be ad hominem (of course it may be ad hominem; I wouldn't deny that).
The following paragraph ("It turns out it’s not all about me...") sounds like an attempt to categorically blame the victim. Again I will not deny that some folks attempt to use this "Check" as a shield against further argument. But I also believe that racism and misogyny are systemic diseases in our culture. I think these diseases are extremely widespread. So to assert that folks asking for "Check" are always playing the race or woman card strikes me as an invalid argument.
I will agree with the author, to some extent, about what is happening on university campuses ("...promoted on campuses..."). It is certainly possible to take this "Check" too far. Some of the stories one reads describe this taken to ridiculous lengths. But even here I wonder if these stories are written to emphasis this aspect. I always try to keep in mind that there may be more to the story than is being reported.
As for class and privilege ("By far the biggest determinant of privilege is social class..."), again, I think this is misleading. Privilege is the exploitation of a power structure. There are many of these, and the largest is probably gender. Indeed there is quite a bit of discussion of this in professional circles (including university circles) where class does not enter into it.
The concluding paragraph ("... well-worn rhetorical trick ...") sums up what I think is a flawed argument. The author asserts that these "Check" responses are universally a "rhetorical trick". I think the depth of racism and misogyny in our culture successfully argue that this is not the case.
Again, let me apologize if I've been immoderate in my argument above. My intent was to jump into the discussion and toss some ideas around. Not to intimidate or badger anyone. If I have been a little too excited it is because I have seen a lot of injustice in recent years. And it is because I have found that I have failed to personally understand the depth of the injustice. This is my way of trying to be a better person and to better understand the culture around me.
Comments
Post a Comment