Politics of Location
Politics of Location
We are always trying to figure out where we are in this world, or how we got where we are today. Obviously you have no choice of parents or where your born and these are two major contributing factors of who am I today. Being born white and a male society has immediately granted social advantages or white privileges. But, how privileged was I really? Being born in a highly populated city to first generations Americans without high school diplomas. I did have some advantages and I realized them growing up around my non-white friends. But compared to other white people I didn’t see my self privileged in many ways. When I was younger I went to an elementary school in a very urban area. Most of my classmates where non-white children who lived in apartments or nearby projects. I also had friends who grew up in houses their families owned, these kids were white. I was not a shy child so I made a lot of friends of different social statuses. After class I would often go to friends homes to do homework or play. Most of my close friends grew up in apartments or small homes much like I did. The rest of them grew up in housing projects nearby the school, this is when I got my first sense of privilege. At first it was a strange environment but something I got use too after spending considerable amounts of time playing with friends there. I didn’t really notice the privileges my race gave me until middle school, this was also the same time I starting being labeled as the white kid, and I also started to see what separated me and my other groups of friends. Around 7th and 8th grade I spent a lot of time playing basketball and football after school with friends in the housing projects nearby my home and school. It was the closest field we could get to when class was out, and it was always empty. I was one of a few white kids from class who would go and play, but a majority of them were non-white kids from students some not. It was here I got my
We are always trying to figure out where we are in this world, or how we got where we are today. Obviously you have no choice of parents or where your born and these are two major contributing factors of who am I today. Being born white and a male society has immediately granted social advantages or white privileges. But, how privileged was I really? Being born in a highly populated city to first generations Americans without high school diplomas. I did have some advantages and I realized them growing up around my non-white friends. But compared to other white people I didn’t see my self privileged in many ways. When I was younger I went to an elementary school in a very urban area. Most of my classmates where non-white children who lived in apartments or nearby projects. I also had friends who grew up in houses their families owned, these kids were white. I was not a shy child so I made a lot of friends of different social statuses. After class I would often go to friends homes to do homework or play. Most of my close friends grew up in apartments or small homes much like I did. The rest of them grew up in housing projects nearby the school, this is when I got my first sense of privilege. At first it was a strange environment but something I got use too after spending considerable amounts of time playing with friends there. I didn’t really notice the privileges my race gave me until middle school, this was also the same time I starting being labeled as the white kid, and I also started to see what separated me and my other groups of friends. Around 7th and 8th grade I spent a lot of time playing basketball and football after school with friends in the housing projects nearby my home and school. It was the closest field we could get to when class was out, and it was always empty. I was one of a few white kids from class who would go and play, but a majority of them were non-white kids from students some not. It was here I got my