Why Is It Important To Check Your Privilege?

A privilege is defined as a special advantage, unearned benefit that is granted to a certain group at birth. Race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, and many more attributes are included as privileges. Privileged people gain ease in society because they are considered to be normal. There is a sense of entitlement for these people because the immunities are portrayed every day on mass media, in the workplace, at school, and with authority figures. This social inequality is very unfair because what one is born into is entirely involuntary. An interesting expression has been used to cease anybody from saying anything negative towards a particular race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, or almost any other group. That phrase is ‘check your privilege’. The life one
is born into comes with some privileges and some detriments, and the remark is used to point out that these do not apply to all altercations or situations. To continue, it proposes that when examining another person’s predicament, one must recognize one’s own built-in privileges and deposit them so that one may obtain a better grasp of his situation. ‘Check your privilege’ influences an empathetic response. People try to understand what others different than them must go through. This demonstrates that society has a structure. This structure is more fitting for some people and fails to appreciate the others. Basically, the phrase is geared towards people who do not experience discrimination daily.
Western Michigan University students and faculty put together the original documentary theater piece Check Your Privilege. The cast scrutinized the various cultures and factions on campus, revealing disturbing phenomena that exist daily all over the nation and in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The piece was set up as though the audience was the interviewer, with the actors telling of their experiences. The stories were not only personal, but criticised the education system as a whole. Each story was different in its own way, but the majority of them castigated white privilege. The show was extremely impressive in its in-depth look at the lives of people of color and different ethnicity. It displayed to the public many examples of white privilege. A white person will never have to be anxious about being accused by law enforcement for doing something because of the color of his skin. He will never have to explain why racism exists to his children. He can be well-spoken without others being shocked. He does not have to worry about not getting a job or a certain salary due to his ethnicity. He will never be called a terrorist. The performance repeated these injustices time and time again throughout it. While the play was very eye-opening to the realities of disadvantaged people of non-white origin, it neglected other underprivileged groups such as females, lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders, non-Christian religious groups, and many others.
It is important to know of the hardships of other races, but it is just as relevant to discuss the adversity of these groups. Males are hired over females, and also earn a higher paycheck. Male privilege means he can be careless with money or driving without it relating to his sex, dress as he pleases with less judgement, or even have promiscuous sex and be praised for it. As for the LGBT community, they are unable to get married in most places, cannot have public displays of affection without being ridiculed, and are not even accepted by a considerable amount of people. Religious groups other than Christians are sometimes declined work off for their religious holidays and cannot worship freely without fear of threats or violence. The lists of prejudiced and unfair treatment goes on and on. Western Michigan’s Check Your Privilege should have included more of this in their documentary, for it is just as meaningful as the favoritism of
whites. All in all, privilege is a somewhat disheartening sector of society that is likely to stay. White privilege, male privilege, straight privilege, Christian privilege and so on exist everywhere in today’s culture. Many believe a great deal of these beliefs have long been retired, yet there are instances of prejudice around the entire world. The documentary theater piece Check Your Privilege was mind-boggling, but at the same time disappointing. The lack of discussion of some entitlements unsatisfying, but the points made about the lives of nonwhites was inarguably grim and interesting. It would do the world a great deal of good to check their privilege.