I am a Middle Eastern, Muslim, headscarf-wearing woman who also happens to be a first-generation immigrant. So, I’m not the most privileged person out there, and as much as I am proud of the different pieces of my identity, these labels come with a lot of baggage that I have to deal with on a daily basis.
Growing up, I become more and more cognizant of my lack of privilege, and I was fixated on that for a long time. I have always been frustrated because I don’t always feel safe when I leave my house in the morning after a terrorist attack on the other side of the world. I was always angry because I had to work a lot harder than my fellow classmates to achieve the same academic standing in high school. The fact that my potential is underestimated because of my gender has always infuriated me. So, for a long time, I was focused on my lack of privilege.
I was once having a conversation with a fellow classmate who, according to me, was privileged. She was a white girl who was born into a wealthy, educated, and well-established family that had a lot of valuable connections. As the conversation went on, I became increasingly infuriated at her lack of awareness of her privilege. When I told her that her privilege made it easier for her to move through life, she got defensive and said, “Do you even know how hard I had to work to get to where I am today?” Then she went on and on about how being a woman is so difficult in today’s world. I couldn’t help but trivialize everything she was saying because when I compared her ‘struggles’ to mine, hers were negligible.
A few years later, I started reflecting on that conversation, and I had a few realizations that I’d like to share.
Privilege is a spectrum. People aren’t simply privileged or not. I am privileged in some things, but not as privileged in others.
Privilege doesn’t necessarily mean that someone’s life is easier because of who they are, it means that their life isn’t made difficult because of who they are.
Everyone’s experience is valid. Being angry at the injustices in the world is valid. Being fixated on that, however, doesn’t mitigate those injustices.
A few years after that conversation, I had a mentality-changing epiphany: I despised that girl for her blindness towards her privilege, but in a way, I was doing the same. I am also a privilege in some ways – both of my parents attended university and valued education, I wasn’t born into poverty, I have always had access to healthcare and education, I don’t have any disabilities, I am fair-skinned, and the list goes on.
It’s important to understand our privileges and how we can use those privileges to become agents to those who aren’t as fortunate.
To reiterate, we are all privileged to some extent, and it’s important to recognize that privilege and use it to uplift others and advocate against injustice.