Privilege is invisible to those who have it.
I woke with this statement in mind.
I heard it a few years ago on this TED Talk from Michael Kimmel.
It's a talk about gender equality, but that statement is true for all privileges.
Privilege is invisible to those who have it.
And I have plenty of them.
I am a middle-class heterosexual white man.
As Kimmel says in his talk, I am a generic person. And like him, when I look in the mirror, I see a human being.
Privilege is invisible to those who have it.
I don't even know I have some of those privileges.
And there are some I know I have, but I can't fully understand their importance. Like many other things in life, you appreciate the importance of a privilege when you lose it.
Do I feel guilty for having all these privileges?
No, I don't.
But I am responsible.
It's my responsibility to acknowledge that I can't see my privileges.
And listen.
Listen to the ones who do not have them.
Privilege is invisible to those who have it.