Privilege
A big conversation of late has been about "privilege." White privilege, specifically. This weekend, while duck hunting, I had the chance to talk about this very topic with my 15 year old son. I'm going to try and paint a picture of how this topic even came up.
At 2:30 AM, we pulled up to get in line to go duck hunting. The Wildlife Management Area where we hunt is a first come, first serve location. If you know the best place to hunt, you stand a better chance of getting there if you arrive earlier. We were second in line. But there is a catch. In the middle of the WMA is a campground. If you are camping, you get to pull out earlier and get a head start. I only saw a few lights in the campground, so I was rather confident we would have a good chance to get to our spot.
At 5:00 am, we started driving into the WMA. When we approached the campground, the last truck was pulling out. Looking up the road, I realized that there were at least nine vehicles ahead of us. When we got to our spot, someone was already there. My son was angry because we had waited for three hours in the front of the line, but still did not get to our desired location. It had nothing to do with us. We had made every effort to be near the front of the line. But, no matter what time we arrived, the people at the campground will always have a head start. In a sense, they were privileged.
We were both a little angry that we didn't get our spot. But, in the two hours that we sat in the water waiting for shooting light, we were able to talk about the fact that, in many ways, we are privileged. I have a great job making a good salary. We live in a nice middle class neighborhood. We own both our vehicles. He had a stay at home mom through 1st grade who helped him learn to read, count, and generally prepare for school. We, like the campers, have a certain privilege that others in our community may not. It is not our fault, nor is it theirs. But, because we have that privilege, we get a head start over those who do not.
At the WMA, the people who get there first should have the advantage over those who stay in bed and wait until morning. In life, it should be the same, but it's not. There are people who work hard every day but due to factors such as race, background, quality of education, family, and more, they will always start a little further back in line than others. It shouldn't be that way.
There was a positive end to our story. We didn't get to our choice spot. We actually ended up in a better one. My son had his limit of ducks in 20 minutes. Sadly, that is rarely the case in a world where privilege abounds.
At 2:30 AM, we pulled up to get in line to go duck hunting. The Wildlife Management Area where we hunt is a first come, first serve location. If you know the best place to hunt, you stand a better chance of getting there if you arrive earlier. We were second in line. But there is a catch. In the middle of the WMA is a campground. If you are camping, you get to pull out earlier and get a head start. I only saw a few lights in the campground, so I was rather confident we would have a good chance to get to our spot.
At 5:00 am, we started driving into the WMA. When we approached the campground, the last truck was pulling out. Looking up the road, I realized that there were at least nine vehicles ahead of us. When we got to our spot, someone was already there. My son was angry because we had waited for three hours in the front of the line, but still did not get to our desired location. It had nothing to do with us. We had made every effort to be near the front of the line. But, no matter what time we arrived, the people at the campground will always have a head start. In a sense, they were privileged.
We were both a little angry that we didn't get our spot. But, in the two hours that we sat in the water waiting for shooting light, we were able to talk about the fact that, in many ways, we are privileged. I have a great job making a good salary. We live in a nice middle class neighborhood. We own both our vehicles. He had a stay at home mom through 1st grade who helped him learn to read, count, and generally prepare for school. We, like the campers, have a certain privilege that others in our community may not. It is not our fault, nor is it theirs. But, because we have that privilege, we get a head start over those who do not.
At the WMA, the people who get there first should have the advantage over those who stay in bed and wait until morning. In life, it should be the same, but it's not. There are people who work hard every day but due to factors such as race, background, quality of education, family, and more, they will always start a little further back in line than others. It shouldn't be that way.
There was a positive end to our story. We didn't get to our choice spot. We actually ended up in a better one. My son had his limit of ducks in 20 minutes. Sadly, that is rarely the case in a world where privilege abounds.
Comments
Post a Comment