Privilege

I am privileged.

I understand my privilege. But, privilege, it’s a funny thing because although it can be defined, it really can't. This sentence could be re-written perhaps something like this, “But privilege, it's a funny thing because although attempts have been made to define it, you really can’t.”

I pulled out my Oxford dictionary anyway and flipped till I landed upon the word. Privilege is “a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group.” Yet, what is a privilege vs. a right?

I am incredibly PRIVILEGED to be able to attend a fifty thousand dollar private school with the newest technology my mind could imagine. This follows the definition because this is in every way an advantage. Being able to afford a private school is a benefit I can indulge in. But, education as whole is a RIGHT.

I decided it would be fair to pull out Oxford and get the definition of a right. A right is “a moral or legal entitlement to have or obtain something or to act in a certain way.” I believe education is a right because it’s the key to achieving other humane rights. Education should not only be accessible and affordable, but it should be of quality. Now, that's a right.

But, what makes a person privileged? Well that’s a circumstantial answer. As a brown, young woman living in America, this to the naked eye could make me a minority. And thus, be considered less privileged.

Yet, somehow, I am defined as upper middle class with significant privilege. I am lucky some might say to attend a 50k school, drive an expensive car, and live in a wealthy neighborhood.

So what I am getting at is you can’t look at someone and say “Hey you MUST have privilege.”

And what really makes someone privileged? I am more privileged than my friend who goes to a public school and lives in a middle class neighborhood. But, my friend is privileged enough to go to school.

In the end, don’t we all have privilege? Because maybe someone has it better, but for sure someone has it worse. And therefore, we all have some privilege.