MTA and Privilege
Years ago at the People of Color Conference, Dr. Steven Jones asked the audience, how many people have ridden the train system in New York City. With NYC pride, I raised my right hand. He then commented that the MTA privileged right handed people and I got defensive. I thought to myself what does this Californian know about my city and turned to my neighbor, who was also from NYC, to share my disgust at his comment. The person listened to my comment and then replied that Dr. Jones was correct. By the time I started to ask how could they agree, Dr. Jones began to explain that the MTA privileges right handed people because all of the card swipers are on the right side. If you are left handed, then you either have to reach across your body to swipe the card or put it in your non-dominant hand. I had no clue.
This memory highlights:
how the word privilege makes people feel defensive
a simple example to demonstrate what privilege is
that the privileged have no idea that they are privileged because it is both invisible and protected; life is how it should be
Life is difficult at some point for everyone. Privilege connotes ease, which seemingly contradicts the reality of one’s lived experience since we all struggle. Naming one’s privilege does not mean that one’s life is not hard. Instead privilege indicates that your life journey would have more challenging if layered with a marginalized identity - differently abled, woman, gender non-conforming, Black, Indigenous, Person of Color (BIPOC), queer, working class, non-Christian, citizenship status, English as a second (or third or fourth) language, etc.
Being able to name privilege in our institutions makes it visible and presents an opportunity to institute more equitable changes.
