A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Privilege
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Privilege (sometimes referred to as unearned privilege) refers to the advantages a person has based on their status in society with regard to race, class, sexual orientation, gender, age, and/or ability. These privileges are not granted based on an individuals merit, or their conscious choices, but are bestowed on those born into a society with systems of structural oppression. Privilege is the other side of oppression, so the unearned benefits that one group enjoys are always the direct result of another group's pain and hardship. White privilege, for example, benefits white people born into a white supremacist society with better access to education, less risk of harassment by police and better access to housing.
For those positioned with privilege in society, we cannot simply choose to divest of our privilege as it does not come as the result of conscious choices. However, God does call us into her work of liberation and this invitation is a gift. This gift, when freely received, obliterates completely our privileged identities, wedding us to God and to the oppressed in God's work of liberation. As James Cone says in A Black Theology of Liberation Knowing God means being on the side of the oppressed, becoming one with them and participating in the goal of liberation. We must become black with God! |
Anarchy for All: Expanding the Horizons of Practice Beyond Privilege. At the 2010 anarchism and Christianity conference in Portland, the open forum Layla AbdelRahim, Nekeisha Alayna Alexis, Wes Howard-Brook and John Zerzan discuss the structural and epistemological problems that hinder the voices and acts of resistance from those who are oppressed—especially people of color—from inhabiting a place at the table within anarchist theory and discourse.
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This does not mean lending our helping hand to the oppressed. This doesn't mean joining the institutional war on poverty, or donating to charity. This means nothing short of completely reorienting our lives according to God's identity which is wrapped up with subjugated, marginalized, and oppressed peoples.
In practical terms, this means we are called to humility and constant examination of the power we carry and how that power carries us. We must continue to develop a lens for racial justice and queer justice/any and all struggles for justice and become fully invested in those struggles to the point of losing our own privileged identities. Or as the Apostle Paul said "Be not conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds." (Romans 12:12). Jesus also called us to this type of radical reorienting of our lives when he said "For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matthew 16:25). And this is the nature of God's grace, that despite our persistent clinging to power, God invites us to lose our lives and find true life in her work of liberation.
In practical terms, this means we are called to humility and constant examination of the power we carry and how that power carries us. We must continue to develop a lens for racial justice and queer justice/any and all struggles for justice and become fully invested in those struggles to the point of losing our own privileged identities. Or as the Apostle Paul said "Be not conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds." (Romans 12:12). Jesus also called us to this type of radical reorienting of our lives when he said "For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matthew 16:25). And this is the nature of God's grace, that despite our persistent clinging to power, God invites us to lose our lives and find true life in her work of liberation.
Dykstra, Laurel. "Privilege and Resistance." The Other Side Magazine. September-October 2002. Accessed from Christian Peacemaker Teams, Worship Resources.
This detailed look at the first chapter of Exodus, particularly the role that the two Egyptian midwives, Puah and Shiphrah, play in resistance to the genocidal campaign Pharaoh initiates against the Hebrew people, explores the ways the privileged can take part in God's liberation of the oppressed.
Laurel Dykstra asks how these ordinary women came to find the courage to defy a king? Pointing back to the story which tells us that Shiphrah and Puah "feared God," Dykstra concludes that such knowledge and fear of the biblical God and their solidarity with God's oppressed people was achieved through their everyday work among and intimacy with the Hebrew people as Midwives. Such contact, Dykstra claims shatters cultural biases and can help the privileged see the inherent worth and goodness of an oppressed people that becomes shrouded by the repression of Empire.
Kendall, Francis E. Understanding White Privilege. Christian Peacemaker Teams, Training Resources. 2009
Knowingly and unknowingly we all grapple with race every day. Understanding White Privilege delves into the complex interplay between race, power, and privilege in both organizations and private life. It offers an unflinching look at how ignorance can perpetuate privilege, and offers practical and thoughtful insights into how people of all races can work to break this cycle. Based on thirty years of work in diversity and colleges, universities, and corporations, Frances Kendall candidly invites readers to think personally about how race — theirs and others’ — frames experiences and relationships, focusing squarely on white privilege and its implications for building authentic relationships across race.
This detailed look at the first chapter of Exodus, particularly the role that the two Egyptian midwives, Puah and Shiphrah, play in resistance to the genocidal campaign Pharaoh initiates against the Hebrew people, explores the ways the privileged can take part in God's liberation of the oppressed.
Laurel Dykstra asks how these ordinary women came to find the courage to defy a king? Pointing back to the story which tells us that Shiphrah and Puah "feared God," Dykstra concludes that such knowledge and fear of the biblical God and their solidarity with God's oppressed people was achieved through their everyday work among and intimacy with the Hebrew people as Midwives. Such contact, Dykstra claims shatters cultural biases and can help the privileged see the inherent worth and goodness of an oppressed people that becomes shrouded by the repression of Empire.
Kendall, Francis E. Understanding White Privilege. Christian Peacemaker Teams, Training Resources. 2009
Knowingly and unknowingly we all grapple with race every day. Understanding White Privilege delves into the complex interplay between race, power, and privilege in both organizations and private life. It offers an unflinching look at how ignorance can perpetuate privilege, and offers practical and thoughtful insights into how people of all races can work to break this cycle. Based on thirty years of work in diversity and colleges, universities, and corporations, Frances Kendall candidly invites readers to think personally about how race — theirs and others’ — frames experiences and relationships, focusing squarely on white privilege and its implications for building authentic relationships across race.