Privilege, prejudice, power 

Privilege is a strange word. We balk at it as if it were an insult, and yet, there is safety in having it. Interestingly though, when we have it, we generally cannot see it. Very few of us wake up every morning with gratitude for the privilege of our functioning body parts that allow us to live another day. Taken for granted when we have it and recognised as privilege when it is absent. But privilege also makes a cosy neighbour to its silent partner, Prejudice. Prejudice, a more offensive sounding word, is a difficult concept for many of us to wrap our heads around. I bring this word into my classrooms when I teach high school students in northern Italy. Young people are familiar with the term and are at ease discussing preferences, biases and diversity. Over time, our class discussions turn slowly and delicately to ourselves in order to understand our own biases that affect our judgment about people with different political ideas (‘migration or not’), different fears (‘yes to vaccinations or not’) or religions that seem threatening or wars we don’t understand or sexual preferences that we haven’t quite accepted. That’s when things heat up a bit. 
For example, within the confines of a small classroom many boys will fight tooth and nail not to be called ‘feminists’ simply because they associate the word with man-hating, rabble-rousing women marching down streets. At the same time, all the ideas of these ‘non feminists’ align deeply with feminist beliefs of gender equality. Similarly, many students speak passionately in class about diversity and inclusion. Yet, when asked about the growing number of migrants in the country and whether they feel comfortable with the idea that all children born in Italy should be considered Italian, a lot of dilemmas about nationality, culture and identity come up. I love throwing my students out of their comfort ‘talk’ zone into the real world where values repeatedly contend with life around us. With all our broadminded, big ideas, many of us choose the safer path of self protection when put to the real tests of life. Those who don’t want to disturb the status quo are the ones who benefit by it. Ideally, it works for them. Changing the colour, religion, culture, food - in masse - of Italian citizens will call into question all the privileges that go with the existing Italian identity. In theory, all people have the same rights. But in reality, some of us are “outsiders”. They are outsiders to our values and thoughts. And they disturb the status quo that protects our privilege. Recognising one’s own privilege and the overt or unspoken desire to maintain the privilege is an important step. I feel the need to bring that awareness to my Italian students because, as the “outsider”, I can see what they do not realise they hold. Power. Power to benefit from privilege, power to be on the inner part of a small world built by good people who believe in justice, equality and freedom but one that thrives with these values only when there is limited access to it. My students do not see themselves as privileged. And they don’t mean to exclude others from their circle of ‘power’. But exclusion does happen. It is the result of the values a society ends up associating with certain people because of the prejudices they have grown up with over generations. These biases ingrain in us that a certain colour of the skin should not be trusted unless proved otherwise, a certain religion is warlike, a certain culture suppressive, and a certain race, inherently lazy. It is these biases that affect our thinking and instil in us an inherent need to self protect. When broad stereotyping and lack of real information about people and ideas lead us to make strong judgments about them, it paves an easy road to discrimination. It is a well travelled path that disconnects us from others. Others, who we think, are different from us. I love a quote from the book, Think Faster, Talk Smarter by Matt Abrahams. He shares an anecdote about a job interview where the employer asks: “If you were an onion and I peel back the first three layers, what would I find?” I love this question. Right there, behind the first three layers of our culture, colour, age, race, beauty and body size, who are we and could our values align? Behind my three layers of a Pakistani, Muslim immigrant woman, could I connect deeply with my students of another race and country? Yes and no. Mostly, yes. Although it isn’t easy teaching them to accept their privilege of rights and freedoms that people in the world are still giving up their lives to achieve. But I won’t be discussing complex ideas like white privilege in class. And white feminism? I won’t be touching that with a ten-foot pole!