The Reasons Why I Am Privileged

I have privilege. 

From what I have read in papers and on blogs it seems that a lot of people take offence when told they have privilege. 

"I work in a factory, for less than minimum wage and I have a family to feed - how the fuck do I have privilege?"

I would like to say that the point that I am making is in no relation a judgment of anyone else. There are many people in this world who aren't particularly lucky and who don't necessarily have the same opportunities and privileges as the majority. I am saying, however, that as a white, middle class person I have privileges and I have a lot of them. 

These are the reasons why I am privileged:

• When I apply for a job and succeed, I will know for a fact that I have gained the post because of my skill and my CV. I will not be given a job because I fit the "ethnic minority quota".
• I know that when I walk into a new workplace people will not have the question, lurking at the back of their minds, as to whether I got the job because of the colour of my skin.
• I have privilege because during primary school I didn't experience teachers telling me "your name is too complicated, can I call you X?" because they couldn't be bothered to work their mouths around my identity. They couldn't be bothered to step outside of their comfort zone and fit my totally valid "complicated" name into their vocabulary.
• I know that when I walk into the supermarket I will find the food of my culture everywhere with little variation, without having to try and without having to search, despite the fact that I live in a "culturally diverse" country.
• I have enough money and social security that I can take a gap year, volunteer in a country such as South Africa, and afterwards walk out of there and carry on with my life without thinking twice about anything other than my future (if I were to choose to).
• I am privileged because I know that I will get a job.
• I am privileged because the history that I was taught at school was my own. I also had the opportunity to learn about a whole host of other histories as well.
• When people look at me they do not immediately wonder at the back of their minds whether I might be a terrorist because of my skin or my religion.
• I am privileged because I know that if I have children I will be able to secure them some sort of education and secure financial environment because where I was born and what I look like gives me a free pass to a relatively easy life.

There are a whole host of other reasons why I think I am privileged. I do not feel bad for being privileged, it is not my personal doing that some races/religions/ethnic groups have more privilege than others.

What I am responsible for, however, is how I act on it. I refuse to stand by and allow myself to float through life having little cares because I can. This, for me, is the difference. When people rise up in an outcry of "how dare you think I'm privileged" it isn't helpful because it halts social progress. If people came to terms with their privileges, however begrudgingly, it would open doorways for more people to see the inequalities in our system and try to act against them.

I am privileged because I can safely live my life without people making decisions, judgments and accusations about me because of my religion, ethnicity or race.