After reading Peggy McIntosh's essay, I can easily reflect back on just how much privilege and oppression affect us in America today. For myself, my unearned privilege can be listed as such:
1. Being born into a middle class family, I never went to bed hungry.
2. Being born into a middle class family, I was able to have new clothes every school year.
3. Being born into a middle class family, I was able to grow up with everything I needed and most of what I wanted.
4. Being born into a middle class family, I was able to afford to go to the doctor if I ever needed to, free of fear that it would cost too much and I'd just have to tough it out.
5. Being born into a middle class family has allowed me to be able to attend a university with minimal loans taken out.
6. Being a college student, I have earned the privilege not to be scrutinized for being "lazy."
7. Being a college student I am deemed to automatically be more trusted by employers in regard to my intellectual ability.
8. Being a college student, I am more appealing to employers overall.
9. Having not been born with a disability, I am free to walk or run.
10. Having not being born blind, I can see.
11. Having not being gay, I am free from harsh treatment by people who don't approve of homosexuality.
12. Having a Caucasian father, I am privileged to not be stared at in public.
13. Being religious has freed me from a good amount of scrutiny from the Christian community.
14. Being born into a family that could provide nice clothes and things, I was free from being picked on by the "popular" kids.
15. Being a woman has excused me from being expected to take out the trash or lift heavy things.
Even from just writing all of these down, it brings a sense of shame for having all of these things when you did nothing to deserve them. The American society gives so much unearned privilege to so many people. I find it our responsibility to give up some of our unearned things to lessen unearned privilege for so many reasons; first off, we have been raised to fight for a more equal society and as McIntosh pointed out, we can only be so equal without pointing out the embedded privileges we all hold. Whether it be based on race, religion, education, or whatever else, we all deserve to be born with the same amount of privilege as anyone else. Also, the power that seems to come along with the privilege. The distinction is hard to make; the distinction between being born with a privilege and using the advantage to give us power from just unearned privilege. That distinction affects our daily lives. For me, it affects me when I think to my Caucasian, male professor. It makes you wonder, did he earn that job? Or did his privilege help him out? As a society, we need to be able to reach a point one day at which we shouldn't have to wonder about what privilege someone earned that allowed them to get something. It should be that everyone has true equal opportunity at every job or position in any society.
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