Privilege and trauma are not mutually exclusive
One of the things that happens when we start to talk about privilege with people who are not accustomed to naming it, and especially about white privilege, is that the word “privilege” is experienced as an insult.
And that’s because the word “privilege” is often used as an insult.
That’s not what we mean though.
What we mean by privilege is there are unearned systemic advantages and access that some have and others don't have.
White privilege doesn’t mean that white people haven’t worked hard or haven’t suffered. Many white people have.
It doesn’t mean that every white person has more advantage and access than every person of color.
It does mean that what a white person has experienced would likely have been harder if everything else were the same but they were a person of color.
And race isn’t the only dimension of privilege of course. Gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, religion, national origin, ability etc. all provide overlapping advantages and disadvantages that can exacerbate or mitigate racial disadvantage.
Privilege and trauma aren’t mutually exclusive either. Privilege can mitigate the impact of trauma, sure, but not always, and not always enough.
Sometimes the very cost of privilege is trauma. As we say often at CCI, white supremacy culture doesn’t impact us all equally, but it does impact us all.
In fact, it is traumatized privileged folks who often cause the most harm, given what happens when power and trauma intersect.
DEI can be frightening to white people who think it means taking away their privileges and giving them to people of color. Equity can feel like oppression to those who are privileged, after all, when in fact, white people gain from dismantling white supremacy culture too.
What is so frightening about fostering inclusion and belonging so everyone has what they need to do their best work? What is so frightening about sharing rather than hoarding power?
Yes I know, change is frightening, hard and uncomfortable. But I promise we all stand to benefit from a less oppressive world.
Banner photo by Jo Van de kerkhove on Unsplash
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