class privilege checklist
This exercise is via Racialicious, where Latoya has also put forward criticisms and comments on it.
If your father went to college, take a step forward.
If your father finished college
If your mother went to college
If your mother finished college
If you have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor.
If you were the same or higher class than your high school teachers
If you had a computer at home
If you had your own computer at home
If you had more than 50 books at home
If you had more than 500 books at home
If were read children’s books by a parent
If you ever had lessons of any kind
If you had more than two kinds of lessons
If the people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
If you had a credit card with your name on it
If you have less than $5000 in student loans (in my case this may be an indicator of the opposite — I am highly eligible for financial aid)
If you have no student loans
If you went to a private high school
If you went to summer camp
If you had a private tutor
If you have been to Europe
If your family vacations involved staying at hotels
If all of your clothing has been new and bought at the mall
If your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
If there was original art in your house
If you had a phone in your room
If you lived in a single family house
If your parent own their own house or apartment
If you had your own room
If you participated in an SAT/ACT prep course
If you had your own cell phone in High School
If you had your own TV in your room in High School
If you opened a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
If you have ever flown anywhere on a commercial airline
If you ever went on a cruise with your family
If your parents took you to museums and art galleries
If you were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family.
What does your checklist look like? (And if you can vote today, do. Nothing that could come up is more important.)
Filed under: life |
Tags: class, privilege, race
2 Responses to “class privilege checklist”
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While I have a television and a phone in my room, I don’t actually call that room my own. And nowadays, not buying new clothes at the mall can be a personal choice. However, I do like that you were able to check most of those even though you aren’t in the upper echlon of society. Clearly, there are many things wrong with the capitalist-partriarchal system, but it has this certain flexibility where you and I can enjoy the same things as those who are upper-middle class and above, such as iPods and computers, without having to be wealthy.
These are good points. And even though my mother and I live below the poverty line, she comes from an upper-middle class white family, so certain behaviors and ways of thinking have carried over to me from that.
We don’t have much money, but many of our priorities have a definite upper-middle class ring to them. Discussions of class tend to encompass both finances and identity, and it’s interesting that for individuals and maybe even groups the two issues may place them in different categories.