Identity and Privilege
Our identities are comprised of everything that has been poured into us over our lifetimes. It includes:
Our identities are comprised of everything that has been poured into us over our lifetimes. It includes:
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Distinguishing characteristics
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Age, gender, religious or spiritual affiliation, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status are all identities. Some identities are things people can see easily (like race or assumed gender), while other identities are internalized and are not always easy to see (like a disability, socioeconomic status or education level)
• Information: What we listen to, what we watch, what we read, what we hear. What shapes our views.
• Education: Our level of education, our field of study and even educational institutions contribute to our sense of self—our preferences and biases.
• Context: Identity changes as our situation changes.
• Culture: Cultural elements ranging from race to religion to geography.
• Innate Traits: We have innate preferences that can contribute to the way we see circumstances and situations.
• Our Experiences: Our experiences stay with us, leaving a lasting impression.
Understanding our identities is also understanding our level of privilege. Unearned set of advantages, entitlements, benefits granted to a particular person or group, exercised to the exclusion or detriment of others. Privilege may be experienced without awareness and exists across communities and identities
Intersectionality is the acknowledgment that everyone has their own unique experiences of oppression and we must consider everything and anything that can marginalize First coined by Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw back in 1989.
Members of dominant social groups privileged by birth or acquisition who knowingly or unknowingly exploit and reap unfair advantage over members of marginalized groups. Marginalized groups are often compartmentalized in defined roles in oppressive systems.
• An agent group has the power to define and name reality, and determine what is normal, real and correct.
• Psychological colonization of the target group occurs through socializing the oppressed to internalize their oppressed condition.
• Differential and unequal treatment is institutionalized and systematic.
• The target group's culture, language and history is misrepresented, discounted or eradicated, and the dominant group culture is imposed.
Oppression (the "ism's") happens at all levels, reinforced by societal norms, institutional biases, interpersonal interactions and individual beliefs. Everyone has experienced some privilege and forms of oppression at some point in their lives. It's important to check your privilege. All your social identities play into your 'privilege', even if you didn't ask for it. Reflect on these and consider how this impacts the discriminations you do and don't experience.
Adapted from the following resources:
Fuller P., Murphy M., Chow A. (2020) The Leader's Guide to Unconscious Bias: How to Reframe Bias, Cultivate Connection and Create High-Performing Teams. Simon and Shuster.