WP1
I have grown up with the silver spoon of privilege — I am a part of a traditional Christian family, live in an affluent neighborhood, and have attended fine private schools since kindergarten. These privileges that I have experienced throughout the course of my life have been inherited at birth, and are evident through the external factors of my white race and socio-economic status. Through a project that I completed in church, I came to terms with my privilege and learned the unconscious role that I play in contributing to this form of oppression. Though this was an incredibly important realization, awareness is not enough. I also learned the obligation that I have to utilize the power that I inherited from birth to advocate for those marginalized by oppression. The fact that I never was forced to come to terms with these privileges, nor was I even truly aware of them, until the summer leading into senior year of high school, goes to show the extent of my privilege. It also made visible to me the importance of looking at the world through the experiences of others, rather than merely my own, so that my privilege does not blind me to the true nature of the world around me.
Following a discussion in my church youth group about modeling the instruction of Christ to “love one’s neighbor as oneself,” we were instructed to complete a project in which we were each given a different form of discrimination to research, and were told to reflect upon our personal experiences with it. I was assigned to create my presentation on my personal experiences with colorism, defined as the differential treatment or prejudice in accordance to the shade of one’s skin color, especially favoritism toward those with a lighter skin tone, and mistreatment or exclusion of those with a darker skin tone, based on the social implications which come with the cultural meanings which are attached to skin color.
Colorism is not limited to oppression from the white community to the black community; this form of oppression exists and continues to have a stronghold within the black community itself. I was instructed to choose a book that I had already read to use as the basis of my presentation, and I chose Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, chronicling the life of Janie Starks, a biracial African-American woman living in the 1930’s. The novel portrays her experiences with colorism from both black and white communities, as well as her lifelong struggle to find a sense of identity. Janie experiences colorism due to her mixed race and decision to marry a darker-skinned black man; she also ironically learns her ‘privilege’ during an interaction with Mrs. Turner, a darker-skinned black woman. Mrs. Turner makes snide judgements about Janie’s choice in husband, and when Janie snaps back, Mrs. Turner accepts this remark because she believes that “Anyone who looked more white folkish than herself was better than she was in her criteria, therefore it was right they should be cruel to her at times…. Like the pecking order in a chicken yard” (Hurston). Hurston illuminates for the reader the varying degrees of discrimination and privilege within colorism. Mrs. Turner’s acceptance and internalization of colorism, even at her own expense, serves as a reminder of the oppression that exists even within the black community.
In order to experience a form of discrimination, one does not need to be the object of oppression. This concept is what I believe to be the reason that it took me such a long time to discover the systematic presence of several different forms of prejudice within my life. When I first read the project description, I was confused on how to approach a project in which I had to write about my life experiences with a form of discrimination I had never faced. My youth group sat down and discussed the different forms of discrimination that we were each assigned, and as a member of the group talked about his topic of ageism, I had a sudden epiphany, realizing that I actually experience colorism every day, because my white skin color has granted me white privilege rather than the discrimination of colorism felt by those with darker skin. This “lightbulb moment” allowed me to understand other types of prejudice or bias and their constant presence in my life, as well as within society at large.
Every day I play a role in contributing to the system of oppression just by being who I am, although it is unconscious and unintentional. It took me quite a long time to not only recognize my role in the oppression of others, but to realize my obligation to advocate for others because of this privilege. I inherited the privilege that comes from socioeconomic status and skin color, whether I like it or not, and therefore my very existence can contribute to the oppression of others. Despite not directly contributing towards forms of discrimination by actively oppressing others, I still play a role in it because where I am given privilege, others experience oppression. As a result, it is my responsibility to not only heighten my sensitivity to marginalized groups, but continue to recognize all forms of discrimination around me and speak out against them.
Privilege may shelter me from being the target of discrimination, but it will no longer prevent me from noticing its impact on others. The thin veil that sheltered me from noticing the oppression of others in my daily life was lifted by this project, and I longer lived in blissful ignorance, unaware of the impact that my privilege has on other people. Following this project, I have become increasingly cognizant of the day-to-day struggles that I will never face. While this project enabled me to see the necessity of being empathetic towards others and recognize the existence of struggles I will never face, I further realized it is not enough to simply be aware, empathetic, and well-intentioned. Rather, one must become an advocate for the oppressed.
On a wider scale, learning about the discrimination of others through the form of colorism allowed me to understand the magnitude of how limiting it is to look at the world through a lens that has been colored only by my own experiences. Pedro Calderón de la Barca, a Spanish poet, explained that “In this treacherous world/Nothing is the truth nor a lie./Everything depends on the color/Of the crystal through which one sees it” (Pedro Calderón de la Barca). Nearly all of our ideas, from our morals to political standpoints to even taste in music, have been shaped by family, culture, religion, and our own unique life experiences. Discovering the presence of oppression in the lives of others opened my eyes to the significance of listening to the experiences and viewpoints of other people in order to give myself a wider perception of the world, and to challenge what I see as truth. Doing so further allows me to see and hear the stories of the disenfranchised with compassion and empathy, and act with the intentions of others in mind, rather than limiting myself to making decisions based solely upon what benefits my own needs and priorities. I believe that I was deeply changed by this project; I have evolved to understand the significance of listening to and acknowledging the lives and struggles of others, and have learned my role and responsibility in contributing to make the world more just.
Works Cited
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. HarperPerennial, 1998.
Pedro Calderon de la Barca Quotes. n.d. <https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/114375-in-this-treacherous-world-nothing-is-the-truth-nor-a>.
Colorism. 2020. LLC. <https://www.dictionary.com/browse/colorism>.
