When reading two of the readings and watching the video as a Hispanic woman with a learning disability, to me the word privilege means so many meanings. In ways, I have experienced privilege was being raised by a white Hispanic. When it comes to learning two languages and being Hispanic and white, people will only see you being white unless you were speaking Spanish to someone, and sometimes it’ll be surprised that people believe that you’re Hispanic. The article “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” This article talks about white privilege and how white people (especially white men) are more comfortable with their privilege whereas people of color like indigenous, Hispanics and African American people are uncomfortable with the privilege and the little privilege that they have. An example of that can be a white person going to rehab for drug abuse whereas a person of color can be sentenced to up to a few months or a year in prison for the same reason. This is something that has been going on for a while and it’s unfair for other people who aren’t right. Being a Hispanic can be sometimes scary because people of color along with Hispanics can get attacked and killed by the police. Sometimes going outside being Hispanic is terrifying, the reason why is because Hispanic and Latinos are being harassed on the street while they mind their business. This can lead to an oppression experience when it comes to being Hispanic.
When reading the article “Oppression” by Marilyn Frye, the article talks about the harsh and stern treatment whether it’s gender or a person of color. Earlier as I explain in the last paragraph people like myself who are Hispanics comes in an oppression term, an example is from my oppression experience where my friend and I were having a conversation in Spanish and there was a guy that comes out of nowhere and begins to mock the way we talk and told us to speak Spanish. When watching the video “What is a privilege” There was an experiment that goes on in the video that they have to step back or one step forward answering the following questions. Some of the results were disappointing especially the woman who was way behind the rest, and it shows that sometimes you don’t always get that privilege that everyone has and it either makes you feel unsafe or you have to fight for the privilege you need.
I can agree that as a white passing Latina, People are surprised to hear we speak Spanish. I would say that passing is a bit problematic at times because some people don’t care about others, they care about it not happening to them.
“An example of that can be a white person going to rehab for drug abuse whereas a person of color can be sentenced to up to a few months or a year in prison for the same reason. ” I like that you used this as an example and wondered why privilege was only afforded to whites but then I realized that a lot of African Americans are not as educated and slip through the cracks. I can agree with you on knowing a language but because you don’t look like it you shouldn’t know how to speak it. I was born in Philadelphia; my whole family is Jamaican and at times you do hear an accent when I speak but people are to surprise that I can speak Patois. I will never understand why people have to be so judgmental of others.
The theme that I felt while reading your post is “Don’t judge the book by its cover.” It is interesting and also sad how your skin color can play a large role on the way people view you, even though there is so many more things in your identity that make you who you are. Living in New York and encountering people of different backgrounds has helped me a lot in fighting this habit and I appreciate posts like yours for widening my perspective.
I can agree with you in regards to being a white Latina, i never though of it but its so true. My mothers mother is from Spain she had that blonde stringy hair passed on to my mother who passed it down to us. I remember being asked if i was Italian all the time growing up but never saw it as a privilege. Now that i look back i can see where that must have played some parts in my life. Thanks for sharing your story it was a pleasure.
Hi Alexandra!, I completely agree with you, there is that fear of being able to tell your true race since you don’t know what could happen to you later. In the same way, I feel that each race is treated in a very infamous way, I say this from experience of being a Latin and Asian race, so I feel that we have the same hatred in each of them (all races in general). Being privileged is, as you say, even encompasses your race. It is very sad to know that just because a person is of x race, they should be feared or treated differently. It gave me a lot of feeling too, watching the video and seeing the woman who was far behind the rest, made me think about all the things we say we need when in reality someone else doesn’t even have the opportunity to have them.