content/on-privilege.rst

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+========================================================================
+Privilege isn't a sin, but it's a responsibility and a debt to be repaid
+========================================================================
+
+:date: 2018-08-25 07:50
+:author: Christopher Lemmer Webber
+:tags: privilege
+
+Recently I was on a private mailing list thread where there was debate
+about whether or not the project should take on steps to improve
+diversity.  One of the mailing list participants was very upset about
+this idea, and said that they didn't like when people accused them of
+the "original sin" of having white male privilege.
+
+I suspect this is at the root of a lot of misunderstanding and
+frustration around the term "privilege".  Privilege is not a
+sin... you are not a sinner for having privilege.  However it is a
+responsibility and a debt to be repaid and corrected for, stemming
+from injustices in society.
+
+A popular social narrative is that everyone has an equal place at the
+starting line, so the winners and losers of a race are equally based
+on their merit.  Unfortunately this isn't true.  Privilege is being
+able to show up at the starting line having had sleep and a good meal
+and the resources to train... you still worked to be able to get to
+the finish line and having privilege does not take that away.  But if
+we look at the other people on the track we could see that they not
+only maybe didn't get enough sleep or were not able to allocate time
+to train (maybe they had to work multiple jobs on the side) or
+couldn't afford to eat as healthily.  Some of them actually may even
+have to start back farther from the starting line, there are rocks and
+weeds and potholes in their paths.  If we really want to treat
+everyone based on merit, we'd have to give everyone an equal place at
+the starting line, an equal track, etc.  Unfortunately, due to the way
+the race is set up, that does mean needing to correct for some things,
+and it requires actual effort to repair the track.
+
+My spouse Morgan Lemmer-Webber is an art historian and recently got into
+free software development (and software development in general).  She
+has faced sexism, as all women do, her entire life, but it was
+immediately more visible and severe once she entered the technology
+space.  For example, she wrote a web application for her work at the
+university.  I helped train her, but I refused to write any code because
+I wanted her to learn, and she did.  Eventually the project got larger
+and she became a manager and hired someone whom she was to train to take
+over development.  He took a look at the code, emailed her and said
+"Wow, this file looks really good, I assume your husband must have
+written this code?"
+
+What a thing to say!  Can you imagine how that must have felt?  If I
+heard something like that said to me I'd want to curl up in a ball and
+die.  And she had more experiences like this too, experiences she never
+had until she entered the technology space.  And if you talk to women in
+this field, you'll hear these stories are common, and more: dismissal,
+harassment, rape threats if you become too visible or dare to speak
+out... not to mention there's the issue that most of the people in tech
+don't look like you, so you wonder if you really actually belonged, and
+you wonder if everyone else believes that too.  Likewise with people of
+color, likewise with people in the LGBTQ space... stones and disrepair
+on the path, and sometimes you have to start a bit farther back.
+
+To succeed at the race with privilege, of course you have to work hard.
+You have to train, you have to dedicate yourself, you have to run hard.
+This isn't meant to take away your accomplishments, or to say you didn't
+work hard.  You did!  It's to say that others have all these obstacles
+that we need to help clear from their path.  No wonder so many give up
+the race.  And there comes the responsibility and debt to be repaid: if
+you have privilege, put it to good work: pitch in.  If you want that
+dream of everyone to have an equal place at the starting line to be
+true, help fix the track.  But there's a lot of damage there... it's
+going to take a long time.