Privilege test

This meme would be interesting to do with a group of friends all gathered in one place, in person as originally intended by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka of Indiana University, but I’ll just do as the rest of the blogosphere has done and bold the items that apply to me. I think it has a bigger impact in real life because you’ll see your peers standing many steps apart from each other.

Step forward one step if:

Father went to college
Father finished college
Mother went to college
Mother finished college
Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor. But the one is younger than me, so does this count, since he was not a part of the environment that raised me?
Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers
Had more than 50 books in your childhood home
Had more than 500 books in your childhood home
Were read children’s books by a parent
Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18 For a month.
Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
Had or will have less than $5000 in student loans when you graduate
Had or will have no student loans when you graduate
Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs*
Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs*
Went to a private high school
Went to summer camp It was an academic camp for one summer that I applied through school then earned a scholarship to go to… so, again, does this count?
Had a private tutor before you turned 18
Family vacations involved staying at hotels
Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
There was original art in your house when you were a child
Had a phone in your room before you turned 18
You and your family lived in a single family house
Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home
You had your own room as a child For two years before I went off to college, because my sister had by then gone off to college. Until then, we always shared
Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course
Had your own TV in your room in High School
Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16 Ok, I feel like this one really doesn’t count. The one time I flew before 16 was to immigrate to the US from Korea.
Went on a cruise with your family
Went on more than one cruise with your family
Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up
You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family

Note from the website I got this from:

*These two are edited because Christine pointed out that the previous wording didn’t clearly delineate between people who had their tuition paid for them and people who worked for their college expenses.

Other key notes from the original site:

Note that the people on one end of the room had to work harder to be here today than the people at the other end of the room. Some of you had lives of more privilege than others. There is no one to blame, it is just the way it is. Some have privilege and some don’t.

…

Having privilege does not mean that you worked less hard. All it means is that you had a head start, so maybe it does mean you didn’t have to work as hard…

That last one is a bit vaguely phrased, but if you just drop that last clause and end with “… you had a head start,” then I think it makes perfect sense.

Some of the things that they suggest discussing are:

• What were the feelings that you had during this experience? Who was angry? (Anger will be a primary emotion at this point.)

• What, specifically, makes you angry?

• Who are you angry at?

• Who was happy?

• Which item do you want to argue about most? Why? Do you want more or fewer steps?

My future kids will have almost everything checked off. It’s kind of crazy.