Just Listen

Tal Fortgang, a freshman at Princeton, recently wrote an op-ed in a university publication, the Princeton Tory. The now viral article “Checking My Privilege: Character as the Basis of Privilege” has sparked a lot of controversy between activists and those who praise Fortgang’s courage to speak up. Like at many other universities, Princeton’s student activists had displayed signs and posters all over campus asking students to check their privilege. Fortgang’s article article condemns these activists for “diminishing everything I have personally accomplished, all the hard work I have done in my life” as something handed to him by what he calls the invisible forces of privilege. Fortgang continues to explain his family history and the hardships his family had to go through. He uses this to criticize those who judge him for his white privilege and expands on his belief of reverse racism. He ends his article with the quote, “I have checked my privilege. And I apologize for nothing.”Like Fortgang, many Americans seem to have this belief that racism is over. The Supreme Court’s recent support of Michigan’s ban against Affirmative Action has further given many to reason that we all now live in an ideal society. It should be great that racism is over, and that now everyone is on an equal playing field, shouldn’t it?What these Americans fail to see, however, are the facts. Privilege is still prevalent in our society. Privilege is when you receive benefits from being part of a larger group and can exist in many forms. For example, I for one have straight privilege, so I do not have to face the discrimination and hardships that would come with being any other sexual orientation. In the case of white privilege, just looking at the statistics of America’s socioeconomic structure proves racism still exists. The majority of white people are at the top of the income ladder while people of color are at the bottom. Countless studies have shown that white people are the most likely to be hired. Individual or personal racism also stills exists and can even be seen through the recent derogatory comments made by Don Sterling and Cliven Bundy.For me, I began to sense the existence of privilege and flaws in our society just by turning on the television. When I was younger, I was on one episode of a television show when I caught the acting bug. Far-fetched dreams of acting and becoming famous would not leave my head, so I researched countless casting websites. What I found crushed me. Every ad I went through was looking for a white male or the occasional female. In retrospect, it all makes sense now considering every television show I watch is either about a white family, a group of white friends, or a workplace consisting of all white people with one or two supporting actors of different ethnicities. That was one of the first times I realized that perhaps there was something wrong with the world I live in today.While I sympathize with Fortgang on his statement that he does not want to be judged for his white appearance, I think his op-ed fails to fundamentally understand privilege and what it entails. Fortgang condemns others for diminishing the hard work he has done in his life, but he does not realize that no one has ever questioned or invalidated his work. When students say to “check your privilege,” all they want you to do is to acknowledge that some people had to work harder to get to your position. “Check your privilege” asks you to listen. It asks you to listen to the people–historically silenced–who now have the chance to speak up. No one is asking you to apologize for the privilege that you have. If you have it, embrace it, acknowledge it and move on. It is not an inherent fault of yours but rather a side effect of the society we live in today.Here at Exeter, it’s obvious that we all had to go through a process to come here. We all had to work hard. We’re a great school; we’re progressive, intelligent and talented. We are encouraged to share our experiences through Harkness. We are incredibly generous with financial aid scholarships and strive for diversity. It’s easy to get lost in our bubble and say privilege does not exist. It’s a lot harder to take a true honest look at society and oneself and to admit that you have privilege. Like true Exonians, however, all we can really do is to continue to discuss it and listen to each other. To the boy who cried “reverse racism,” next time, get your facts straight and just listen.