Its not everyday that I get to sit down with a white male, who fully acknowledges his privilege and actively resists his institutionalized power, for dinner.
As a student who hopes to pursue a career in service to others, I was pushed to evaluate my own privilege. It is very easy to forget that I, a black woman, have privilege. But my privilege doesn’t stem affirmative action, it comes from the Ivy League University I called Big Red. It comes from my middle class status, English as my first language, and my able bodiedness.
Yet when all of that was presented to me, all I could think about is the internal privilege. My thoughts about service are privileged.
The idea of international development is privileged. How dare the Anglo-Saxon world come to another part of the world, perceived as needing the white man’s help, and impose Western views of prosperity?
The idea of social entrepreneurship is privileged. We neglect to think that social entrepreneurship is about making a good for some, regardless of their country. Imagine a group of woman in Bangladesh manufacturing parts to make a wheelchair for a paralyzed child in America. This woman is participating in social entrepreneurship. We think that social entrepreneurship is only for those in developed countries. This isn’t true. One type of country doesn’t have monopoly over social entrepreneurship.
The idea foreign aid is privileged. How can we think to rebuild economies when we impose economic disasters on them? After the earthquake Haiti, many developed countries flocked to send aid. The thing about foreign aid is that it typically hampers the economies of communities because individuals aren’t circulating money anymore. A Haitian man was quoted saying, “After the natural disasters surfaced, an economic disasters soon followed.”
As a person with the intention to do good, I need to acknowledge and actively resist institutionalized powers. When we can do this, we will see a change in the way that we interact with various groups, communities, or nations. Are you willing to give up your privilege, internal or external? With the small that I have, I am.