Privilege is a hard thing to overcome in both directions.

The obvious direction is overcoming your privileges: white, hetero, economic, etc. Unless you're a poor Latina lesbian in a wheelchair, you most likely have some privilege to face and admit. My privilege includes having the government recognize my relationship, having completed graduate school, and the economic power to be here blogging, taking vacations, and traveling for conferences that would go on without me.

Another aspect of privilege includes confronting your bias against those with privilege.

Wait, ok?

I have to admit, to some this isn't a huge surprise, but my biggest bias is with people of money. Growing up working poor and then seeing the garishness of some of my classmates homes really made me pissy with those with money. Having to work my way through college while knowing that there are some out there partying while I'm working made me biased against those with money. Thankfully I didn't go to college with too many people like that, but after college I got to meet more of them. Or at least at first look, they looked like them.

I've known a woman for almost 8 years who comes from some very old money. But I got to know her before I knew that, but I have to admit that I had a feeling. She does some amazing work and I'm looking forward to reconnecting and doing some awesome work together. But there are days when I can't get over the 'fact' that she could call her Grandma and wa-la, money. I say 'fact' because I have no idea what her financial situation is like.

Remember Carter on "ER"? She's kinda like him. Trying to change the world and be a normal person despite having this huge burden of family responsibilities behind her. She works on her class privilege constantly. Yet doesn't understand why some of us, like me, have a hard time with her doing the work she does.

As a Latina who doesn't speak Spanish, I stay out of working in Spanish-speaking communities. My Spanish is embarrassing to me and well, I don't want to look like I'm doing a good deed. If yo know what I mean. Yet I know white women who speak perfect Spanish and do some amazing work para my people. Should they not do that work because of their skin color? No. Because of their class? No.

But there is a need for people, everyone, to understand their target community - Yeah that whole cultural competency thing.

I do think that a Kennedy can address their privilege and be director of a literacy program in a Spanish-speaking community. It's hard. Most of it is trust on their constituents part to trust that they aren't a summer project.

Sorry for the rambling, but I'm just trying to get a grasp on my own thoughts as I reconnect with this woman and have to face my own biases.

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Labels: feminism, misc