Untitled (On Racial
Privilege) by Alfian
Sa'at
May 18, 2014
- I can turn on the television or open up the newspapers and see people of my race widely represented.
- When I am told about our national heritage or about civilization, I am shown that mostly people of my color made it what it is.
- I can go into a music shop and count on finding the music of my race represented, into a hawker centre and find the foods that fit with my cultural traditions, into a cinema and find films in my mother tongue or at least subtitled in it.
- I can choose concealer, blemish cover or bandages in flesh color that more or less matches my skin.
- I can sit in public transport without wondering if the reason why nobody is taking the seat beside me is because I am thought of as being dirty or smelly.
- I can look at a list of schools to choose to go to after my PSLE and not wonder whether they offer my mother tongue as part of their curriculum.
- I can approach a recruitment booth for the air force or navy without having someone awkwardly tell me that it is an unsuitable career for me. (If they are more honest they will say I am unsuitable for it).
- I can read job advertisements without worrying whether or not I would qualify for some racial or language preference set down by the employers.
- I can swear, or dress in second-hand clothes, or turn up late without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, poverty or ‘bad attitude’ of my race.
- I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.
- I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.
- I can go home from most meetings or organizations I belong to feeling somewhat tied in rather than isolated, out of place, outnumbered, unheard, held at a distance, or feared.
(Still unsure about what racial privilege
is? Here's a checklist, adapted from Peggy McIntosh.)
