A Lesson in Privilege

With as much self-described Obama-homerism that takes place on this blog, it's important to sometimes take a step back and consider the dissenting views (which I believe incidentally is headquartered at FOX NEWS) that say that people are blindly following Obama, he's all rhetoric, and he's too much of a celebrity. I've heard a lot of this over the last two years, and I've heard a lot of the retort. But what I haven't heard anything about is the vital role that privilege plays in these scathing criticisms of Obama and his supporters.

Privilege is nothing more than having a special right, immunity, standard, or permission in a society. Given the inequities in our social society, then, it means that some people are more privileged than others. The challenge of our times, I believe, is coming to a realization and understanding of these privileges in order to make social and economic process.

So, one way to look at the aforementioned criticisms of Obama is to look at it through a privilege lens. Perhaps an example is best to begin.

One of the early criticism of Obama's rhetoric early-on in the campaign is when he would say, "We are the ones who we've been waiting for." There were--and still are--frequent criticisms that this is simply an exercise in empty rhetoric that sends the masses into a frenzy over nothing. But, as Harry Boyte points out, that sang ties deeply into a message that so many Americans have lived. You see, that phrase is one that emanated from the deep South, and the struggle for civil rights. That phrase, then, isn't just a nine word phrase used to excite people, it's used to invoke something larger -- a movement of a people that is reminiscent of overcoming great obstacles in American history. It's similar to the Obama's frequent message of it's not about me, it's about you. Some dismiss this as Obama merely trying to deflect attention that he so desperately craves, but again, look no further than the movement that hoisted MLK to similar heights to find so many parallels. MLK wrote and spoke about the perils of a movement that put too much faith and stock into a single leader.

So, what do these examples illustrate? I think it's a simple yet complex message that different people see and hear things differently, depending on where they sit in the world. It's an important lesson for those who sit a little higher along life's great hierarchy, especially. The golden takeaway for me is simply, "Let us not be so quick to judge without first examining first where we sit and where we have come from."