There's an idea that's getting a lot of press that certain people in America are more privileged than others. Those people tend to include White people, Men, and those with money or better jobs, leaving everyone else, like Black people, women, and poor people at a disadvantage, or underprivileged. Lets take a quick look at the actual dictionary definition of the word privilege.
Privilege: noun~Alright, so by that definition, someone who has privilege is someone who has an advantage over the rest of the population. Kind of like how the Prince of England has certain advantages over your average shop worker. Makes sense. Kind of like a hierarchy in the world. Kind of like how things have been working for thousands of years. But I digress.
a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group of people.
Back in the Middle Ages, I would definitely say that being born rich, or in a certain class would help you out in life. If you're a Duke, you're never going to have to worry about being a lowly surf. And if you're born in a poor house with almost no food to go around, you might as well give up your dreams of becoming the next King.
But America is the land of opportunity, and it always has been. Yes, I know there was that whole Slavery thing, where we bought and sold Irish and Black slaves, and during most of that period, they didn't have a chance to get anywhere.
And yes, even afterwards, there was some heavy racism going on, making it nearly impossible for a Black person to get ahead in life. But that didn't stop some people, just like it shouldn't be stopping anyone now. Just look up Madam C.J. Walker if you don't believe me.
I will not deny that some people are born with an advantage. Donald Trump's kids have a better chance of getting a loan than I do (not that they would need a bank loan). But just because someone in the world has a greater advantage than I do, doesn't mean I'm allowed to blame them when things are harder for me. The entire conversation going around in the country about 'white privilege' and 'male privilege' is ludicrous and nothing more than an excuse.
It is absolute insanity to say that being born a man, or being born white gives you so much of an advantage that literally nobody on the planet can surpass you. If that was the case, there would be no such thing as a homeless white person, there would never be another unemployed man, and people born into poverty would never ever be able to rise above it. But we all know that's not the case. Need an example?
NWA were all poor, underprivileged black men from one of the worst, scariest ghettos in the country. They faced extreme prejudice from the police (sorry, but some of that was their own doing), and yet somehow they managed to rise not only out of poverty, but they became rich. They were household names, everyone knew who they were. Even today, Dr. Dre and Ice Cube are among the top 15 richest rappers in the world. They started at the bottom, and now Dr. Dre is worth $700 million, and Ice Cube is worth $120 million. They might have had to work a little harder and overcome more garbage than say, Taylor Swift, but they not only made it to the big leagues, they are the big leagues. Dr Dre made Beats by Dre, one of the best selling headphones ever. Ice Cube is...well he's Ice Cube. You know, the guy who's made enough box office hits that his movies have grossed $967.4 million worldwide. So tell me how being black prevents you from making something out of yourself.
Need another example? If that's not enough for you, how about the world's number one, richest, most famous, most powerful author, who just so happens to be a woman. Yes, I am in fact talking about JK Rowling, who is worth $1 billion. And she gives it away to charity all the time too. Are you honestly going to tell me that male privilege has anything to do with her being the richest author in the world? She literally is richer than Steven King. And this is not because she won some rich husband, it's because she earned it.
I will not deny that some people have more opportunities handed to them than others. But at the end of the day, that doesn't matter in the least. Do you think Dr. Dre made his fortune overnight? Do you think JK Rowling just casually became famous? No, they worked their fingers to the bone, dealing with all the same garbage that everyone else faces, and then some.
Claiming that White Privilege, Male Privilege, Rich Privilege, whatever other 'privileged' group you can think of, is the reason you aren't successful in your own life is lazy, it's projecting, and it's just straight up false. You can't claim that someone else is causing your hopes and dreams to fail, especially someone or something as vague as another group's 'privilege'.
This is America. It is 2017. You can do and be literally whatever you want right now, there has never been a better time to follow your dreams. Like, no, I'm not kidding, you can currently be whatever you want. There is a man who claims he's a 6 year old girl, left his wife and kids, and is currently living with two very strange adults who pretend to be his parents. You can do whatever.
Okay, all joking aside (yes, that man actually is real, look him up), it's completely ridiculous to blame someone else for your failure. Opportunities don't usually fall into your lap, no matter who you are. You have to actively pursue your goal. Taking a backseat to your own life, then blaming someone else for why things aren't working out is the reason things aren't working out.
And at the end of the day, if you've given your dream everything you've got, and it's still not working out, maybe it's time to reach for something else. Maybe you're just not going to be an astronaut. Because there's also this crazy concept where your dreams won't always come true. Not everyone can be everything, contrary to popular belief. Some people have certain skills and personalities that are required for certain things. Sure, you can find a way to work hard enough to do whatever you want, but in the end, is it worth it? That's a question you must always be asking.
So just to recap; Privilege does exists, it's stupid to blame your problems on someone else's good fortune, hard work is the only real way to achieve your goals, and check to make sure you want to put in that much work to reach your goal, otherwise find a new one.
Spend 2017 working to reach your goals. Don't blame anything or anyone else on why it's not working. It's all on you to reach your goal, nobody is going to hand it to you, and it's not on anyone else if it doesn't work. JK Rowling was rejected no less than 10 times before Harry Potter had a publisher, and NWA spent much of their early years in poverty. Your background doesn't affect your future, you do. Work hard, accept your defeats, learn from them, then work even harder. Success doesn't happen overnight, and it's solely dependent on you.
Good luck.
Cheers!
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