Privilege and Prejudice

How can we recognize the privilege that we have and use that as a way to reduce prejudice in society? That’s a topic under discussion on Friday July 21st as part of the monthly Interface series. This month’s presenter Lindsey Boes says privilege is essentially a social advantage that someone gets from something that they didn’t necessarily earn through their own actions, and that everyone has different levels of privilege. “I definitely have white privilege, I have educational privilege, I was raised in christian household, so I have religious privilege.”

Boes says that when people can recognize their own privilege they can work to reduce prejudice, but that can be a difficult process for some people. “I remember when I first started learning the terms privilege, I got very angry and defensive myself and I remember thinking “is this person saying that I didn’t earn these grades that I have, that I didn’t earn the things that I have in my life?” and that’s not it at all, it’s making sure that we’re recognizing that for some of use we have to work harder to get those same things.”

Lindsey Boes will discuss Reducing Prejudice Through Privilege: Encouraging Action and Connection, as part of the monthly Interface series on Friday July 21st at Naropa’s Paramita Campus, Virya Room, 3285 30th St, Boulder.