Let’s talk about privilege.   

Or, we can talk about need. 

I am already sensing a preference and a greater degree of comfort with the latter. 

Last week, I chased down a ball on the edge of the court a bit overzealously and ran my knee into the wall with a lot of force. I probably ought to mention that the court I am referencing is one where I was playing racquetball – a sport most would consider to be played by privileged individuals. 

The injury was quite painful, but I decided to wait it out. My sister, whom I happened to see that day, however, would not let me dismiss it so easily. Under the sympathetic convincing of my sibling, I phoned a nurse hotline, where I was strongly advised to go to urgent care or the emergency room within the next hour. “You potentially fractured or split your knee cap,” said the nurse, who then warned me of the potentially permanent consequences of not seeking care.

With no urgent care in the area still open and not prepared to bear an emergency room bill, my sister drove me an hour from Raleigh where I was able to receive treatment at an urgent care that stayed open late. 

Throughout this whole experience, I could not help but be aware of my privilege. I injured myself playing a privileged sport. I had a family member that cared about me and was close enough to help. We had transportation allowing us to drive over an hour away for me to be seen. I realized just how often I take my health and access to healthcare for granted.

Initially, the greater awareness felt satisfying. As I have heard many times, this is the type of awareness for which I ought to strive. As a pragmatist though, I felt a disconnect. Other than a potentially greater ability to sympathize, consciousness of my own privilege did nothing to help anyone else. I began to realize that seemingly nothing changed for anyone except me, and I felt greatly dissatisfied with that.  Wasn’t this small stroke of insight on the large canvas of my privilege supposed to allow me gains in becoming a better human being, more equipped as an agent for social justice? The experience failed to create any epiphany that changed my political standpoint or understanding of the laws of economics. 

So why is there a disconnect, and why would you prefer to talk about need instead privilege? Perhaps it is because understanding your privilege fails to naturally create a clear call to action. In this way, conversations concerning privilege are far too often immobilizing in nature. 

The problem exists in the fact that mindfulness of your own privilege is often implicitly equated to a better understanding of another person or community’s needs. This is quite a dangerous assumption. While awareness of your own privilege remains important and applaudable, it alone will not make you more proficient in understanding someone else’s needs. Assuming otherwise is a bit egocentric and leads down a troublesome, and at times, almost laughable road.  

This is the same reasoning that leads people like Jason Sadler, a man who started a campaign in 2010 to send a million used t-shirts to Africa, to begin social initiatives that waste precious resources and fail to properly support people’s genuine needs. Sadler, who admittedly had never visited the continent of Africa or worked in an aid or development sphere, felt a benevolent desire to help those less privileged than himself. Unfortunately, his cognizance of his own advantages did not equate to any true or developed comprehension of the needs faced by the many individuals he wished to support. 

Clearly, confusion of privilege and need can have costly effects. Of course, it is easier to understand your own privilege than the intricacies of another human being’s situation and needs, which is perhaps why there exists a tendency to encourage that as the starting point for privileged individuals. Granted, introspection is difficult. Often though, it is easier than the listening and sustained effort required to begin understanding a need, and in turn, act in response to it.  

Understanding your privilege is a natural byproduct of understanding someone else’s needs, not the other way around. 

Oh, and in case you were wondering, my knee is healing quite well. Privileged indeed.