Privilege

I agree with the fact that some people are born into and raised with more privilege than others. Privilege can be tied to a number of things, most prominently race, sex, and income. As a disclaimer for all of the examples I use, I am not saying that each of these scenarios will happen, I'm just pointing out that they're undeniably more common than they should be.

Racially, privilege is most differentiated compared to sex and income. For example, when a black person is pulled over by a white cop, it's reasonable for them to be worried about their well-being, given the long history of police being more hostile with black people they interact with. It seems ingrained in society today that if you're not white, you have to work harder; that if you're not white, you're going to be unsafe; that if you're not white, the world is against you. Where a white person would have no problem getting a job, it may be harder for a black person with equal credentials to get a job.

Sex is subject to privilege differences as well. A prominent example of this is in the infamous glass ceiling example, which states that in a business, after a certain amount of promotions, it becomes almost impossible for a woman to climb up further. For a man, it becomes almost expected that they'll receive a large chain of promotions if they've been with a business for a long time and are doing well. If instead of a man it's a woman, it's less likely that they'll receive the same chain of promotions. Even in everyday life it's evident that sex impacts privilege. For example, I feel almost no threat or concern when walking home late at night on campus, but many of my female friends have expressed worry when they have had to do the same.

Income and socioeconomic status is a huge determiner of privilege. For example, it's much easier for someone from a rich family to get into a good college or get a good job, especially if their family has connections to the institution. It's also much easier for these people to go through college and not have any financial struggle, and many are even well-off in terms of financial status. Someone who comes from a poor or lower-middle class family does not have these same connections, and life will be harder for them by a large margin without the privilege others have.

Privilege is something that affects everyone: either you're on the privileged end or the unprivileged end. As a society, it's our responsibility to undo these privileges in any way we can. Put an end to racism to the best of our ability, and likewise for sexism. As for income and socioeconomic status, that's another issue. It can't be dealt with the same methods used against sexism and racism; it boils down completely to politics. It would take a strongly anti-rich, redistributive political climate to undo the privilege given by income and socioeconomic status.