On Privilege

“Privilege is an old word, from Old En­glish and Old French, that referred to the existence of different laws and benefits for different people. It might be the oldest target of insurrections on the books. The English Civil War and French Revolution were both revolts against privilege and the elites who inherited and abused it.”

“Fortune in America favors the white, male, able-bodied, and straight. To refer to white privilege—or male privilege, or able-bodied privilege, or straight privilege—is to acknowledge that even when things weren’t easy for white guys, white guys had it easier, if not for what they were given, then for what they were not denied.”