What Can a White Guy do About Privilege?

As a white, straight male, I’ve come to recognise that I’ve inherited a certain amount of privilege through no fault of my own. Racism, homophobia and sexism are still massive systemic problems in the West today. While it might not be so obvious, and many people would claim that they play no part in this, we live in a system that is incredibly biased towards middle-class, white, straight, men. The opportunities and resources available to me would be radically different if I were not white, straight and male – if I wasn’t privileged. It’s easy to ignore this, especially when I’m the one usually benefitting from it. I mean, why should I complain about the fact I’ve been given a good education and can work doing a job that I enjoy? Why shouldn’t I just enjoy my privilege

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More Than Words

Every time I log on to social media (which is probably more often than I should), there’s always plenty of things that grab my attention. Seeing a friend’s new baby, an update from my sister travelling around Central America or whatever country she’s in at the moment, another meme about the Great British Bake off, or a riveting comment thread from whatever politically or religiously divisive article one of my friends has posted. Now I love to get into a good ol’ Facebook debate. If you know me, then you know that I can have very strong opinions about things, and love to engage in a debate or argument over the web defending whatever position I hold. Whether it’s LGBTQ rights, systemic racism, Donald Trump, Brexit or Marvel vs. DC, I will vehemently defend and argue my opinion. I try to be open to other’s points of view but if my deconstruction has taught me anything, it’s that I can be wrong about things and that’s OK. Debate and discussion help me to see other’s point of view and learn from them where I can. But I’m starting to realise that holding an opinion or a position on things is not enough.

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