Sunday, December 28, 2014
This may very well be the last Breaking Bias post of 2014. I think this is why I feel a special obligation to take a leaf out of Facebook's book and write a "Year in Review." At first I thought of doing a timeline, but I felt like that would treat certain issues disproportionately. Then, I thought of writing a list of highlights for each form of privilege, but I didn't want one triumph (or failure)...
Sunday, December 21, 2014
"It's not about what you get, it's what you give." That's what my parents always told me. Growing up, that lesson was water off a duck's back; however, this phrase took on a whole new meaning for me this season. In one of my first posts, I mentioned that while I live in a low-income household, I have more than a couple of affluent relatives on the other side of my family. This has given me...
Sunday, December 14, 2014
A recent study conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) found that 18.2 percent of America's adult population endure some form of mental illness every year. That's just about one in five. Statistically speaking, you could have two or three co-workers suffering from a mental illness in your office. If all of my classmates were eighteen, up to five of my...
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Privilege is a tough subject to talk about, and not one that people understand fully. This Buzzfeed article shares the story of how one teacher tried to teach privilege to their students. It’s a very simplistic activity that involves throwing paper and fairness. But, as some people have pointed out, privilege isn't just throwing paper. Jeff Wang, the author of this article shared his opinion on the...
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Confession: I am a huge nerd. So, of course, when I heard there was going to be a new Star Wars movie, I just about ripped my hair out in excitement.Last week, the first trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released and with it came an explosion of questions, comments and concerns from the Star Wars fan base. Everything seemed to be going great and then...the bigots joined the party.Within...
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Check this out. Why?
It's another example of how society wants to define something that they don't get to define. Yes, it may have been hard for her family to accept her the way she saw herself, but the reality is that "he" was a "she" and not amount of make-up or changes to hair can change that.
This article makes me think of babies who are born with two types of genitalia and...
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Last week, someone showed me this article. It talks about how some students spoke up about the University of Chicago’s “culture of racial intolerance”. Colleges aren't the safest community for people of color, but when people spoke out against this racial intolerance they were subjected to slurs, and violence, and threats of harm and rape. And frankly, that's appalling. The university said that the...
Sunday, November 23, 2014
This morning, Michael Eric Dyson, a professor of sociology at Georgetown University and former mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani got into an argument that was so heated I probably could have fried an egg on the laptop I was watching it from. Tonight's post was supposed to be on the disproportion...
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Growing up, my father was always worried about what people would think of our family. “Those jeans are ripped, go change.” “Read this book on how to diet properly.” I was always confused as a child, as to who would care if my pants were a bit high, or if my sister’s stomach was a bit big. But as it turns out, people stare. And they aren't sweet about it.
People always look away when they are caught...
Monday, November 17, 2014
Friday, November 14, 2014
Teaching WEB DuBois’ The Souls of Black Folk (1903) last night to my undergrads at ASU, I was reminded that the context of that piece and his rival Booker T. Washington’s Up from Slavery is really white privilege, about what to do with blacks just freed from slavery. While DuBois asks the perennial question at the turn of the century—How do we measure progress?—the question is really one that begs...
Monday, November 3, 2014
As I've mentioned before, when it comes to my financial situation, I have what I consider the best of both worlds. My parents are divorced. My father makes a pretty good sum of money while my mother...not so much. Her annual income is anywhere from a quarter to an eighth of his and my dad makes a good sum of money, but no, an eighth of that does not make for comfortable living by any means. But...
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
My mother is a woman of many words. Many repeated words, actually. And it's ironic that her daughter, of all people, writes on a blog about privilege because if I were to make a guess, I'd say her top words are (next to "Chicana") rich, white, and privilege. And just to clarify for those who aren't living in Mesa, Arizona, these three words are basically interchangeable. The members of this community...
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
College, College, College!!!
As a senior in high school, college readiness is constantly being thrown in my face, and because of this college never stops coming up. This week, my AP English teacher had us organize our college portfolios, making the topic as incessant as ever. Throughout the week, I overheard a lot of interesting questions and comments, and I felt like sharing a couple of...
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Summer is ending, and it's about this time where all the of the responsibility begins to fall on the shoulders of the high school student. First quarter projects are coming up, books are making their way into the curriculum and the speech and debate season is just around the corner. Needless to say, it's been a busy couple of weeks.
I'm still getting used to this whole blogging thing, and I'm not...
Friday, September 19, 2014
Last night I had the honor of hearing Nikki Giovanni speak to
a crowd of about 1300 people at the Mesa Arts Center. Her talk was punctuated by numerous comments that were both humorous and insightful. Several of which
I’m sure I’ll be mulling over for many, many months. There was one thing she said though, that
brought me so much hope. Hope, is something I've
been struggling...
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Greetings! My name is Rachel Sondgeroth and I am absolutely ecstatic to be writing the first post for Privilege 101! Today's post is mostly house-keeping. Before we officially kick things off, there are a few questions that need to be answered.
First, what is Privilege 101?
Privilege 101 is an offshoot of a series called "Perils & Perks of Privilege" by a program called Project...
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