Reflecting on Experiences

I first read Peggy Mcintosh’s White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack in my freshman year intro to Women’s Studies class. This essay is one that everyone should have to read, as it makes us question our own privilege and that of those around us. It is easy to say we are discriminated against based on our gender, sexual identity, background or whatever, but what it hard is accepting that we have privilege of our own. Often social movements have failed because people fail to see the differences within a group, such as the discrimination of African American women during the early stages of the women’s rights movement. In unpacking my invisible knapsack, I realized that I have privilege based on my race and class. I have access to quality education, when I turn on the television I see people that look like me, and I can feel confident that if I go to the police I will receive fair treatment.

Hiking Volcan Pichincha with Friends

The privilege we have as Americans here is Ecuador is very apparent. Unfortunately, it also makes us targets for robberies in Quito, but everyone treats us differently. When we travel as a class, we visit different farms, factories, and government institutions. We are trying to learn about international development and the problems that exist within society, but everywhere we go a metaphoric red carpet is laid out before us and we are treated much differently than anyone from here. When we go out at night, we are given free drinks and special treatment. Furthermore, on our first day here, we met with members of the State Department and Ecuadorian representatives to learn about the procedures for responding to crimes. Crime is high in the city, but the prosecution rate is low. The government treats us differently because they believe we have money.

Although as white people we are very much in the minority here, cultural representations of Ecuador often show white, or very light mestizo, people. Advertisements and billboards show white people enjoying Ecuador. For the large percentage of Ecuadorians that are either indigenous or Afro Ecuadorian, there is little representation in daily culture. As white Americans, we stand out when we walk around. We are stared at and treated differently, but we are never discriminated against.

My privilege here is still very much dependent not on where I am from, but rather on the color of my skin. Social hierarchy is very much based on race and socioeconomic class. Living with a host family that is upper middle class and mestizo, I see the privilege they have in their daily lives. In the home, it feels very much like I am living in the United States, but with Spanish. I often feel that while I’m enjoying living with them, there is so much more of Ecuador I am missing. The culture of middle and upper class families in the city is very similar to ours in the United States, but when we travel I feel like I am really getting to know and understand other cultures.

Our hotel stay at a 16th century hacienda

One clear example of privilege that my classmates and I have is language. As Peggy Mcintosh points out, it is convenient to not have to learn another language. I have noticed that while I definitely need Spanish to function and travel here, for Ecuadorians to be successful in business, they need to know English. We are privileged as Americans to have everything accessible in our language, whether it’s NGOs or international trade. We are a country that influences how others operate, not the other way around, and the more I travel, the more I realize that we are privileged and also ignorant much of the time. Travelling has made me want to become more involved with US politics and affairs, because I now have a world outlook, and I want to change a lot about how foreign policy works. As a white, middle class, educated American, I have a lot of privilege, but I have also been able to become aware of my privilege which I believe has changed the way I view other cultures and societies.