Reflecting on Experience

Before reading through McIntosh's essay "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack", I was well aware that I possessed considerable privileges from my being born in the United States in addition to being white and male. Since the focus of this entry is what is means to be an American and how being at home and abroad confers certain advantages which can be quite different when one looks at the citizens of another country.It is these advantages which I will elaborate on for a bit of time here showing how being American carries with it just as many expressed and unexpressed assumptions about a person's role in society and the protections that are built into the system

From an early age, we are shown the history of the United States as one of a triumphant pursuit for liberty and equality for all of its citizens. Children are taught the core principles of American society: individual achievement, tolerance,and political cooperation. When they're older, students begin to reveal the complexities of American society and realize that there are many unseen influences and prejudices that still permeate through society and influence us. Being born in the United States begin to imply certain pathways such as the never ending possibility of finding a job, being able to vote, enjoying legal fairness, and political tranquility. The latter point is primarily important because American citizens largely do not take part in the voting of their leaders, a fact that has caused considerable doubt on the view of Americans as being politically passive. Going over to Spain, I am exposed to more political groups and movements which offer up a more diverse political sphere (I even saw one man carrying a Soviet flag which I almost perceive as taboo back home). There is a need to discuss the issues affecting these countries immediately whereas in the United States people either don't feel the need to protest because they're content or have become dissuaded from participating based on the particularly stagnant partisan dynamic in the government which has frequently led to government crises and shutdowns.

The economic privileges in the United States are certainly not shared evenly among citizens. However the legal framework of the American market system implies that Americans have the privilege to start their own business or work anywhere. This undermines the reality for many who continue to live in poverty despite the continued use of the "American dream" which presents a break in expectations when one goes abroad and sees the more apparent economic uncertainties which permeate society. There are still economic uncertainties within the United States but once again, they can be hard to spot in places where Americans are so keen to point out the seemingly boundless opportunity offered by the United States economic and legal system. This along with the belief that Americans are more tolerant of religious and lifestyle choices is relatively naive for certain tensions between the desires of certain groups within the United States continue to face discrimination and resistance from those in charge but ground is being gained. However, new definitions of freedom both in the United States and abroad will continue to affect society everywhere and depending on the cultures of these countries, the changes can either be smooth or more frequently fraught with conflict. I suppose that a final assumption made by people about the United States is that everyone is economically well off and that it is a tolerant and accepting place for people of all backgrounds and American students abroad as forced to view the world from the lens of more apparent social or economic inequality which can lead to the realization for both American and the foreign students that certain problems exist under the surface in every nation and that only by looking from another country or new social status or from a new perspective can one realize the endemic issues which plague society despite the certain privileges that allow many to ignore them.