Liberals Fail to Acknowledge Privilege

This blog will address my thoughts on the quotation below:

Liberals accept inequality of circumstances because of their profound belief in equal opportunity, which means that we are all equal before the law.  No one has any more freedoms or liberties than anyone else.  Everyone has access to education, the job market, health care, social services, and so on.  If a person fails in society it is because he or she did not take advantage of available opportunities” (Mullaly, 2007, p. 98).

Wow! What an optimistic liberal lens.  Through the eyes of the liberals we are all on equal grounds, if we take advantage of the public school system, public healthcare, and apply for jobs in the job market then success in society will be inevitable.  However, the liberals fail to acknowledge the additional challenges faced by those living in poverty that makes access to these opportunities difficult – if not impossible.

Liberals view the world with a privileged perspective.  This privilege is a transparent and unknown advantage given to individuals with a particular race, social class, and gender (McIntosh, 1988).  For example, those growing up in prominent neighborhoods have the class privilege of being surrounded by others who value education and economic success.  They also have the necessary resources available such as a quality schools, financial and emotional support, as well as the ability to participate in positive community events and access museums, libraries, and cultural activities to enhance learning and opportunity.   On the other hand, individuals in low-income communities face dire circumstances that allow privileged groups to gain a head-start in life.

Liberals ascertain the standard of “equal opportunity” without acknowledging how unearned privileges place others at a disadvantage.   Recipients of privilege tend to view their unearned advantages as normal everyday experiences shared by everyone (McIntosh, 1997).  They fail to see the special provisions they acquire for simply belonging to a particular societal group.  Instead of looking at themselves and their advantages, attention is drawn to the shortfalls of others in society.  Representative of the liberal lens, Kazempiur and Sitalli Halli (2011) use social learning theory to explain the multi-generational component of poverty.  Although they remove moral blame from people living in poverty, they fail to acknowledge how society reinforces the transmission of unearned privileges to particular groups while continuing to unfairly oppress others (Silvia Straka, personal communication, November 11, 2011). 

Although, according to Liberalism, we are all equal before the law, children growing up in low income neighborhoods are disadvantaged in society. The structural restraints in low income neighborhoods include poor quality of education and health care, as well as high rates of violence and crime (Kazempiur and Sitalli Halli, 2011).  These structural barriers are unacknowledged by the privileged class, allowing them to make the false assumption that failure in society is caused by the individuals choice not take advantage of the opportunities that are provided to everyone.  The structural and environmental disadvantages in low-income communities make attaining “equal opportunity” unequal.

Liberals need to recognize that people come from different backgrounds and experiences that put others ahead in society while trapping others in poverty.  In my opinion, liberals need to redirect their focus by recognizing and addressing the widening gap between unfair advantages, and truly provide equal opportunities for everyone, based on their need.  Liberals need to see that failure in society is the combined result of structural inequalities, environment and socio-economic status, rather than simply the inability of some individuals to “take advantage of available opportunities”

Kim

References:

Kazempiur, A., & Sitalli Halli, S. (2000).  Neighbourhood poverty in Canadian cities.  The Canadian Journal of Sociology, (25)3, 369-381.  Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3341647

McIntosh, P. (1988).  White privilege and male privilege:  A personal account of coming to see correspondences through work in women’s studies. Working paper no. 189. Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED335262.pdf

Mullaly, R. (2007).  The liberal and neo-liberal paradigms. (3^rd Ed.). The New Structural Social Work (pp. 91-112). Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.