Marginalization, Part 5

Marginalization, Part 5

…the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them. Luke 7:22

Last week I introduced the marginalization of an unexpected group – the white, heterosexual male. A significant difference between most in this cohort and other marginalized folks is that this group either knows or has known what it’s like to be privileged and then have that privilege diminished or removed. Other marginalized groups tend to always have been on the outside of privilege looking in – attempting to gain something they’ve never had.

The term privilege implies an advantage over others. Privileged folks are not just the wealthy or those able to do or buy whatever they desire. I associate privilege with middle class and stability. Being part of the middle class typically signifies modest home ownership, an adequate and steady income, health insurance, paid time off, and some financial cushioning for unexpected expenses. Being part of the middle class equates to a stable and predictable, if modest lifestyle. Certainly, many members of marginalized groups qualify as middle class or higher, but the arguable majority of those traditionally making up the middle class have been white, heterosexual males and their families. Therefore, as the middle class shrinks, this typically privileged group is hit hard, at least proportionally.

My first work experience illustrates privilege, although I would not have considered myself privileged at the time. I began working at 14 and have been employed essentially everyday since. I worked in custodial services, fulltime in the summers and parttime during my high school years. The pay was minimum wage, and the work was not glamorous, but it was steady and the paychecks dependable. I was able to buy my own car and have other luxuries many peers could only admire. It also helped me begin my adult life with resources and experiences others did not have. And how did I get my first job? My mom’s cousin’s husband (also a white, heterosexual male) was the director of maintenance for the local school district. Without that connection, I would not have (1) known of the opportunity or (2) been given the job. That is an example of privilege that, while unglamorous, gave me an early advantage over others and a head-start into adulthood.

The instability experienced by marginalized folks is perennially unsettling – not knowing if there will be enough money for rent, gas, utilities, and food, let alone for a car repair or medical bill. It is little wonder that rates of anxiety and depression have skyrocketed. I grew up lower middle class, but we were never (to my knowledge) in danger of not eating or having the water shut off or being evicted. The type of white, heterosexuals I perceive as the new, marginalized class grew up with stability, but have since been forced into the instability typical of other marginalized groups.

Another significant difference with this group is how some of them respond to their life-situation. This observation is anecdotal and stereotypical, but it seems apparent to me. The violent assault and murder incidents among most marginalized minorities tend to be one-on-one, or one small gang against another. The perpetrators of mass shootings or high-profile killings, however, tend to be frustrated, white, heterosexual males. Minorities usually use fists, knives, or handguns; whites use assault rifles. Minorities may kill or harm a particular person over a disagreement. Whites kill people they do not know for dramatic effect. We hear sad stories of being bullied or raised by a single parent, but whites do not experience such developmental challenges at rates greater than others. Some, however, choose to express their dissatisfaction very differently. Their violent reactions to marginalization do not differ in their tragic consequences, but in their scale.

While I believe programs like Affirmative Action, anti-discrimination regulations, and other types of preferential treatment arrangements are necessary to help neutralize unfair, systemic advantages that conspire against opportunities for some groups, I also believe we need to be mindful of who and what gets sacrificed in order to equalize opportunities. Where possible, public responses should aim to increase the limited capacity for good jobs, college admission slots, and other tickets to advancement instead of disallowing some deserving folks to make room for others. Where sacrifices must be made, they should not be ones that lift those on the lower socio-economic rungs at the expense of others on the lower socio-economic rungs. Forcing more middle class folks downward in order to raise others to a mutually lower-class existence simply creates more marginalization and instability. It also widens the already vast chasm between the haves and have-nots. Marginalized people have every right to be angry and demand changes, but policy-makers, business owners, and others with power and resources must first distribute from their excess, not from those whose life-experience is already tenuous.

This is the 24^th in a series titled The New-Old Social Pandemic. The opinions expressed here are mine. To engage with me or to explore contemplative spiritual direction, contact me at ghildenbrand@sunflower.com.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s

Mass on the World

A Contemplative Audio-visual Experience

View at: https://youtu.be/m2EzRmZzCe0