You don’t have to be white to be part of a dominant group in society. That’s one of the lessons I learned in 2018 at hosted by the .
The workshop pointed out my own misconceptions of my particular privileges. Granted, being ignorant about your status is a basic tenet of being in a position of privilege, but I’d generally only thought about the concept in terms of race. Identifying as a mixed-race person of Asian American heritage, I didn’t consider myself part of society’s most privileged class. But the workshop explained that society is divided into groups of dominant and subordinate identities along many lines: race, gender, ability, levels of education and more.
Being in the dominant group in any category translates to benefitting from countless aspects of life being structured to make things easy for me. Thus, I now think about issues through that lens — a habit since that workshop — which shapes how I describe basic information or even colloquialisms I use when writing. For example, when describing the layout of Ƶ’ in-person commencement ceremonies, I remember not to say “walk” somewhere after checking in, since many people use wheelchairs for mobility and don’t walk at all.
Attend a workshop
For those interested, the next Diversity Awareness Workshop is scheduled for Aug. 26-27, and until Aug. 6.