The Privilege to Push

I’ve often echoed scholars and social justice educators that it’s not enough to acknowledge your privilege. And, in fact, that acknowledging it is often little more than a chance to pat yourself on the back for being so “aware”.

Well, today, I reflect on the awareness of privilege and how it manifested in a different and distinct way for me. Not to provide self-accolades but rather to invite others to share if they too can resonate with my experience. Maybe help me to build on my understanding as I continue to sense make by adding comments below.

I want to explore the privilege I’ve been utilizing for social justice work. The realization came out of experiencing a moment when a colleague with more positional and social identity privilege pushed me to push.

Before I clarify the vague statements I just made, I understand, of course, that the vast majority of people do not even acknowledge their privilege in the first place. I’m not talking to them. I’m talking to those of us who do. If we do, then we need to understand that acknowledgement all by itself is not enough.

We have to begin to look at our skills and dispositions we come to rely on in the social justice work we engage in.

With the adoption of social justice and inclusion as an ACPA/NASPA Professional Competency Area in 2015, my hope is the dialogue, learning, and intentional action increases in our collective understanding of privilege in the profession.

My ah ha! moment relates to privilege I see commonly manifest among colleagues or within the context of a student affairs professional and student relationship. I’m still working to find the precision in my language to name the fullness of this moment. So instead, let’s dive into a few examples to illustrate the privilege of pushing.

Two new professionals within student affairs have a recommendation to change a live-in housing policy. The change they propose would enable their partners, for all intents and purposes, but not spouses to live with them in their on-campus apartments they are furnished with their employment. The departmental leadership, who are not affected by the policy, invites the two professionals to submit a proposal with research and rationale for them to consider.

Did you catch it there? No? Here is another –

A student affairs professional decides to author an email to express concerns over University practices that they consider violate new interpretations of Title IX as it relates to transgender students. After a few emails, the professional becomes tiered as their identity relates to the social identity in the discussion. A colleague who has been supportive of the pushing, but possess more positional and social identity privilege, provides the motivation to send one last email for the cause.

Did that help any? Ok, maybe one more –

Students are angered by recent campus carry law changes that now permit concealed handgun license owners the ability to possess firearms in the residence halls and in classrooms. The student affairs professional has many conversations over a significant number of hours with the exasperated students. The students decide to stage a protest to express their discontent. The protest was one of a handful of options originally proposed by the student affairs professional for them to consider. While the professional agrees with the students, they do not participate in the protest.

So, did you pick up on it? What privilege is used by the “oppressor(s)” in each scenario? Who are the “oppressor(s)”? What privilege is needed by each marginalized agent(s) of change in each scenario to be successful with their cause?

While each of these scenarios are nuanced, paramount elements to consider when one pushes with privilege is enumerated here:

• Scenario 1: This anecdote illustrates positional and education privilege. Also, the only ones who are personally committed to the cause are those affected by it. These are also the only ones formally charged with developing the solution. Successful pushing in this scenario relies on high institutional knowledge of which types of proposals are commonly accepted, appropriate formats, acknowledgement of formal approval chains, etc. This is also an extra. So time outside the regular workday would likely be used to accomplish the cause.
• Scenario 2: This case study is one where a professional with more positional and social identity privilege supports a staff member with less of both. Even after exhaustion from the student affairs member, the privileged staff member does not push formally in an email but is behind the student affairs professional. This pushing requires the privilege of emotional capital from a marginalized identity. Might the member with more privilege risk take by being more directly connected to the cause by co-signing or echoing the email sent by the professional? Again, members of the marginalized community are the ones pushing the cause.
• Scenario 3: Even though the student affairs professional has positional privilege, they do not utilize it in this scenario. While most professionals likely would consider this appropriate since it balances the role we have to the institution and to the students; is the sacrifice equal? The student affairs professional is likely to gain from a successful protest as well.

While just scratching the surface, I hope you are left with the idea that pushing requires privilege. Privilege also requires more than awareness but also solid mastery of the skills and dispositions we use when engaging in important social justice work. To state it another way - the how, why, and who of the push.

Share a story of your own below or react to the scenarios provided

I leave you with the idea which has taken me some time to understand, that you have more power and privilege to do the important pushing of social justice work then you may be aware. Consider French and Raven’s power bases. Reflect on the power bases you need to utilize more of to advance social justice. Student affairs needs it.

Push on.

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Dustin K. Grabsch serves students as the Coordinator for Academic Support Initiatives and Assessment within the Department of Residence Life at Texas A&M University and the Co-Chair for the New Professionals and Graduate Students Knowledge Community. He also is a Ph.D. student whose research centers social identity in leadership. Dustin insists the opinions expressed herein are solely his own and do not express the views or opinions of his employer or NASPA. Additionally, the scenarios presented may be fictionalized.