Calling Out Privilege Is Pointless

I knowingly hyperbolize, throwing some click-bait in the water, but I'll make the claim for us to consider: calling out privilege is pointless; it does not meaningfully improve the circumstances of the underprivileged.

I've spent about a decade living in the San Francisco Bay Area. The place is rife with privilege, everywhere you turn. Whatever tech, finance, or business circle you run in, you'll see it's largely a continuation of the modern American university system: class-stratified, gate-kept by financial lineage, an oligarchy of the rich and powerful who ensure that their children grow up with the resources necessary to continue easefully (or relatively so) along the path of high earners. It is not a system that is fair or accommodating to those of diverse backgrounds. It is still a playground for old money and the new money that sprouts from luck or startup success from old money offspring.

Again, I'll emphasize my acknowledgment that this is a generalization, but I'm willing to bet it'll resonate with those familiar with the area. The place is full of very rich and powerful folks. Most of those rich folks have grown up in privileged circumstances—not all trust-fund kids, but plenty with dual-income doctor, lawyer, or some upper-middle-class basis to propel them into a high-earning career and provide a net for when they fall. Certainly, there are family dynamics that can cause stress in failure or frustration of expectations to follow similar paths or get to the upper middle class sooner, but ultimately the net is there. Even if you don't get as successful as your CEO daddy, your failure does not mean impoverishment. It means being frustrated in your career in upper management. A purgatory, sure, but much better than floundering at the bottom.

This pervasive privilege, often recognized but rarely acted upon, raises an important question: What does merely calling it out achieve?

There's a wokeness to our generation, a calling each other out on some moral basis. "Check your privilege" is called aloud, demanding those who've received the benefits of power to acknowledge the ease of their journey relative to others. I suppose that's a step forward; it's an improvement from assuming that everyone is playing the same game on the same difficulty level. But to what end?

So what if someone checks their privilege? I have many well-meaning friends, earnest and kind people who are the beneficiaries of privilege to varying degrees. Some have had their businesses funded, their houses paid for, their education paid for—you name it—and they are indeed grateful. In conversation, perhaps also goaded by a cancel culture, they explicitly acknowledge their privilege. And then what?

Their acknowledgment of privilege does not do anything for anyone. It is word, not action. What does it do to change the struggle and the suffering of those who did not receive such ease in their life? What does it do to bridge the gap other than perhaps placate, to soothe only slightly those who hear about the unfairness of this delta?

Take the example of a tech entrepreneur who, after recognizing his privileged background, chose to mentor underprivileged youth. This action, unlike mere acknowledgment, begins to address the disparities that privilege creates. Without such follow-up, calling out privilege risks becoming an empty gesture—a feel-good moment that ultimately does little to address the real issues at play.

I am not advocating that we no longer acknowledge privilege, but I question our obsession with calling it out. I don't know what benefit it offers us. At best, the acknowledgment can lead to sympathy (not empathy, because those who are privileged cannot know what it is like to lack that privilege, by no fault of their own), and that sympathy might lead to actions that can help those less privileged. And frankly, those in positions of privilege have no strict obligation to help others. The underprivileged are not owed anything by them necessarily.

Instead of stopping at acknowledgment, those in positions of privilege could actively seek out ways to support initiatives that address inequality, such as donating to educational programs or advocating for policy changes that benefit the underprivileged.

Perhaps you have thoughts on this subject. Have you experienced privilege or a lack thereof? Do you think there are different kinds of privilege out there? What do you think is a step beyond acknowledging privilege?