Unearned privileges

Identify and discuss both 1) an unearned privilege that you have that--on reflection--seems like it might be better for society as a whole to eliminate; and 2) an unearned privilege you have that everyone in society should be able to have.

1) An unearned privilege that I have that I believe no one should have is the privilege of being a white person. Personally, I do not understand how being a white person is a privilege, however, I do understand that people from other races believe it to be; therefore, in some ways, making it one. I'm not going to sit here and say there is no way on god's green earth that I have ever benefitted from being a white person, rather than someone from another race, because the fact of the matter is I really don't know. To be honest, when I think about certain things/situations that arise in my life I don't relate it to my race. For example, I don't think "I can/cannot do this because I'm white.". I feel like it shouldn't be considered a privilege to be a specific race. It should matter whether you're white, black, mexican, brazilian, japanese, etc. I believe every single person should be treated the same regardless of their race; and yes this includes being able to get specific things because of your race. Why is it that white people should be able to recieve a scholarship for going to a mostly black school, or vice versa? Or why is it that we're prompted to mark our race on job applications, why does it matter? The truth is, it shouldn't, but sometimes it does. If these sorts of privileges were eliminated I believe our society would be taking a HUGE step towards equality. Unfortunately, this is something that will more than likely never change.

2) An unearned privilege that I have that I believe everyone should have is the privilege to be able to go out in public and not be stared at, or made fun of, for one reason or another. I can wake up every morning feeling confident about going to school, or whatever it is I have to do that day, and not be worried about drawing any sort of undesired attention to myself. This is because, for the most part, I am what society considers to be pretty "normal". I don't act out of the ordinary, I don't have any sort of appearance "flaw" that would make people think "Hey, what's wrong with that girl?!". Bottom line, I don't have anything that I should feel, or at least I don't feel, extremely self-conscious about. This is a privilege I believe should be made available to everybody. Not by changing everyone's looks to make them seem what society deems "normal", but by changing the way people look at one another. The fact of the matter is it shouldn't matter if someone is different or isn't consistent with "the norm". We're all unique in our own way, and I don't see why just because some people may be a little more different than others that we feel the need to stare or overly notice. I believe this privilege is something many people take for granted just because maybe we've never had to deal with it or just never really thought of it, but it's something to definitely take in to consideration.