Discrimination Reflection

Discrimination Reflection.

Throughout my entire life, I have soaked in the benefits from several unearned privileges. I am white. I am a man. Judaism is what I practice. I have full use of all my limbs. My brain functions better than most. I am the norm. Well at least in my hometown of Aurora, Ontario, I am the norm. As I continue to age, I realize how big of an effect stereotypes have. Typically, most first impressions tend to be stereotypes and that in itself is a massive issue for those who don’t fit the norm. Luckily, based on these characteristics I have gained privileges and have found myself a few steps ahead of those who aren’t as fortunate. Despite not agreeing with this type of power, I have it, and I don’t wish to lose it. Thanks to human rights protections in Canada, my unearned privileges won’t be lost, but instead will be more evenly distributed across persons of all ethnicities, colours, sexes, religions, and physical abilities.

A lifelong dream of mine is to become an executive and to assert myself as a powerful individual. The power and privileges I have gained based on discrimination help propel me forward into greater opportunities. So why would I want to share these privileges with others? The simple answer is because I have been discriminated on before. Growing up, I was vertically challenged. This made it very difficult in competitive sports where “size matters”, even more than brains. Based on my size and not my skill, I was repeatedly cut during tryouts for larger, less talented players. To this day, those scars still haven’t healed. Also, learning about all the discrimination in Jewish history has hit me very hard. The scars of the holocaust still haven’t healed. Based on my experiences and those of my people, I have gained a strong appreciation for privileges brought upon by discrimination. I would much prefer to be positively discriminated against rather than negatively. Currently, as I hold many unearned privileges, many are suffering because of factors that they can’t control. I would much prefer sharing my power rather than having it taken away entirely. Laws to help with human rights protections in Canada have allowed privilege sharing to happen.

Before unions existed, workers laboured for low wages