{"id":705,"date":"2025-03-18T18:03:19","date_gmt":"2025-03-18T18:03:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.equalityanddiversity.co.uk\/?p=705"},"modified":"2025-03-18T18:03:19","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T18:03:19","slug":"explaining-privilege","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.equalityanddiversity.co.uk\/index.php\/2025\/03\/18\/explaining-privilege\/","title":{"rendered":"Explaining Privilege"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nearly every time privilege and marginalisation come up in conversation, someone inevitably chimes in with \u201cWhy all the labelling?\u201d or \u201cCan\u2019t we all just be human?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I get why people are defensive. From an early age, many of us are taught that labelling people is unfair, that it means making assumptions or judging them. But here\u2019s what often gets missed: terms like privileged and marginalised are not about assigning personal value or character. They are about people\u2019s lived experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Privilege and Marginalisation are about Systems, not Individuals<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being privileged in a certain area doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019ve never struggled. It doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re a bad person. It simply means that, in that area of life, the system is designed to work in your favour, often in ways you may not even notice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, as a person without a physical disability, I can take public transport without worrying about whether there\u2019s step-free access, whether the bus driver will refuse to lower the ramp, or whether there\u2019s a working lift at the train station. I can walk into almost any caf\u00e9, workplace, or public building and reasonably expect to get in without hassle. Many people with physical disabilities cannot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of this systemic disadvantage, disability activists push for accessible transport, workplaces, and public spaces. Not because they\u2019re \u2018making everything about disability,\u2019 but because the world is not designed with them in mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, as a Black person, I experience marginalisation in ways that people who are not Black often don\u2019t have to think about. When I walk into a shop, I sometimes have to wonder:<\/p>\n\n\n\n