Reflection #1: Understanding My Privilege

September 22, 2021 Greg Ford, Jr.
56 Comments
Race Reflection
  • Tell us how you managed to get where you are in life today: your academic degree, teaching position, etc.
    • I have a B.A. in Asian Studies from the University of Colorado, Boulder (2004), and I studied abroad in Hồ Chí Minh City, Việt Nam during my final year as an undergraduate.  I was able to go to college because my paternal grandparents had created a stable, healthy home environment for my younger sister and me.  Both of our parents—as well as all our aunts, uncles, and maternal grandparents—had addiction issues and our mom also suffered from lupus.  When I was eleven years old and my sister eight, we became wards of the state, and our paternal grandparents stepped in to become our guardians—thereby keeping us out of the foster care system.  We went from living in a trailer park in majority White, working class Elkridge to living in a very middle class, White suburb in Laurel, Maryland.  Since we had been wards of the state until the age of 18, I qualified for a larger amount of grants from the federal government, and so was able to leave undergraduate with less debt than I otherwise might have had that not been the case.
  • What kind of support did you receive? (financial, pastoral, collegial, friendship, family, social networks, etc)
    • My graduating from high school and attending college was not a given at the beginning of my life.  Our dad, who has been a lifelong truck driver, had graduated from high school, but our mom (who was unable to work due to her illness) had not—and neither attended college.  It was only after our paternal grandparents (both of whom had attended college, and our grandfather had obtained his Masters in Applied Mathematics from Johns Hopkins University) became our guardians that college became a pathway we could consider and strive for.  While my grandparents provided emotional support throughout college, I took out student loans and was awarded grants during my undergraduate career.  I paid off my student loans myself, but did get occasional financial support from my grandparents a handful of times when I needed help paying rent following graduation.
  • How equally do you think these support systems are distributed in the society you grew up?
    • I know that the support systems and advantages I had/have as a cis, White man—even as a poor White person—were and are not equitably distributed across U.S. society, which was built upon and continues to be suffused with a logic of White supremacy.  Even as a person who was a ward of the state, my experience is non-representative because I did not end up in the foster care system, which generally has deleterious consequences for youth who end up in there.  It is only due to the fact that my paternal grandparents were solidly middle class, financially stable, and emotionally supportive that I was able to pursue as many opportunities in life that I have been able to.
  • How do you think these support systems shape your story of fighting injustices in society or in educational contexts?
    • While I deeply love my grandparents and the rest of my family, they all consciously or unconsciously subscribe(d) to and passed along harmful stereotypes about folks of color—especially Black folks—and it wasn’t until my first two Ethnic Studies courses at CU-Boulder (taught by Dr. Shoba Rajgopal; look her up; she’s amazing) that I began to seriously interrogate the myriad privileges I receive for no rational reason other than being born White, male, and able-bodied.  My queerness and my progressive friends were also instrumental in helping to open my eyes to injustices extant in society, and made me realize that I had a responsibility to work to confront and address all forms of oppression.  I moved to San Francisco three days after graduating from college, in order to be part of a radical queer community.  Over the ensuing 16 years, I worked for the Family Acceptance Project at the César Chávez Institute at SFSU, San Francisco Women Against Rape, STOP AIDS Project, and San Francisco AIDS Foundation.  I made the transition to education because I want to carry on learning about radical, progressive histories, strategies, and solutions, and to share those with my students who, in turn, will also teach me through sharing their own experiences and knowledge.  There will be no end to my learning and no end to my activism.
Greg Ford, Jr.

56 Responses to “Reflection #1: Understanding My Privilege”

Trackbacks & Pings

  • mossberg 940 pro tactical :

    … [Trackback]

    […] Find More Information here on that Topic: teachforsocialjustice.middcreate.net/race-reflection/reflection-1-understanding-my-privilege/ […]

    4 years ago
  • Alabama weed dispensary :

    … [Trackback]

    […] Find More Info here to that Topic: teachforsocialjustice.middcreate.net/race-reflection/reflection-1-understanding-my-privilege/ […]

    4 years ago
  • แอพเงินด่วน :

    … [Trackback]

    […] Read More on that Topic: teachforsocialjustice.middcreate.net/race-reflection/reflection-1-understanding-my-privilege/ […]

    4 years ago
  • molly drug in australia :

    … [Trackback]

    […] There you will find 17184 more Information on that Topic: teachforsocialjustice.middcreate.net/race-reflection/reflection-1-understanding-my-privilege/ […]

    4 years ago
  • hang punch bag from pull up bar :

    … [Trackback]

    […] Information on that Topic: teachforsocialjustice.middcreate.net/race-reflection/reflection-1-understanding-my-privilege/ […]

    4 years ago
  • hpl laminate decorative :

    … [Trackback]

    […] There you can find 34242 more Info to that Topic: teachforsocialjustice.middcreate.net/race-reflection/reflection-1-understanding-my-privilege/ […]

    3 years ago

Leave a Reply Text

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Contributions

Recent Comments

css.php