Many libertarians are hostile to the concept of “privilege”. Much of the writing on privilege is bad or deliberately obscure, so perhaps these libertarians should be excused for being hostile. But the basic concept of privilege is pretty clear, and I think once we just state what it is in plain terms, it’s going to be obvious that it exists.

How your life goes depends on how people treat you. Do they tend to trust you or distrust you? Do they tend to assume good or bad things about you? Are they comfortable or uncomfortable around you? Are they inclined to be polite or rude toward you? In virtue of the groups you (appear to) belong to, are you seen as having high or low status, and treated accordingly?

Let’s say person is privileged to the extent that person enjoys certain advantages in light of his or her affiliations, outward traits, indelible group membership, and the like. Belonging to certain groups or having certain outward traits tends to make it more likely others will treat you well. Belonging to other groups or having other traits tends to make it more likely others will treat you poorly. (Of course, what counts as privileged depends on context. Christians are advantaged in the United States, but disadvantaged in Saudi Arabia.)

A personal illustration of privilege: I remember being followed around in CD stores as a teen, and was even asked to empty my pockets a few times. Clerks at guitar stores were rude and unhelpful, and would refuse to allow me to play with the fancy equipment. (“Hey, if you’re not gonna buy that, don’t touch it!”) I’m pretty sure the nice people at the BMW dealership would not have allowed me to take a test drive. Now no one ever noticeably follows me around. Store clerks are kind. I don’t even ask permission before playing the $4500 Diezel amps at the Rockville Guitar Center. Car sales agents accommodate me even if I tell them I just want to test drive a car for fun and have no intention to buy. My life is a bit easier now–I move more freely, and can expect greater kindness, trust, and cooperation from others–simply because I’m older. (In this case, statistical discrimination makes their behavior at least partly rational.)

Now imagine what it’s like to be a poor black transgendered atheist teenager as opposed to a rich white cisgendered Christian 40-year-old man. Even if the two are identical in talent, human capital, virtue, and drive, the latter will find life easier than the former. Or, consider, if you’re a white person, even if you liked the sound of the name “Shaniqua,” would you really be willing to name your daughter that? I doubt it–you’d probably expect that your daughter would get fewer job interviews. Do you agree that it makes sense that a gay kid should be more worried about being bullied than a straight kid, all things equal? Etc.

Some people end up having easier lives than others in virtue of their race, sex, gender, social class, religion, creed, manner of speech, physical appearance. They enjoy certain advantages and find it easier to succeed. And some people–those who have the wrong mix of these things in the wrong place–may feel downright oppressed. They are disadvantaged and have a harder time succeeding.

I don’t see why anyone would deny that. What’s up for debate is to what should and can be done about it. I doubt telling people to “check their privilege” is a good start–I’m pretty sure every instance of that I’ve read is itself an exercise in privilege.

UPDATE: I was going to save this for a follow-up post, but I’ll say it now: I think much of the time that people who write about privilege misdiagnose what the problem is. The problem isn’t primarily that cops treat black people badly and treat white people pretty well; it’s that they treat black people badly. If they treated everyone equally badly, that wouldn’t be an improvement. If everyone distrusted everyone the way they tend to distrust young black men, that would end privilege, but that wouldn’t make the world better. That’s not to deny that inequality is a problem, but I don’t think inequality is the main problem. So, “privilege” is probably a bad word for the problem people want to discuss here.