America has long prided itself on being a meritocracy in which people have access to the same opportunities and resources in their efforts to build rewarding and financially secure lives for themselves and their families.
However, the USA has historically been a nation in which some sectors of the population have enjoyed advantages over others by virtue of their favored race, ethnicity, gender, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, physical attributes, or socioeconomic background.
How impactful have those privileges been in shaping current cultural, political, educational, and economic environments in the USA? This book explores that question and many more, using an approach that studies the question of privilege from a variety of illuminating perspectives. The book's opening chapters summarize the social, political, and economic evolution of privilege in the USA and discuss flashpoints of controversy and debate. Additional chapters provide personal essays from scholars and historically disadvantaged Americans, a selection of informative primary sources, an annotated bibliography of sources for further study, and a glossary of terms.
1. Background and History Sex and Gender Queerness and Sexual Identity Socioeconomic Status (dis)Ability Language Religion Race, Ethnicity, and Indigeneity 2. Problems, Controversies, and Solutions Sex and Gender Roe v. Wade/Dobbs Anti-trans legislative agendas Queerness and Sexual Identity “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida Obergfell v. Hodges Socioeconomic Status Immigrants and modern farm practices Healthcare and bankruptcy (dis)Ability Ableism and the COVID-19 pandemic Mental health and police violence #cripthevote Language Gender neutral language The “pronoun” controversy Religion Islamophobia in the wake of 9/11 and today Women in the clergy? Race, Ethnicity, and Indigeneity Nikole Hannah-Jones/1619 Project BLM and the Summer of Racial Reckoning Anti-Asian violence during the COVID-19 pandemic AP African Studies and the push for patriotic education 3. Perspectives Upholding Privilege in U.S. Education Systems Elizabeth Davis How White Parents can Resist White Supremacy at School Kerry Kretchmar and Jennifer L McCarthy Foubert Privilege for All: Arguments from a So-called Privileged White Guy David Forbes Hear Me Out… What Privilege Has “meeka” All Really Given Us Thus So Far? Syra Yang Self-Identity and Oppressive Education: A Chinese Female International Student’s Perspective Jialu Fan Complicating the Majority-Minority Paradigm: Race, Class, and Intersectionality in the U.S. Christopher Hu Chapter 4: Profiles Sex and Gender Ruth Bader Ginsberg Queerness and Sexual Identity Matthew Sheppard Socioeconomic Status Lyndon B. Johnson (dis)Ability Autism Speaks Language and Linguistic Origin Kinney Kimmon Lau Religion American Civil Liberties Union-ACLU Race, Ethnicity, and Indigeneity National Association for the Advancement of Colored People-NAACP 5. Data and Documents Bill of Rights Selected Constitutional Amendments Declaration of Sentiments ""Ain't I a Woman?"" Sojourner Truth Brown v. Board of Education (1954) Title IX Lau v. Nichols (1974) Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) Chapter 6: Resources a.Sensoy & DiAngelo (2017) Is everyone really equal?: An introduction to key concepts in social justice education b.Kendi (2019) How to be anti-racist c.Gay (2014) Bad Feminist d.hooks (2014) Feminism is for everybody e.Crenshaw (1991) on intersectionality https://doi.org/10.2307/1229039 f.Wong (2020) Disability visibility g.Brown (2019) The Pretty One h.Kobabe (2020) Gender queer: A memoir i.Bronski (2019) A queer history of the United States j.Dunbar-Ortiz (2015) An indigenous peoples’ history of the United States k.Adams, et al (2018) Reading for diversity and social justice Chapter 7: Chronology (1619-2023) Glossary
Kelly McFaden, PhD, is Professor and Department Head in the Social Foundations and Leadership Education department at the University of North Georgia, USA. Sheri Hardee, PhD, is Dean of the College of Education at the University of North Georgia, USA.
