fandomhigh | Ethics, Thursday

Today the classroom's desks were shoved to the sides of the room and a white tape was going down the middle. Anakin and Obi-Wan were standing on it. "Today we're going to explore how assumptions we make about how we interact with the world might not be universal," Anakin began.

"This is a class we teach every year," Obi-Wan said, "In an effort to communicate the principle of privilege. Privilege is a complicated concept, which touches each of us in different ways: depending on which planet we are on and what era it is, simple things such as skin tone, education, wealth, ethnicity and so on may make our lives harder or easier. One may experience privilege for one element of one's self, and lose it for another. And so forth."

Anakin nodded. "Since Fandom covers the gamut of space and time," and has a statistically unusual number of orphans, "it's very difficult to get a group of questions that accurately reflect the challenges and the privileges in your life. I would ask that you answer as honestly as you can. Master Kenobi and I, as always, will participate as well. Though we both became Jedi, which is a group of privilege in our galaxy, we grew up quite differently."

"If you are uncomfortable with the assignment, you are allowed to sit it out," Obi-Wan continued. "Please tell us if this is the case."

"Everyone else, stand on the line, please," Anakin said.

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"So... it was created as a means for humans to elevate themselves above other species?"

Peridot was kind of missing the point. But it seemed like a safe conclusion to draw, considering the fact that she wasn't even the only non-human in the room.

And the fact that she was four steps behind the line.

"No," Obi-Wan said. "It was created with good intentions. However, it was also created under the assumption that every being who took it would experience something within the same range of experiences. This is how privilege often works: the privileged assume their experience is universal. The underprivileged beg to differ, but their experiences are routinely discounted. Not out of malice, but out of ignorance."

Peridot nodded faintly, mulling that over.

"What was the purpose of the assignment, then? To make those at the front of the room aware of what they might have been ignorant to otherwise?" She paused. "To make those at the back of the room aware of our place in this classroom's hierarchy?"

"To give us all a moment to reflect on our own experiences," Obi-Wan said, after a pause. "How universal they are, or are not. To hopefully foster some level of understanding. You alone have already taught me much about... adapting our questions better next time."

Well, if hierarchy had nothing to do with it... Peridot relaxed a little, visibly. She wasn't being put in her place, that was good to know.

"But my steps, and my lack of them, don't provide context," she hedged, frowning in thought. "Nobody's really do. All we know at the end of the experiment is that some people felt the questions applied to them more than others. Were there really people in the room who thought that they stood on equal footing with those around them?"

"Most likely," Obi-Wan said. "Some may have thought they were on better or worse footing than they actually are. That is the nature of privilege - and assumption." He watched her expression. "It is not a genuine scientific experiment; it is a starting point for a conversation, or for some thought. Next week we will go into it further."

"Further?" Peridot considered that quietly, and then nodded faintly. "Howso?"

She was curious, mostly. Peridot liked being given reasons to think. It made her feel functional, even if around here she wasn't strictly useful.

"We'll have a class discussion on the nature of privilege and how important we find it," Obi-Wan said. He smiled again, faintly. "Perhaps you'll find more useful definitions of it, as well."

"That would be good," Peridot replied. "I'm still not completely certain I understand the point."

She wasn't completely certain it wasn't about sorting students into groups based on their status, for that matter. But it wasn't the first time she'd been low on the hierarchical ladder, anyway.

Ethics, Thursday

Re: Assignment: Privilege - The Line

Re: Assignment: Privilege - The Line

Re: Assignment: Privilege - The Line

Re: Assignment: Privilege - The Line

Re: Assignment: Privilege - The Line

Re: Assignment: Privilege - The Line

Re: Assignment: Privilege - The Line

Re: Assignment: Privilege - The Line

Re: Assignment: Privilege - The Line