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Okay, you remember how life was hard before the pandemic? Like, maybe you had problems with relationships, or money, or health, or career, or raising kids? It wasn't easy. It might not even have been something you felt like you were able to cope with.
And then there was a pandemic. And on top of that, everything was suddenly much harder?
Being in an oppressed group is like being in a pandemic. Your experience depends a lot on other aspects of your life, and some people might have it much better or worse than others. Some people's lives in a pandemic are even comparatively easier than other people's lives not in a pandemic! But the pandemic is still something that overlies all sorts of areas of your life, and affects them, and makes them harder than they would be if there were no pandemic.
Having privilege doesn't mean your life is easy, or that everyone who has it is better off than everyone who doesn't. It just means... you're not in a pandemic. You don't have this other huge thing to deal with on top of the things you're already dealing with.
--R
And then there was a pandemic. And on top of that, everything was suddenly much harder?
Being in an oppressed group is like being in a pandemic. Your experience depends a lot on other aspects of your life, and some people might have it much better or worse than others. Some people's lives in a pandemic are even comparatively easier than other people's lives not in a pandemic! But the pandemic is still something that overlies all sorts of areas of your life, and affects them, and makes them harder than they would be if there were no pandemic.
Having privilege doesn't mean your life is easy, or that everyone who has it is better off than everyone who doesn't. It just means... you're not in a pandemic. You don't have this other huge thing to deal with on top of the things you're already dealing with.
--R
