Freshmen in Delaware are having to check their privilege.

We’re living in a world of the haves and have-nots, and society seems increasingly interested in the difference. Apropos of an emphasis on equity, the University of Delaware has enrollees admit to unfair advantages.

First-year students must brave UNIV 101: First Year Experience, which is “designed to help students adjust to college life. (It is) led by faculty who will…help ensure that the first semester is successful and provides the foundation for [attendees’] future success.”

Consider one ingredient of that recipe for success, the course’s Privilege Checklist found online. Categories are thus:

• Class Privilege
• Citizenship Privilege
• Ability Privilege
• Linguistic Privilege

On to meatier matters:

• Sexuality Privilege
• Cisgender Privilege
• Male/Masculine Privilege
• White Race, Ethnicity, and Culture Privilege

Per the document, those with unjust sexuality privilege “will receive public recognition and support for an intimate relationship.” They’ll also be able to “express affection in most social situations” without “[expecting] hostile or violent reactions.”

Other straight privileges:

• Learning about romance and relationships from fiction movies and television.
• I will not be fired from my job for my sexuality.
• I can love, act, speak, and dress as I choose without being…prosecuted for breaking the law.

Males, all freshmen will learn, are unique in that they experience the following perks:

• I can expect to receive promotions as frequently…as my equally-qualified colleagues.
• My personal merits are never called into question.
• I know that people will believe me when I report a crime against me.
• People of my gender who I can identify with appear frequently in media and popular culture.

And cisgender people have privilege oozing from their pores:

• Strangers don’t ask me what my genitals look like and how I have sex.
• My validity as a man/woman/human is not based on how much surgery I’ve had or how well I “pass” as a particular gender.
• I can flirt, engage in courtship, or form a relationship and not fear that my biological status may be cause for rejection or attack, nor will it cause my partner to question their sexual orientation.
• I am not required to undergo an extensive psychological evaluation in order to receive basic medical care.
• If a crime is committed against me, my gender expression will not be used as a justification (“gay panic”) nor as a reason not to punish the perpetrators.
• I am able to go to new places knowing there will be bathrooms there I can use…
• I know that I can date someone and that they aren’t just looking to satisfy a curiosity or kink pertaining to my gender identity.

Last but not least, some wonders of white privilege:

• I can expect that I’ll receive days off from work for holidays that matter to me.
• I am never mocked or perceived as a threat because of my name.
• I know that the police and other state authorities are there to protect me.
• I do not have to worry about incarceration unless I commit a very serious crime.
• My race or ethnicity will not make people around me uncomfortable.
• I do not have to worry about being chosen last for a job or housing due to my race or ethnicity.

The final item on the list seems to contradict…the list:

• I am seen as an individual; I am never held personally responsible for the actions of other people of my race or ethnicity.

Delaware is hardly alone in its efforts. American institutions, broadly, are fighting a Privilege Pestilence:

Home Depot Tells Its Staff They’re White-Privileged Oppressors and Marginalized Victims

Leaked Disney Docs Show Employees’ ‘White Privilege Checklist’

Profess Your Privilege: Southern University Launches ‘White Student Accountability Group’

As for action against injustice, it isn’t the University’s first rodeo. In February of last year, its library made headlines for undergoing an “anti-racism talent management audit.” Firm Ithaka S+R heralded its plan to root out “systemic racism and resulting inequities” that “had a disproportionate impact on Black staff members.”

And now, first-year youngsters will participate in identity group confessionals. Meanwhile, a privileged few won’t have to admit to much privilege. So goes enlightenment, and so goes modern education.

-ALEX

See more content from me:

Three’s Company: Modern Sexual Identity Advances to ‘Trigender’

University Launches Graduate Program to Fight the ‘Rampant’ White Supremacy of Museums

‘Bull***t’ — CNN’s New Chief Addresses Nasty Rumors That It Might Become ‘Centrist’

Find all my RedState work here.

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