Privilege and Obligation

I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be privileged. My roommate and I brainstormed a couple of definitions—privilege as opportunity, privilege as an advantage, etc.

My definition of the term is a narrow one. In the past I’ve characterized privilege as an advantage that one doesn’t work for...an inherited advantage? Or a benefit that one encounters by chance? In honesty, I’ve always associated the term to wealth: “X is from a privileged background.” Meaning X was born into a wealthy family—something they had no control of—and now they have some sort of advantage because of that status. They are privileged.

This (perhaps shallow) use of the term makes it difficult for me to understand the supposed obligation that we have as privileged university students. I found a NY Times article, written in 1917 by the president of Oberlin College, titled “Higher Education as a Privileged Interest: The Obligation of the Privileged as Applied to the Moral Life of our Colleges and University.” In the last line Dr. King states: “Higher education, just because it is higher education and is thereby a highly privileged interest, owes to the community a great moral service.” This ‘privilege → obligation’ sentiment has surfaced at various points throughout my Stanford career.

I don’t see the connection between privilege and obligation. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great if privileged people help less privileged people. However, I don’t see it as a moral obligation. At first I thought that my inability to see the connection stemmed from my narrow definition of privilege. I couldn’t get past step 1...accepting that a higher education is a privilege. But now that I’ve broadened my scope of the term’s implications, I still fail to see the connection.

If you’re someone who has an advantage or a benefit...for whatever reason—inherited or earned, why should you feel obliged to give/help/support others? Privilege is such a nuanced concept. I guess I’m still not completely understanding its meaning??? I might be privileged to be at a prestigious university, but isn’t my male peer more privileged for being a Stanford student who also lives in a male-dominant world? Is he therefore more obliged to help?

Privilege is a nuanced term because of its subjectivity. It’s not logical to bestow obligation. I might agree that all of us, as human beings, have a moral obligation to help each other. But it's illogical to make a distinction or to say that because we’re in a position of privilege we have an obligation to do something.

That being said, for those participating in service learning, they shouldn’t feel that they HAVE to give back because of their privileged background. They should want to give back, despite their background.