Use Your Privilege to Become a Better Ally !

 Mon 04 Oct 2021

Use Your Privilege to Become a Better Ally ! 

Prologue : To be born with a social privilege is not anyone's fault . If you are born as a male, from forward caste, in a well to do family, to educated and influential parents who know who's who of the society , it's not your fault at all ! 

If anything, that privilege can be used to support the less privileged . It can be women, people from weaker sections, minorities , or any other marginalized sections like LGBT , people with special abilities . 

Here are 3 tips from Harvard Business Review . 

 You want to support your colleagues of color ( or women, in our case ! ) 

You want to CALL OUT sexist comments. You want to use inclusive language. But you can’t be a better ally unless you recognize your own privilege and then use it for good ! 

 Privilege is a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group based on an aspect of their identity, such as race, GENDER , wealth, education, or ability ( and in Indian Context, CASTE ! ) 

Reflect on the ways that you have advantages and then use them to ' level the playing field ' . Here are some ways to do that ! 

(1) Broker introductions, broaden their network .  

A quick, “I’d love to introduce you to [name] given that you’re both interested in [topic]” can often help someone build their network and unlock opportunities that they might otherwise not have access to ! Increase or expand the network of the less privileged . 

(2) Help others be seen and heard. 

If you hear a good idea from someone who doesn’t typically speak up, or you witness good work from someone who isn’t particularly visible, be doubly sure that others hear it, know about it, and give CREDIT  where credit is due.

(3) Take on your share of the non-glamorous work. 

To prevent non-promotable, perfunctory or repetitive   tasks from disproportionately falling upon women or people of color, propose taking turns so that the load is shared. If your boss asks for someone to take notes during the team meeting or for a volunteer to call in the lunch order, consider stepping up to the task.

This tip is adapted from “5 Terms You Should Learn to Become a Better Ally,” by Kelsey Alpaio and Rakshitha Arni Ravishankar