The psychology of supremacy

 I've had a myriad of interesting conversations over the past week, on topics of inequality, classism, race and racism, monarchism (is that a word?), republicanism etc.
There was a recurring theme in these conversations that I found very interesting. The recurring theme was this.  A sizeable number of people who were in a position where they weren't the minority/ 'down-trodden'/ mistreated/ discriminated against group,  for the most part, just didn't get it. They simply just. didn't .get .it.

My university is one of the so - called 'redbrick' unis, where a large proportion of attendees have gone to the best prep schools, secondary schools, and then go on to attend one of the best universities in the country. Many of them have had no real reason or opportunity to mingle with people who are considerably less well off than them, or come from a different racial or cultural background.

Their window into the world of 'other' is mildly biased BBC coverage, or perhaps a well chosen Daily Mail piece. (Yes, unbelievably, there are people who exist who read the Daily Mail for more than cheap laughs). What results from this lack of interaction is a very distorted and often unsympathetic view into the causes, mechanisms and solutions to poverty, racial prejudice, classism, and all the other woes that they generally will never experience.

Take for example, the argument that those who go to private schools are at a distinct advantage in the university admissions process in comparison to those who attend state schools, (I am aware that there are some very good state schools, some quite bad private schools etc etc - I'm making a generalisation). Trying to explain this concept to one of my colleagues last week, was pretty much like banging my head against a brick wall. Painful, with no real sense of achievement at the end.

Their adamant opinion was that A level grades were down to the work ethic of the applicant, and only marginally affected by the school they went to. Now whilst I don't deny that work ethic plays an important role, surely parents don't spend often over £10,000 a year simply to instil work ethic? Surely there must be some other factors at play?

The same flippant attitude towards disadvantage is often shown towards racial prejudice. Richard Dawkins, eminent scientist and apparently one of the most intelligent people on the planet commented in a documentary that ' In the 60's most people were bigoted, nowadays, barely anyone is racist..', apparently as evidence of humanity's ability to evolve. Any black person living in England for approximately 5 minutes would tell you that  that statement, is, unfortunately, incorrect.

What I'm trying to get at is that from my experience, supremacy - be that the supremacy that comes from being white, rich, male or any other 'power' group, often brings with it an unfortunate inability to understand your own supremacy. It's very difficult to bring someone to believe that yes, THEY are, in fact, THE problem. That is, if they aren't actively addressing and combatting the effects of their own supremacy, they are enabling it.

I'm not usually one for these ridiculous reality TV shows where they send 5 silver spooned private school offspring into the ghastly depths of the West Midlands (:-)) to work at a pie n' mash shop, but by jove (yup, I said by jove), I'd love to shop a couple of the people I encounter on a daily basis to Hackney. To live. In a council estate. For 5 months. And go to  the worst school in the borough, have no interview practice, start A level Physics from scratch, and see if it's just as easy to get an A* and a place at Warwick University.

This isn't a hopeless post - there are some people who do 'get it'. Who are trying to 'get it'. I have the privilege of encountering them as well. It's just not enough people though, and that needs to change somehow.

Peace folks  (if you're willing to fight for it). x