Privilege.

In today's society, privilege has become a weighted word.

But privilege as a concept, as a starting point of discussion, is so much bigger than that.

In the diversity and inclusion vernacular, privilege often refers to the set of advantages in life that one has, but that one doesn't have to think about.

To some, the word privilege implies that one should feel guilty if they have the privilege or that one has "taken" something from another to have it. It can even feel awkward to own privilege because it feels as if one is putting themselves in having a superior position over another, maybe even feel as if they are lording it over others.

Acknowledgment isn't superiority, however. In fact, the most honest, liberating gift you can give to yourself and to another is to always internally - and when appropriate - externally acknowledge your privilege in a situation.

For example, I have the privilege of having no physical disability at this point in my life. Sure, I have to wear glasses and I could stand to lose some weight, but I don't have to plan my visits and errands around whether I can park close to an entrance, or get through door once I get to the building. I don't have to consider a myriad of potential obstacles that stand between Point A where I'm located and the Point B where I'm trying to go. That's a privilege despite the fact that my full use of my legs, arms, sight, hearing, etc. were bestowed upon me without my consent or consultation.

Socioeconomic status, however,  is one of those trickier areas of privilege that people don't always know what to do with because it is more fluid than other kinds of demographics. It's also very relative. In one environment, making X amount of money makes you feel very well paid, while in another environment, you feel poverty-stricken.

In the St. Paul's community (as with all private, tuition-based schools), that issue of socioeconomic status can be particularly awkward because the economic backgrounds of parents are ones that no one wants to have as a negative influence on our students. Whether it's concern about the money spent on birthday and other celebrations from family to family or questions raised by our children when they go to sleepovers in very different neighborhoods from their own, the differences show up in expected and unexpected ways.

That topic - how to talk about socioeconomic issues, how to address it, how to dig deeper on the ways it affects our children and their experiences at St. Paul's - is the subject of the Diversity Forum I'm hosting on October 20 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the North MPR.This is an informal event but because we want to make sure we have the correct venue for the audience, please RSVP with Linda van Thullenar at Lvan@speds.org and also to let her know if you will need childcare. Childcare is available for $15 for the evening events.

It's a forum open to anyone in the St. Paul's community - including former parents - who want to discuss this as a diversity issue in our ongoing goal to create the nurturing, open environment that allows all our students to flourish.

My hope is that this is one of the first of many forums where open, authentic conversations can be had on topics that are part of the fabric of our community.