Blog #7

Personally, target identities have hit home for me considering that I am a minority. One example would simply be the fact that I am a non white race and go to a University where the majority is white. I've overheard a couple conversations of people saying the only reason most blacks/African Americans got into this school(OSU) is because of the affirmative action policy. This couldn't be more false. A lot of people often mistake affirmative action with rewarding non qualified students the opportunity of higher education. That is not the case at all, but we as minorities are targeted and discriminated against without scratching the surface.  

On the other side of the spectrum, we have non target identities. Being a male definitely fits this category. In today's society men are in the majority, so there are discriminations we as men don't have to experience that females and homosexual males go through. For an example heterosexual males are more likely to be hired in positions of power over women. Why is that? We as men can't fully understand our privilege until it is taken away from us. 

Being that I am a minority and a male, my experiences are very unique. I experience both sides of the spectrum in my everyday life. There are times where I experience privilege being a male, i.e being given the opportunity to work my way to powerful positions in the workplace that women or homosexual don't get, but there are also times I experience target identifiers, i.e only being able to acquire certain positions in the workplace due to my ethnicity. These experiences clearly affect my life differently, but they definitely coexist. I hope to live in a world where privilege no longer has a place in our society and equality is a true core value in our lives.