Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America

Privilege, like intersectionality, is a complex arrangement of benefits or advantages afforded to a person by their identity and the way that identity is perceived in society. While many view privilege as something that one possesses, privilege in the context of Conditional Citizens is more akin to a lack of disadvantages than to a concrete possession of advantages. Members of marginalized groups, such as women and people of color, face disadvantages in almost every area of life in society, from getting a job to the way they are treated on the street. White people, and, more specifically, white men, may face challenges, but they are not compounded by worries about being judged or harassed based on the color of their skin or their gender. White privilege, then, is the absence of disadvantage rooted in race, and male privilege indicates that a person is not disadvantaged by his gender. For example, a white person is not likely to be rejected for a job or a college education due to skin color, nor is a man likely to be sexually assaulted while walking at night. The fact that white people and men do not need to worry about those possibilities provides them an advantage when compared to those who do need to worry about these issues.

The complexity of privilege comes in the myriad ways that it can be felt and expressed. Lalami, for example, lists her privileges, such as access to reliable healthcare and the ability to provide food for herself and her family. Some privileges, though, are more difficult to quantify, such as when she notes that she is not as likely to be targeted as an Arab woman and a Muslim American due to her light skin color; this acknowledges a privilege based on lightness of skin, even among people of color. A person with darker skin lacks that privilege and is more likely to be harassed or attacked because of race and religion. Lalami uses herself as an example of privilege, as she has an intersectional interaction with American society in which her gender, race, religion, and immigration status put her at a disadvantage, but her skin tone, accent, and education level can help compensate for many of these disadvantages. As such, she has some privileges, but they remain less significant than those of a white man of similar education.

Intersectionality and citizenship collide along lines of privilege, as citizenship, in its fullest capacity, is an example of privilege, while the intersectional connecting points that gradually decrease citizenship among different identity groups serve to emphasize the privilege of true citizenship. By comparing different identity groups and the ways in which they experience citizenship, Lalami presents privilege as both social and political since a white, male-dominated government is likely to uphold more often the rights of white men, even at the expense of people of color and women. Thus, white men do not need to worry about the government overlooking their needs, especially if they are wealthy, while people who are not white or male need to worry about being forgotten, overlooked, or abused by systems of power.