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Ijeoma Oluuo

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Misconceptions about privilege and the abuse of the phrase "check your privilege"

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Larger social justice issues are and have been plaguing the country for centuries, including social stratification and systemic racism.

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Readers of her book (general American public)

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"Checking your privilege" is a misunderstood phrase that is commonly used to dig at those advocating for social justice. However, at its core, it is the simple process of acknowledging inequalities and advantages that one has, a concept integral to progress of amending the disparities and discrimination rampant in society.

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To educate the populace on the importance of "checking your privilege" as a tool in combatting racism and economic inequality.

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Oluo uses both rhetorical questions and hypohora's to forward her message .

In the third paragraph, she presents the question "So what is privilege" and then continues to answer this question (Oluo 59).

Later on in the passage, she encourages readers to check their privilege by asking questions such as "Have you always had good mental health?" "Are you white?" "Are you neurotypical?" etc (Oluo 65).

She also uses a question asking readers to reflect on how their priviledge might effect their ideas on the world at large -- eg. racism, the environment, education, etc. (Oluo 66).

Such questions engage the reader and provoke thought regarding her message. They further encourage the reader to change their way of thinking in a gentle and constructive manner

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Oluo's use of inductive reasoning serves to appeal to her audiences sense of logic subsequently bolster her argument's rationality. She lists off her privileges including that she "was raised by a college educated mother...neurotypical non disabled child, enough security in [her] home, etc" (Oluo 60-61). She goes onto say because of these specific privileges she was able get herself to the place she is today which is an example of inductive reasoning

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"If you can think of any more [benefits of my diploma], please email me because it would make me feel a lot better about these student loans I'm still paying" (Oluo 61)

She talks about how she can yell "I HAVE A DEGREE IN POLITICAL SCIENCE!" during arguments about politics (Oluo 61)

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Appeals to a broad audience
She uses personal pronouns (such as I, you, and we), contractions (such as I'm), and light vocabulary that is easy for the general public to understand

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"When we are willing to check our privilege, we are not only identifying areas where we are perpetuating oppression in order to stop personally perpetuating that oppression, but we are also identifying areas where we have power and access to change the system as a whole"

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The repeating structure of an "I [verb]..." sentence particularly on page 60-61 represents parallelism.
"I have a college degree....I worked very hard....I was raised....I grew up....I had enough security....I live in a country....etc" (Oluo 60-61).
This creates a sort of rhythm/cadence which improves the general flow and persuasiveness of her message. It also puts more emphasis on the privileges she had which reinforces her point of how her privileges were important to her success.

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Oluo's usage of lax diction, humor, personal experiences, and directly addressing the reader through 2nd person creates a casual tone. However, throughout this excerpt there are definitely undertones of constructive criticism where she is challenging her readers.

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This passage summed up her points of acknowledging privilege, understanding what privilege really is, and how we can change in a digestible way that wraps things up.