Target/Non-Target Identities Blog#7

Target and non-target identities directly play a role when it comes to privilege. Whether it is through race, nationality, sexuality, religion, or gender, privilege seems to play an role on how people view others who are not a like. Regardless of who the person is, if they are different from what is known to be “socially acceptable”, then there will be less privilege geared towards that individual or group of people. I think that privileges and target/non-target identities can vary from country to country but specifically looking at those in America, I think that the two identities I can most relate to are race and nationality. I think it is interesting how in my past experiences, that even though these coexist, I have been treated and seen differently in each situation. 

For instance, a target identity revolving around race and being a minority can have its negatives. Being brown skinned, I would probably be more likely stopped for a random check in airport security just because my skin looks different from the norm. I am also from Louisiana and have noticed a lot more stigma surrounding those who feel America is and should be a "white" country. Not everyone I know in the south feels that way but I have noticed that those in smaller cities in deep Southern Louisiana feel that way the most. I have a friend who lives in one of those cities that told me that if people in her town saw me, they would take one look at my skin color and judge me as being "lesser" than them.

I think that another privilege that some people take for granted is nationality. Even though I am Indian, I am still American born on American soil and because of this, privilege is favored towards me and others born in America than those who are foreign and who may have an accent. I have directly experienced a time when I noticed how this played a role in privilege in society. Once I went shopping with my aunt who had to return something. When my aunt went to the lady at the register, the lady immediately heard my aunt's accent and started to take advantage of her. She started to confuse my aunt by saying invalid things in a rude and fast-speaking manner. When I walked up, I listened to see what was going on and then I spoke up. Right when I spoke up the lady saw that I did not have an accent and she immediately changed her tone and started to be more cooperative.because she probably felt that she could not take advantage. I have actually seen this happen a lot to other people of different nationalities.

This immediately shocked me and made me realize that despite that I may be in a minority, and target group, for race, I am still privileged in the sense that I am in the non-target group for nationality. I think that these two groups definitely coexist. I experience both sides, privilege with nationality and non-privileged with race, but there are those who experience privilege in both spectrums and those who don't experience privilege in either.