You don’t have to let the bigots grind you down

WHAT is being referred to as white privilege (Letters) is, in fact, a situation created by smallminded assumptions made by people of all colours and creeds.

In my first job, women were paid much less than men for doing the same job because it was presumed they would leave to have children.

In my next job, legislation had by then made working life more equal, but if I answered a male colleague’s phone, it was assumed I was his secretary.

When I accompanied my boss to meetings, the other attendees were surprised to find I wasn’t there to take the minutes or serve the coffee.

A friend taught her husband to drive and was stopped by the police on three occasions when on a motorway with L-plates and her husband in the passenger seat. The assumption was she must be the learner driver.

Conversely, I have male friends who have been unfairly treated based on their gender in divorce proceedings when they struggled to have custody of, or access to, their children. The law automatically deemed the mother to be the more suitable custodian.

Many people think that women are physically abused by men, but not vice versa. For every example of bias against one sex, there is one against the opposite sex to counter it. Privilege doesn’t enter the equation, only bias.

My heritage and surname are Irish, so in the 1970s, when IRA bombings were rife, I was insulted, sworn at and told I should be ashamed of my heritage.

Today, those with the same bigoted mindset think all Muslims are potential terrorists. This does not mean non-Irish or non-Muslim people are privileged because they aren’t subject to these preconceptions, only that those who speak or act in accordance with these perverse ideas about race or religion are ignorant.

The way to deal with unfair slings and arrows is to prove yourself in what you want to achieve. Don’t categorise others as privileged or see yourself as a victim of their perceived advantages.

MAUREEN FAHEY, Manchester.