Lea on Recognizing Privilege

Meet Lea Luciano

I'm proud of my Filipino heritage. When I first arrived in Canada, I used to mask my accent so I didn’t sound Filipino. I used to take pride in that. Lately, I realized that I shouldn’t be ashamed of my accent because it tells the story of where I came from. I’m on the journey of accepting myself and my identity. However, as an Asian, I have privilege and I recognize that I won't be treated the same as an Indigenous or Black person. I won’t be stopped by the police when I'm driving a car or I won’t be suspected of stealing. When you live in an Asian household we never really talk about racism because they feel it doesn't exist but we need to have conversations about racism with our families. We need to understand that BIPOC voices and experiences are not a monolith and listen to everyone’s stories. It's important to recognize your privilege and use it to help others instead of being passive. Racism is not going to stop because it doesn't concern you. Whether you like it or not, being anti-racist does concern you.

Interviewer: What advice would you give to someone trying to recognize their privilege?

I think just listening to other people's stories and experiences. Listening to other people’s experiences helps you grow. I mentioned earlier, I took part in a panel called BIPOC perspectives in the Zero Waste Community. And what we noticed is that most practices are centred in like the white and colonial perspective. We just want to change that narrative and naturally focus on like voices. Taking time to listen to the other panellists’ experiences and what we shared as a collective. We had shared experiences but also, I didn't know about other problems they had to go through. Listen to others and join communities. Reach out through volunteering to other communities and get involved.