Austrian Privilege Checklist

A few nights ago, I went out to dinner with some of the other Fulbright combined grantees (after our waltzing lessons -- yes, I'm going to a real Wiener ball at the end of the month!). We got to talking about lesson plans, and one of the other TAs mentioned that she's led some pretty successful lessons using Peggy McIntosh's white privilege checklist. Her kids, though, mostly well-to-do Austrians without migration backgrounds*, weren't really getting how this all relates to Austria. "But there aren't that many black people in Austria," they said. "It's not the same."

No, it's not the same. Which is why, taking my cue from McIntosh's original article, a list of religious privileges I found on the Internet, and the experiences of myself and my students, I've generated this checklist of Austrian privileges:

I Yell Because I Care, Part 2: Lines in the Sand

"I guess it's like my mama says, I yell because I care." - Ariana Waynes

This is the second part of a three-part reflection on the subject of foreigners, and being a foreigner, in Austria. In Part 1, I discussed my own positionality regarding this issue, and whether I am qualified to speak up on this subject. Part 2 describes the current situation with immigrant incorporation in Austria, using examples from my personal experience. In Part 3, I turn once again to my own position, questioning how I can best show solidarity with other Ausländer in Austria and, in some small way, contribute to a solution. 

I had always known, on some level, that discrimination against people with "migration backgrounds"* was a problem in Austria. But I had always considered it to be something that happens "out there" -- in villages, among older people. Not in the city I love, and coming from my friends and colleagues, from people who have been nothing but hospitable towards me. Not in my school, my ostensibly progressive, weltoffene (cosmopolitan) school, "wo Vielfalt Schule macht." 

I Yell Because I Care, Part 1: Ausländer in Austria

"I guess it's like my mama says, I yell because I care." - Ariana Waynes

This is the first part of a three-part reflection on the subject of foreigners, and being a foreigner, in Austria. In Part 1, I discuss my own positionality regarding this issue, and whether I am qualified to speak up on this subject. Part 2 describes the current situation with immigrant incorporation in Austria, using examples from my personal experience. In Part 3, I turn once again to my own position, questioning how I can best show solidarity with other Ausländer in Austria and, in some small way, contribute to a solution. 

As my one-year mark in this country approaches, I am feeling more and more like a member of this society. I will never be an Austrian, of course, but I've realized that I don't need to leave my American identity behind in order to feel beteiligt - to feel like I'm part of national life here. I care about what happens here, politically, socially, in terms of social justice, not in the abstract way I care about what happens in other parts of the world, but in the deep, personal way I care about what happens in the United States.

Which makes me feel like I can criticize it.

Drill, Baby, Drill!

I love my job. The kids are, for the most part, engaged and interested in discussing American life and politics, and almost every day I come home with a new story to tell about something my students said. The teachers have begun to warm up to me, recognizing that I can actually lead really great lessons and giving me freedom to let my imagination run wild in coming up with fun activities that relate to the topics they're discussing in class. Not all of my lessons are home runs, of course, but almost every week, at least one student in one of my classes will come up to me and say, "That was really fun. Thank you." Teaching really is the best thing ever.

As great as things are at the Karajangasse are, though, there's one dark reality staring all of us in the face: These kids are not going to do well on the Matura.

What if this wasn't just for a year?

When I told my roommate that I had already lived in Austria on two separate occasions, and was coming back for a third time, the first question she asked was, "Would you ever consider staying here long-term?"

It's a valid question, and one, I'll admit, I've given a lot of thought over the past year or so. Because I am getting into the meat of my twenties, and more and more of my friends are meeting people they could see themselves settling down with. And so the question of location takes on added importance.