The Ephemeral Passport

Abstract

I have benefitted from many unearned privileges in my life. I was born into a middle-class white family in the United States, thereby winning several spins of the roulette wheel. While I may have missed out on male privilege, I didn’t face being judged negatively by my skin color or my class. I didn’t have to beg for food. I wasn’t denied an education or forced to marry a much older man. And I didn’t have to swim across the Rio Grande or traverse the Aegean Sea in search of a better life.