Travel has become more accessible to a growing number of people due to lower cost of flights, cheaper vacation rentals, and an easier ability to access information. This doesn’t mean travel is anywhere close to accessible for everyone, as in 2017 only three percent of the world participated in air travel. To travel is to experience a form of privilege.
During high school, my mom and I visited our family in Sierra Leone. Because we both had US passports, we were able to travel there without needing a visa in advance. Once we got into the country, we were able to get a visa by paying a fee. Our ability to easily move from one space to another should be noted against the inability of Sierra Leoneans to do the same. With the US passport, Americans are able to travel to 184 countries without a visa. In comparison, Sierra Leoneans are able to travel to 62 countries without a visa. This includes the United States which requires a pre-arrival visa before Sierra Leoneans can enter the country.
More than anything, travel functions as one way of showing the nuances within privilege. While I have only been outside the United States once, I have traveled throughout the US to visit family in New Jersey, Maryland, and Florida. This mobility is one that can be inaccessible to a significant of people in poverty or people who barely have enough money to pay their rent. The fact that my mom and I were able to travel to Sierra Leone easily while our family couldn’t do the same shows the disparity of mobility between people in different parts of the world. A US passport gives me access to most countries in the Global North, yet a Sierra Leonean passport does not. Citizens in India, an emerging economy, are only able to travel to 58 countries without a visa. Citizens in Nigeria, the biggest economy in Africa, are only able to travel to 45 countries without a visa. The countries requiring a pre-arrival visa include all of Western Europe and the United States. This privilege doesn’t change the fact that I experience racism in the United States. However, my experience doesn’t negate the fact that I have a degree of mobility that is not shared by some of my family. Oppression and privilege can and do exist in the same sphere.
Links:
https://ochentastudio.com/how-not-to-travel-english/2019/11/1/01-travel-privilege
In the context of traveling and the inherent privileges we hold within the western hemisphere, we must also look at the social capital which is needed to navigate spaces that facilitate mobility. Certain places, such as a trailer park, do not have the presence of knowledge in the field of air travel within its social makeup. Other area, like Hamilton, have numerous individuals who have gone through the process of travel and therefore can navigate these systems. Places are inherently embedded in their social circles, so it alters the way mobility is seen in terms of prioritization. The privileged context of Hamilton allows people to get exposure to travel, whereas marginalized communities have little experience in this field of recreation.
I like how you addressed the nuances of privilege. Your analysis connects to the video we watched about gentrification in Harlem. Morgan Jenkins, a young, black woman who had recently moved to the neighborhood, acknowledged that despite her oppressed identity, she was also privileged in her ability to move into an area that was forcing poor residents out.
Mckela,
I really found your post interesting, and the conversation we had on Thursday, about how Afghanistan, for example, cannot enter any of its neighboring countries without a visa. It’s really fascinating to see how you can travel between states in the US. without having to show any I.D., and can do similarly in the EU, while on the other hand some countries essentially become “locked in,” because of their geopolitical/etc. situation. You rarely hear from people who live in countries you mentioned and where it takes a lot of preparation to travel to another country, while we never consider the privilege in easily crossing state lines, or borders.
Mckela, really interesting post and topic to consider! Your discussion of the privilege of mobility made me think about Birthright. Because I am Jewish, I have the opportunity to go on Birthright, a trip paid by the state for young Jews to see Israel and learn about Judaism. Much of the program is filled with zionist propaganda and serves to whitewash Israeli history. Moreover, the program gives Jewish people a claim to land founded on the forceful displacement and continued oppression of the Palestinian people. Additionally, many Palestinians refugees living around the world struggle to return to Palestine to see their ancestral home or even visit living relatives. Within the context of Israel, my jewishness serves as a privilege and grants me a mobility that many Palestinians and other Arabs are denied.