--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Too many people have become…" description: "\"“Too many people have become self-appointed privilege police, patrolling the halls of discourse, ready to remind people of their privilege whether thos..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/714/roxane-gay-520_personal-experience_too-many-people-have-become-self-appoint_1705380.jpg" --- # Too many people have become self-appointed privilege… ![“Too many people have become self-appointed privilege police, patrolling the halls of discourse, ready to remind people of their privilege whether those people have denied that privilege or not. In online discourse, in particular, the specter of privilege is always looming darkly. When someone…” quote by Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/714/roxane-gay-520_personal-experience_too-many-people-have-become-self-appoint_1705380.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/714/roxane-gay-520_personal-experience_too-many-people-have-become-self-appoint_1705380.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/714/roxane-gay-520_personal-experience_too-many-people-have-become-self-appoint_1705380.jpg) > ““Too many people have become self-appointed privilege police, patrolling the halls of discourse, ready to remind people of their privilege whether those people have denied that privilege or not. In online discourse, in particular, the specter of privilege is always looming darkly. When someone writes from experience, there is often someone else, at the ready, pointing a trembling finger, accusing that writer of having various kinds of privilege. How dare someone speak to a personal experience without accounting for every possible configuration of privilege or the lack thereof? We would live in a world of silence if the only people who were allowed to write or speak from experience or about difference were those absolutely without privilege.”” [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote warns that over‑policing privilege can silence personal narratives, making discourse hostile and limiting diverse voices. **In simple terms:** Over‑checking privilege can mute honest stories. Key Takeaway Balance awareness with openness to experience. Themes privilege discourse silence identity speech Mood critical reflective Type analytical political When to use this quote - online debates - personal essays - activist writing - teaching - policy making Key Concepts social justice censorship intersectionality Questions to Reflect On - How can we acknowledge privilege without silencing lived experience? - When does critique become gatekeeping? A Different Perspective It may overlook systemic inequities that truly affect voices. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [People Privilege](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-privilege-282959/) [Personal experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal-experience/) [Privilege](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/privilege/) [Privilege Online](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/privilege-online-1191770/) [Privilege People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/privilege-people-1191768/) [Privilege Police](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/privilege-police-1191769/) [Too many people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/too-many-people/) ## Related quotes > [People of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/people-of-privilege-will-always-risk-their-complete-destruction/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Don't complain about growing old — many, many people do not have that privilege.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-warren/don-t-complain-about-growing-old-many-many-people-do-not-have-that/) [Earl Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-warren/) > [They, the conservatives, are the real outsides, they tell us, gazing with disgust upon the ludicrous manners of the high and mighty. Or, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-frank/they-the-conservatives-are-the-real-outsides-they-tell-us-gazing-with/) [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) > [“Being privileged doesn't mean that you are always wrong and people without privilege are always right. It means that there is a good chance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ijeoma-oluo/being-privileged-doesn-t-mean-that-you-are-always-wrong-and-people/) [Ijeoma Oluo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ijeoma-oluo/) > [All power within the microcosm of my world was held and wielded by people who look like me. Plus, I think Nigerians all have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-abani/all-power-within-the-microcosm-of-my-world-was-held-and-wielded-by/) [Chris Abani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-abani/) > [I will miss the contact with the people - the privilege of trying to communicate to people every day that the court system is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pacey/i-will-miss-the-contact-with-the-people-the-privilege-of-trying-to/) [Steven Pacey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pacey/) > [It is a privilege to serve people, a privilege that must be earned, and once earned, there is an obligation to do something good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-jordan/it-is-a-privilege-to-serve-people-a-privilege-that-must-be-earned-and/) [Barbara Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-jordan/) > [I think the people who believe that works can and always should be divorced from the context are people who have the privilege to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-k-jemisin-2/i-think-the-people-who-believe-that-works-can-and-always-should-be/) [N. K. Jemisin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-k-jemisin-2/) > [Being 'out and proud' can feel like a real luxury of Western culture, where people are often white and see existing white gay people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tan-france/being-out-and-proud-can-feel-like-a-real-luxury-of-western-culture/) [Tan France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tan-france/) > [I feel very grateful that for some reason I was raised to believe that I had permission to explore the creative world. I'm very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-hegarty/i-feel-very-grateful-that-for-some-reason-i-was-raised-to-believe/) [Antony Hegarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-hegarty/) > [While I was able to pass as white as soon as I came to America, this was not really possible while I was growing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lexi-alexander/while-i-was-able-to-pass-as-white-as-soon-as-i-came-to-america-this/) [Lexi Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lexi-alexander/) > [Connectivity just can't be a privilege for people in the richest countries. We believe that connecting everyone in the world is one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-zuckerberg/connectivity-just-can-t-be-a-privilege-for-people-in-the-richest/) [Mark Zuckerberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-zuckerberg/) > [You cannot talk about race without talking about privilege. And when people start talking about privilege, they get paralyzed by shame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bren-brown/you-cannot-talk-about-race-without-talking-about-privilege-and-when/) [Brené Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bren-brown/) > [Love is not a right. It's a privilege and some people don't deserve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darius-weaver/love-is-not-a-right-it-s-a-privilege-and-some-people-don-t-deserve-it/) [Darius Weaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darius-weaver/) > [“A grande passion is the privilege of people who have nothing to do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/a-grande-passion-is-the-privilege-of-people-who-have-nothing-to-do/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) ## More by Roxane Gay > [“Human endurance fascinates me, probably too much because more often than not, I think of life in terms of enduring instead of living.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/human-endurance-fascinates-me-probably-too-much-because-more-often/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [“Being useful was a balm.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/being-useful-was-a-balm/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [No woman or man is any one thing and the men in my stories, well, some of them are good and some of them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/no-woman-or-man-is-any-one-thing-and-the-men-in-my-stories-well-some/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [“I was a daydreamer and I resented being pulled out of my daydreams to deal with the business of living.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/i-was-a-daydreamer-and-i-resented-being-pulled-out-of-my-daydreams-to/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [Feminism is, I hope, a way to a better future for everyone who inhabits this world. Feminism should not be something that needs a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/feminism-is-i-hope-a-way-to-a-better-future-for-everyone-who-inhabits/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [Fiction offers escape but it also interrogates the world we live in, whether the past, present or future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/fiction-offers-escape-but-it-also-interrogates-the-world-we-live-in/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [“I've noticed while cooking, how ingredients in their individual and naked state and be a bit repulsive but necessary, kind of like people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/i-ve-noticed-while-cooking-how-ingredients-in-their-individual-and/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [“I shouted, “This is not right,” knowing my words were useless. There’s no room for such distinctions in a country where too many people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/i-shouted-this-is-not-right-knowing-my-words-were-useless-there-s-no/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [Most of my favorite tweets go completely ignored but most of my favorite tweets are probably really lame or inside jokes between me and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/most-of-my-favorite-tweets-go-completely-ignored-but-most-of-my/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [“What about other women of color? For Hispanic and Latina women, Indian women, Middle Eastern women, Asian women, their absence in popular culture is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/what-about-other-women-of-color-for-hispanic-and-latina-women-indian/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [There has been, and there will continue to be, vigorous discussions about race in America. I worry that little will come of these discussions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/there-has-been-and-there-will-continue-to-be-vigorous-discussions/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [Writing, at its best and truest, can offer solace and salvation for both readers and writers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/writing-at-its-best-and-truest-can-offer-solace-and-salvation-for/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [“I knew I was in love with The Hunger Games when I did not want to get off the treadmill”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/i-knew-i-was-in-love-with-the-hunger-games-when-i-did-not-want-to-get/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [“Just because you survive something does not mean you are strong.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/just-because-you-survive-something-does-not-mean-you-are-strong/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [“Celebrities understand the economy of thinness, and most of them are willing to participate in that economy, taking to social media, where they pose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/celebrities-understand-the-economy-of-thinness-and-most-of-them-are/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) [Explore all 503 Roxane Gay quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) ## More Personal experience quotes > [For us to know that the Book of Mormon is true, we must read it and make the choice found in Moroni: pray to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-b-eyring/for-us-to-know-that-the-book-of-mormon-is-true-we-must-read-it-and/) [Henry B. Eyring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-b-eyring/) > [There is a certain kind of pain that can change you. Even the strongest sword, when placed in a raging fire, will soften and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gidwitz/there-is-a-certain-kind-of-pain-that-can-change-you-even-the/) [Adam Gidwitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gidwitz/) > [If you could distill this down to a single principle its that the best marketers in the world know MARKETS first and foremost, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/perry-marshall/if-you-could-distill-this-down-to-a-single-principle-its-that-the/) [Perry Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/perry-marshall/) > [Perspective, as its inventor remarked, is a beautiful thing. What horrors of damp huts, where human beings languish, may not become picturesque through aerial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/perspective-as-its-inventor-remarked-is-a-beautiful-thing-what/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [All truly wise thoughts have been thought already thousands of times; but to make them truly ours, we must think them over again honestly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-truly-wise-thoughts-have-been-thought-already-thousands-of-times/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Science provides an understanding of a universal experience. Arts provide a universal understanding of a personal experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mae-jemison/science-provides-an-understanding-of-a-universal-experience-arts/) [Mae Jemison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mae-jemison/) > [I have been extremely pleased to support the Trust's work in the Lupus Unit ever since. Personal experience also motivated me to become involved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-paige/i-have-been-extremely-pleased-to-support-the-trust-s-work-in-the/) [Elaine Paige](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-paige/) > [A lot of times, especially when it comes to political debates, people get caught up in esoteric statistics. So the realest thing I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hasan-minhaj/a-lot-of-times-especially-when-it-comes-to-political-debates-people/) [Hasan Minhaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hasan-minhaj/) > [No individual and no generation has had enough personal experience to ignore the vast experience of the human race that is called history. Yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/no-individual-and-no-generation-has-had-enough-personal-experience-to/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [“Inferiority is not banal or incidental even when it happens to women. It is not a petty affliction like bad skin or circles under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/inferiority-is-not-banal-or-incidental-even-when-it-happens-to-women/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [The most striking thing to me about human space flight and my own personal experience is that I've seen dramatic changes on Earth. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-m-grunsfeld/the-most-striking-thing-to-me-about-human-space-flight-and-my-own/) [John M. Grunsfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-m-grunsfeld/) > [“There are certain truths that occurs to us, which we cannot convey in words, but requires a personal experience to grasp more vividly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/there-are-certain-truths-that-occurs-to-us-which-we-cannot-convey-in/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [Usually the way I think someone is radicalized is through a personal experience. The thing about environmental activism is that we are all having…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sarsgaard/usually-the-way-i-think-someone-is-radicalized-is-through-a-personal/) [Peter Sarsgaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sarsgaard/) > [Sometimes I write from personal experience, but so much depends on what mood I'm in. If I'm in a good mood, I'll write happier…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orianthi/sometimes-i-write-from-personal-experience-but-so-much-depends-on/) [Orianthi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orianthi/) > [All arguments are meaningless until we gain personal experience. One must win one's own place in the spiritual world painfully and alone. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/all-arguments-are-meaningless-until-we-gain-personal-experience-one/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) [Browse all 464 Personal experience quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal-experience/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Too many people have become self-appointed privilege police, patrolling the halls of discourse, ready to remind people of their privilege whether those people have denied that privilege or not. 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