Put Purpose to Privilege

So there are a lot of people who are pointing out, and this is very critically important, that we are living in a very unusual and very special moment in time where the nation is grappling with racism and inequality. In your position as mayor, what do you recommend to aspiring students who really want to help build systems that are actively anti racist and foster more equitable society? Yeah, well, I think first of all, it's understanding that this is a marathon, not a sprint, meaning that we're talking about 400 years of a history that we're confronting with. It doesn't mean we have to be nihilistic, and it doesn't mean we don't need to push and demand, but it doesn't mean we need to be realistic and understand that we have to take care of ourselves and have a strategy for the next 50, 60, 70, 100 years. Number two, I think with Stanford comes immense privilege. And I tell people all the time, don't apologize for your privilege, but put purpose to it in a big way. Put purpose to it is to allow other people who may have more experience, who may actually be very equipped to work on the issues you want to work on a seat next to you at the table. I think one of the things I'm conscious of as mayor is making sure I bring as many people in with me to the table because I know that I'm able to get there because I went to Stanford, I'm the mayor, and they may not, although they're more impacted by what happens after this decision than I'll be, because my privilege insulates me from a lot of the insidious impacts of bad policy. Oftentimes, number three, I would say be educated, read, read, read, learn, listen so you're equipped. And number four, understand that no matter where you go, because what we're talking about in terms of racism, white supremacy is ubiquitous. Meaning that it's not just in politics, it's not just in policing, it's in every institution in our country. Which means when you're in the tech board room, when you're creating your startup, when you're like, no matter what you're doing, you have to actively make sure you're fighting against and not perpetuating the systems you want to change. And then we also have to acknowledge that for some of us, there's real benefit to the current system. And to understand that in changing these systems, you may be giving yourself less privilege, maybe giving yourself less authority, you may be giving yourself less opportunity to drive the agenda and be comfortable with that, because that's part of this process is understanding that so many folks have been excluded, marginalized, meaning that we bring more people in. You might not have as large a slice of the pie as you may be used to enjoying, which isn't a bad thing. But I just want to be really realistic about this. What we're talking about, we're talking about bringing more people in, expanding opportunity, and giving the ability to lead, the ability to be part of the conversation to folks who have traditionally been left out of marginalized, which means some of us have to shut up, some of us have to be quiet, some of us have to listen and lead that way.