"Wait?! Why does she get to just drop the ball in the bucket and I have to take the shot blindfolded?! That's not fair!!", said the student who just witness an injustice in the game.
"So what made this not fair then?", said the host.
"Well, the other person had no rules to make the shot while I had to take it blindfolded and from far away. It was all determined at random!" said the student.
"I'm afraid this is how privilege works. We don't get to choose our privilege at birth. It has all been predetermined by society that certain people are going to have more privilege than others.", said the host.
"Ok, I see, but what do all these different suits represent then?" said the student curiously.
"Hearts represents a person who has privilege and has no barriers to achieving success or opportunities.
Clubs represents a person who has less privilege but there are a little bit of challenges that they need to face. This could be representative of a model minority.
Diamonds represents a person who may have a physical or mental illness/disability that prevents them from achieving success or having opportunities.
Spades represents a person who may be facing systemic opposition weather in the form of laws created or even society and having people physically standing in their way. This could be represented of the Indigenous people, refugees, or immigrants." explained the host.
"This is a really good clear example of privilege. Thank you for this. This was very educational.", said the student.
"Your welcome, I'm glad you enjoyed it! If you are interested, come check out our bible studies and our Blind event. We as IVCF SFU are trying to wrestle and act on what it means to fight against injustice." said the host.
"This really interests me, I'll see if I can check it out. One other question though, do I still get a chocolate bar for trying?, said the students with hopeful eyes.
"Actually, you don't get one. The reason is that as sad as it may be, society still rewards those who get the ball in the bucket and the reality is... the majority of them are the privileged. You didn't get the ball in the bucket, so you don't get a chocolate bar." said the host.
The student looked with disbelief that she still couldn't get a chocolate bar and walks away both sad and questioning in her heart.
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I have to say, this was the most fun I have had in my 7 years of tabling for New Student Outreach (NSO). The invitation we offered to students walking by was that they could win a full chocolate bar by simply throwing a ball in a bucket. The only catch was that they needed to draw from a deck of cards that determined what situation they needed to make the throw in.
Each suit represented a different scenario:
Hearts
♡ - No rules or restrictions apply to you, take the shot from anywhere you want.
Clubs
♣ - You need to make the shot 10 ft away.
Diamonds
♢ - You need to make the shot 10 ft away and blindfolded.
Spades
♠ - You need to make the shot 10 ft away and someone is standing in front of you to block your shot.
So as the students looked forward to the opportunity to win a chocolate bar, they were given these conditions and attempted to make the shot. Often, the ones who didn't draw a heart missed while the majority of the ones who drew hearts made it in.
The rest of the time, the dialogue usually explained the rest of what happened. What was interesting this year though was that 90% of the people that came to the table weren't Christians. Some even came back because they wanted their friends to try and win a chocolate bar. However, what was different this year is that IVCF became a place where people from all walks of life could talk and relate to.
I can't say that people are coming to IVCF more but, what we did was vastly unique to any other club on campus and that they will most likely remember this exercise as they wrestle with their own privilege.
