The discrimination will come in the form of standardized examination. If you aren't born with the intellectual ability to pass exams you can't go to harvard.
It's not always easy to pass for upper class when you are not, this is especially true in the UK where you will be judged on your accent.
What? Being born in a trailer park now means being born stupid? This is goalpost moving.
I didn't say pass for being "upper class". I was discussing passing for being "not from the trailer park". Lots of people at Harvard are not wealthy, just have good grades and SAT scores.
Sure. Sometimes. It can be an exclusionary factor too.
The point of privilege discussions tho isn't to eliminate all privileges. It is to recognize them, and work towards eliminating the implicit ones, by making them explicit. And to further decide which ones make sense and which ones don't.
Assuming that someone is respectable based on skin color or iq or gender or whatever is a privilege that doesn't make sense. Assuming that someone is qualified to gain the benefit of an institution of learning based on a shown track record of learning well does - IMO.
Recognizing that I have opportunities because I was unfairly given a pass by the cops when I was holding drugs, even though my buddy who wasn't was searched, is not self-flagellation. It is a simple fact of what happened. Recognizing privilege isn't an act of self hate. Using my privilege to influence the reduction of privileges that make no sense isn't self-hate either, it is an attempt to reduce the absurd. It's recognition that things are fucked up, and trying to correct it.
It's not always easy to pass for upper class when you are not, this is especially true in the UK where you will be judged on your accent.