Jennifer E. Walls

Lucretia Mott, a pioneering abolitionist and suffragist, famously said, “One should expect resistance with any great change. It shakes the very foundation of privilege.” But what did she really mean by “shaking the foundation of privilege,” and why does change often trigger such strong resistance?

Privilege, how I’ve come to understand it, is the concept of having an advantage in society due to the “status” you hold within that society. Privilege draws its value from the social norms upheld within a culture, and these social norms are what contribute to said “status” one may hold. When Mott describes change as something that “shakes the foundation of privilege,” I believe she’s referring to the way social change disrupts those norms and, in doing so, forces a shift in how privilege is understood and perceived.

Kanter (2012) outlines several reasons people resist change. One that stands out in the context of privilege is the idea of “loss of face.” This concept speaks to the discomfort that arises when we are asked to separate ourselves from the past (Kanter, 2012, para. 7). The norms, experiences, and behaviors of earlier generations inform how we understand our current reality—everything from gender roles to time to race has been socially constructed over time. When those constructs are questioned or shifted, it creates a sense of instability. For many, that instability stems from no longer being able to use the past as a guide for understanding the present. Since humans are creatures of habit, change introduces an uncomfortable sense of awareness, that forces us to reevaluate those once automatic habits. This phenomenon is referred to by Kanter (2012, para. 6) refers to as “consciousness.”

A recent example of this can be seen in the events of March 2020, when widespread calls for political and institutional change around racial privilege gained national attention. In the months that followed, institutions across the public, private, and educational sectors began to respond, prompting individuals to reflect on the ways in which racial privilege had shaped their lives. It called to attention the fact that there were individuals who had specific advantages within society that put them in positions of higher social “status” than others even if they had also experienced hardship, struggles, and lacked other societal privileges or advantages that were unrelated to their race. I watched as many people wrestled with the idea that recognizing privilege doesn’t negate personal struggle, nor does it erase the work someone put in to succeed. It simply means that their struggles weren’t directly tied to their race, and that they were less likely to have their work ignored or unfairly judged because of it.

That kind of reflection is difficult. It challenges long-held narratives and forces people to confront uncomfortable truths. Acknowledging the existence of privilege, especially when it’s something you’ve never had to think about before, is a major disruption to a person’s internal framework, and that’s exactly what Mott was pointing to. Change doesn’t just alter routines; it shakes the deeper social assumptions that privilege rests on. Acceptance of change requires people to accept new practices that disrupt their habits, but requires participants of the change to question their perception of their own experiences, and identity.

In the end, Mott’s insight highlights that real change doesn’t just shift behavior or policy—it disrupts people’s sense of self, history, and what they’ve always known to be “true.” It forces us to reevaluate the norms we’ve internalized, the systems we’ve participated in, and the ways we’ve personally benefited from or been harmed by them. That kind of reflection is uncomfortable for anyone, and that discomfort is exactly what fuels resistance. But understanding that response, where it comes from and why it shows up, is a key part of moving through it and creating space for growth, inclusion, and lasting impact.

Resources Referenced

Kanter, R. M. (2012, September 25). Ten Reasons People Resist Change [Web Article Publication]. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2012/09/ten-reasons-people-resist-chang