Acting from a position of power and security to cause duress and pain to those less fortunate spawns all sorts of abuses. It is at the heart of racism, sexism, classism, and various other ism's...
Yet, I get the impression that many people would discount my personal opinions about such behaviors, because I have never been on their receiving end of the ism abuses (at least, that's how they feel, from their perspective) (since, I am a white, middle-class male, native US, Christian citizen.)
Or... some people feel that because I'm in that position of power, I need to actively counter-act others' abuses by personally providing "favored treatment" to the affected populations. I have mixed opinions about this, but... "queue the 3 people at the fence, standing on different size blocks". To me, it really depends if those amends are helping to accommodate and heal the disability created by the ism, or if they are just trying to cover up continued abuses.
Unfortunately, though, even if I try actively to look beyond the protected characteristics, to try to be a better human... there are deeply seated behaviors in my interactions that still can get triggered. One thing that comes to mind is expressing my physical attraction (or the frustration created by not doing so)... Another I can think of is the difference in tutoring presentations depending on my first impressions of different students...There's probably some fear, too, built around living and walking around in barrios and how that can affect my interactions with strangers I pass on the street.
It's disheartening, really. I am taught by my culture, from an early age, unhealthy behaviors towards others. Even when I try to act against that grain, my little protest can easily be lost when others still see the "single, white man".