White Privilege?

[Red Flag 1]

"White privilege"(WP).....OK it's there, and is being spin so fast by the folks who decide what is PC, and the media is all over this. I don't see where this does anyone any good. How about we focus on poverty, black and white. There are things that can be done by everyone to reduce the poverty level in this country. Blathering about WP does what, exactly? What does it fix? What is the criteria for WP? If you are WP, what exactly is expected of the WP? There are Black privilege (BP) too, but that is not mentioned. The timing of Black Lives Matter, and WP are coming up at an interesting time, and the media is eating this up.

My $.002.

 

[Ranger Psych]

I am nursing school. My flight lessons are paid for by the money we got from a lawsuit from a drug that killed my mom. I'm not rich, or even upper middle class, until February I lived paycheck to paycheck on the Gi bill. Racial Bias? Against me? I haven't. Ever.

Well, you just shot your entire argument in the dick, because we are polar opposites then. You obviously have a blinders style existance if you refuse to admit that there isva large segment of the national population that doesnt match your idea of how things are according to you.

 

[TLDR20]

Well, you just shot your entire argument in the dick, because we are polar opposites then. You obviously have a blinders style existance if you refuse to admit that there isva large segment of the national population that doesnt match your idea of how things are according to you.

I shot my argument? I believe man that you led a life full of discrimination against you. That you have been held down by the system, that you have thrown off the yoke of the oppressors to get where you were despite the black menace, the white man, and the government. You did it man, congrats. You obviously have zero privilege. So check it out, whenever you hear someone talk about white privilege, or any other kind, smile and know they aren't talking about you. You know it, so who fucking cares.

I know I do have privilege, that privilege is part being raised in a white middle income house, part being tall straight and relatively good looking, with no disabilities and enough brains to do whatever I put my mind to. There are literally no barriers to my being successful. Not shitty schools, not criminal elements in my neighborhood, not lack of resources. Recognizing that doesn't do anything other than say I recognize it. I put effort into helping other people not born into those situations raise themselves into better ones(via volunteering). Pretending everyone can pull themselves up by their bootstraps is a fantasy. Some can, as you did. Others need a hand. If admitting I didn't need that hand because I got it from being born lucky, with a system set up to cater to me, then so be it.

 

[Rapid]

So, really, it's about "middle class privilege" and has nothing to do with being white. Sure, it just happens that most middle class people in Western countries are white. But since when is it acceptable, especially by leftist standards, to use that as a justification for labeling something based on an unchangeable human trait, thereby potentially vilifying anyone who belongs to that group? Would it be acceptable to start calling certain crimes "black", just because black people commit most of said crimes?

Yet it's ok to call middle class privilege 'white', just because most of said privilege is held by whites? That there is the hypocrisy of 'progressive' leftist dogma. That's where the self-loathing and 'white guilt' shines right through. And in the case of minorities who rail on about 'white privilege', it's obviously not about self-loathing, but rather just some thinly veiled racism towards white people. The best bit is when you tell them that, they reply that you 'can't be racist against white people' because they define racism as "prejudice + power", so since they say they have no power, clearly they can't be racist! And that is why you very rarely hear them attacking the non-white section of the middle class. It's always an attack on the white, heterosexual male. That's all "white privilege" refers to 99% of the time.

 

[DocIllinois]

According to the Federal Reserve, Asian Americans are about to surpass whites as the wealthiest Americans.

They also do better than whites in school, IQ test, and credit scores.

I bristle with umbrage at the scourge of Asian Privilege.

 

[amlove21]

I am so tired of the white privilege bullshit. Being white got me exactly nothing in life. Invisible knapsack? Come the fuck on. Go out and put in the work instead of sitting back and crying about "white privilege".

This thread is quickly spiralling into "these are my personal experiences and at this point I am just going to yell louder than everyone else so that I can be righter more" territory, but---

Since we are friends and I'll be able to yell at you in person later, I'll choose your comment to quote.

"White Privilege", as discussed, is embodied by your statement.

Those claiming that white privilege exist would say, "No of course being white didn't 'get' you anything. You started at zero. Simply because I was a minority I was operating at a social negative balance, and you discounting that out of hand by saying 'white privilege never benefitted me at all' is precisely what the definition of white privilege is. You have no frame of reference for systemic oppression, racism, or any number of real problems minorities have to deal with in our society; regardless of perpetuation of stereotypes, your utter dismissal of our plight by saying 'work harder, be smarter' demonstrates our claim. You are privileged to the point of ignoring our real struggle; it's the modern equivalent of 'let them eat cake'."

There are a lot of examples in the thread- @Etype , I love you man, but people saying negative things about you at a bus stop is a bunch of dickehads being dickheads. The police lining those people up and searching them stop/frisk style solely because of their race is systemic oppression, and you saying "Well, if you're not doing anything illegal, then that shouldn't be an issue" is an example of white privilege. No, I am not saying you would say that, in any way. I am simply using an example and keeping congruity in the example by fabricating your response.

@racing_kitty , your examples of being involved in the event where your friends were called faggot, or stopped felony style and put in the prone (neither of which are ok, by the way) are yours and they carry weight. I just want to make sure you understand your statement for how I percieve it- you described incidences which are commonplace in minority reality as remarkable in your reality as a way to discount the idea of white privilege. Slurs, unnecessary and sometimes unconstitutional stops with rough treatment. See; Los Angeles, 1975-1995.

White privilege isn't about money or initial station. The poorest white trash looking n'er do well gets an even shot. President Obama's children, in America, are just n****s to someone until proven otherwise. And sometimes, they're just some uppity n****s and they'll never be anything else.

Personally, I feel some type of way about white privilege as a whole, and to address the original video- fuck that 14 year old kid. He knows exactly shit about the world and shouldn't talk about things he doesn't know about.

 

[AKkeith]

. So check it out, whenever you hear someone talk about white privilege, or any other kind, smile and know they aren't talking about you. You know it, so who fucking cares.

So then calling it white priviledge is racist. It doesn't apply to all white people yet the title stands calling all whites privileged.

That being the case, could it be something else rather than race then?
Most likely socio-economic status.

White privilege isn't about money or initial station. The poorest white trash looking n'er do well gets an even shot. President Obama's children, in America, are just n****s to someone until proven otherwise. And sometimes, they're just some uppity n****s and they'll never be anything else.

Who says the poorest white person gets a fair shot? I could flip the script on this.

I'm just a dumb little poor boy cracker wannabe to someone and I didn't get a fair shot until I proved myself. And to some, I always will be one.


People everywhere of every race, color, creed, religion, whatever hold biases. There's assholes everywhere, race doesn't play a factor in that.

 

[Diamondback 2/2]

 

[macNcheese]

Who says the poorest white person gets a fair shot? I could flip the script on this.

I'm just a dumb little poor boy cracker wannabe to someone and I didn't get a fair shot until I proved myself. And to some, I always will be one.


People everywhere of every race, color, creed, religion, whatever hold biases. There's assholes everywhere, race doesn't play a factor in that.

I agree with you. I mean we don't get free college based on our race. Diversifying companies sure as hell don't need more white people. Just my opinion.

 

[AKkeith]

I agree with you. I mean we don't get free college based on our race. Diversifying companies sure as hell don't need more white people. Just my opinion.

One could definitely argue that affirmative action has turned into reverse racism.

 

[CDG]

Your post.

Arguments like the one you make come across as essentially saying that being white means your opinion holds no weight on the matter. That probably was not your intent, but that's how it reads to me. I'm white, so I don't have anything to say and the fact that I disagree with the notion that my life would be negatively impacted by not being white means I am walking proof of "white privilege". The rampant black on black killings and assaults go unaddressed year after year, yet here we sit pointing fingers at "white privilege" as though it's the elephant in the room.

 

[Gunz]

My head hurts.

White Privilege is an anachronism. It did exist. The pendulum in the last half century has swung the other way, with a myriad of social programs, affirmative action, educational and hiring incentives for minorities, childcare options, school lunch programs, welfare, food stamps, K-12, grants for minorities, scholarships, minority fellowships, SMART, school breakfast, SNAP, Section 8 Housing, subsidized low-income phone service, migrant education, Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood grants, HEADSTART, Child Nutrition (CHIP), Low-income home energy assistance, state supplemental health insurance (SCHIP), Title One grants, Special Programs for the Disadvantaged (TRIO), EvenStart, YouthBuild, etc etc etc about a fucking hundred more not to mention Medicare, Welfare, Social Security Disability... to the tune of 2.3-trillion dollars.

It's all there if you care to take advantage of it.

But maybe it's just easier to sit on your fat ass and claim you've been oppressed by White Privilege. Fuck. That.

 

[amlove21]

Arguments like the one you make come across as essentially saying that being white means your opinion holds no weight on the matter. That probably was not your intent, but that's how it reads to me. I'm white, so I don't have anything to say and the fact that I disagree with the notion that my life would be negatively impacted by not being white means I am walking proof of "white privilege". The rampant black on black killings and assaults go unaddressed year after year, yet here we sit pointing fingers at "white privilege" as though it's the elephant in the room.

Of course you have a say. And an opinion, and the right to voice that opinion. You can say any number of things about any number of things, that's all good and that's protected. Just like an opponent saying, "You only think that way because of white privilege" is maybe not a fair thing to say, but it's protected and their opinion. I think you feel like t takes away your power because you're allowing it to.

The remarkable thing, really, is the droves and droves of white people most of whom pretend or espouse to be super hard cases- military members, whites from the 'other side of the tracks', etc etc- that are getting butthurt about it. All the fucking poo poo faces.

I think there is a systemic and systematic problem with race in America. I've said it before. Literally anyone can say that even though I hold that belief I have benefited from white privilege- my response is the same. And? Labeling me that doesn't silence my opinion, nor does it discount valid points I make. It's the SJW equivalent of being called 'a hater'.

But when your response to such a claim is (essentially) "That doesn't exist you're just not a hard worker or a complainer, I have struggled mightily! My plight is equal to yours!", then you flip the argument from the actual subject at hand to debating semantics and feelings solely based on racial prejudice and historical instances of racist behavior.

 

[AWP]

For discussion, regardless of your stance on WP, would y'all rather be an able-bodied black woman/ man or a paraplegic white male?

 

[amlove21]

Who says the poorest white person gets a fair shot? I could flip the script on this.

I'm just a dumb little poor boy cracker wannabe to someone and I didn't get a fair shot until I proved myself. And to some, I always will be one.


People everywhere of every race, color, creed, religion, whatever hold biases. There's assholes everywhere, race doesn't play a factor in that.

First of all, being called a cracker in any sort of real sense is laughable. The etymology of the word aside, if someone actually called me a cracker, or told me I didn't get a job because I was a cracker, I would literally laugh. Hard. Know why? Because that is an absolutely ludicrous scenario.

Juxtapose that with a cop telling a black man, "I pulled you over because you're a n****r." I am a betting man. I will bet that somewhere in history, a black dude has been pulled over because he's black and he was not breaking the law at the time. Chris Rock posted 3 stops earlier this year. No tickets, no written warnings. How about this- have you, personally, ever been pulled over or detained by police because you are white? How about more than once? Have you received a sentence much harsher than a black (or Hispanic or Asian or other) person simply because you're white? I assume your knee jerk reaction here- I don't do any of those things, I know they're illegal. And that's precisely the point. The argument from the other side of your argument is that black, law abiding citizens are detained, stopped, and punished at a categorically higher rate than whites, per capita. The reason why you, and others here (notably @Ocoka One ) so flippantly answer "Welp, shouldn't break the law and sit around smoking dope all day and cry about oppression, it's not white privilege" is because you've never had to deal with the same situation, even if you insist you surely have.

You can flip the script all you want, but as you do it, you exhibit the behavior of what the SJW/BLM crowd would characterize as "white privilege".

Again- the entire concept is laughable. I dismiss the term 'white privilege' as fast as someone saying 'y u mad bro?' and 'you're just a hater'. For someone to tell me my opinions are based on my 'white privilege' I immediately assume that person has no more valid arguments to make about our discussion.

As soon as you fall into this nonsense about proving how *not* privileged you are, and how truly good that minority has it, you've lost. You're screaming at the ocean at that point.

For discussion, regardless of your stance on WP, would y'all rather be an able-bodied black woman/ man or a paraplegic white male?

And that, really, is a great question. For the gusto, let's hear who would want to be a black woman.

One could definitely argue that affirmative action has turned into reverse racism.

PS, there is no such thing as 'reverse racism'. Prejudicial treatment of one race in over another is racist. There is no reverse of that definition.

Seems like semantics, but the implication when you say 'reverse racism' is that whites are the preponderance of force for racist behavior; so when minorities are favored, that's not 'reverse racism', it's racism with a different primary actor. Calling affirmative action 'racist' is ok (if that's your opinion or supported). Calling affirmative action 'reverse racism' implies that the normal action (whites favoring other whites for jobs in this case) is reversed (whites are forced to hire minorities as opposed to whites fulfilling a quota).

That sort of works against your arguments for WP not existing. Whites hiring other whites was such an issue we had to have a government mandated program to hire more minorities. I suppose you could argue the bolded; but it pretty clearly demonstrates how privileged you truly are. JOKE THAT WAS A JOKE LOOK----->

 

[Diamondback 2/2]

@amlove21 the disagree was for a few things you posted. But if you wouldn't mind explaining this:

"I think there is a systemic and systematic problem with race in America"

I would like to understand how and why you have come to such a conclusion? If you don't mind and when you have the time.

 

[AWP]

And that, really, is a great question. For the gusto, let's hear who would want to be a black woman.

I'd take able-bodied over a wheelchair 90-ish times out of a hundred.

 

[BloodStripe]

@amlove21 the disagree was for a few things you posted. But if you wouldn't mind explaining this:

"I think there is a systemic and systematic problem with race in America"

I would like to understand how and why you have come to such a conclusion? If you don't mind and when you have the time.

Look around you. It's not difficult to see. While I'm not a proponent of the BLM movement, to say that a young African American, specifically a male wearing baggy pants, is never racially profiled is absurd. Or, to say that a white person flying a confederate flag has never been profiled either is also an indication that there is a race issue in this country.

 

[Gunz]

...The argument from the other side of your argument is that black, law abiding citizens are detained, stopped, and punished at a categorically higher rate than whites, per capita. The reason why you, and others here (notably @Ocoka One ) so flippantly answer "Welp, shouldn't break the law and sit around smoking dope all day and cry about oppression, it's not white privilege" is because you've never had to deal with the same situation...

But you're not talking about WP, you're talking about racism and racial profiling. Hatred. That's everywhere, in every culture. They are not the same IMV. My "flippancy" is based on the fact that White Privilege has been offset by social programs, hiring incentives and other benefits--yes, forcibly enacted to counter centuries of WP--and readily available to those who wish to take advantage of them. Some people do. Some people, of all races, "work" the system. Of minorities from low-income neighborhoods, many study hard, don't disrupt the classroom trying to be cool, don't idolize the local crack dealer, don't get involved with gangbangers, work hard and become successful and prosperous.

When I was at the VA trauma rehab facility I struck up a friendship with an African American guy in his late 20's who was doing janitor work. He grew up in the 'hood. He was married, raising a family and studying to be a nurse at a local college. Terrific person. There are millions of black people like him who grew up in urban shitholes who are making something of themselves, not copping an attitude that "Whitey Owes Me," not blaming racism or White Privilege for failing to take responsibility.

 

[Diamondback 2/2]

Look around you. It's not difficult to see. While I'm not a proponent of the BLM movement, to say that a young African American, specifically a male wearing baggy pants, is never racially profiled is absurd. Or, to say that a white person flying a confederate flag has never been profiled either is also an indication that there is a race issue in this country.

I can agree with that, but I don't view profiling the same as racism. Profiling is a natural occurrence of nature. We do it with everything to include people. You see a snake on the ground the natural reaction is to view it as a threat. Not all snakes are threats, and the more you under how to ID them the less you see them as such. But that first reaction is the same "threat".

I see racism as more of hating someone, because of that person's ethnic roots, regardless who they are, what they wear etc. But just because my reaction is to be careful and stay highly alert around someone dressed like a thug, doesn't mean I'm racist. I can't tell the amount of times where I've actually had that situation happen, only to talk and find out that the person is good people. But I don't think my reaction is racist, it's human instinct. The same way a black person would perceive a bunch of rednecks flying the stars and bars.