I mean I guess I can conclude today with: TIL some people don't believe white privilege exists.
Indecision 2016 - In Soviet Russia, we elect american president!
-
Hidden:
-
Isn't that what both irritates you and keeps drawing you back into the conversation? There can be something worthwhile to having a conversation with someone who's not coming from your own background and understanding. Even if it's annoying and you can't fathom how he can be like he is. And how it's most likely not going to come to some magic revelation moment where he sees the light.
I don't understand… white privilege isn't a ubiquitous and permanent law of physics like gravity. It's something difficult to measure that people debate constantly.
-
So… are you saying that I'm a bad person because I'm not a believer?
"Insulting people won't get them to agree with you." "He still doesn't get it."
???
If you boil it down to the message without the exasperation, he means that getting you to understand and accept the existence of white privilege is a starting point from which other discussions can stem. CCC's probably just a little concussed from that red palm-shaped bruise that's been hammered onto his forehead.
If you get dunked on in the dream, you get dunked on in real life
-
-
Probably quite alot of people if we are going by the rule that what seems to be the norm on the internet is actually a small percentage out in the world
Emphasis on the "some" ;)
I mean it's good to learn about opposing viewpoints, and I previously thought that most to all people acknowledged white privilege so yeah. Where one opinion exists it's a fair bet to say that there must be others.
Hidden:
-
If you boil it down to the message without the exasperation, he means that getting you to understand and accept the existence of white privilege is a starting point from which other discussions can stem. CCC's probably just a little concussed from that red palm-shaped bruise that's been hammered onto his forehead.
I just don't understand why this is such a shock. We should question everything, why is white privilege special?
It kinda feels like I just came out as Jewish during a Klan meeting or something. :/
I previously thought that most to all people acknowledged white privilege so yeah.
Why?
-
No one's going to be convinced to join a cause by being called "scum" or "privileged", though.
It's not an easy thing to accept, Robo, but I did. I was convinced, even though I was told that I was privileged. When all of the evidence is laid out in plain sight for you to see and make your own judgment on, it's much harder to stick your head in the sand and pretend that it's all misconstrued or wrong.
Instead, it's you. You're wrong. And once you start to accept that, things become much easier.
-
I just don't understand why this is such a shock. We should question everything, why is white privilege special?
It kinda feels like I just came out as Jewish during a Klan meeting or something. :/
Cuz basically it's… a norm to acknowledge white privilege I guess? A lot of us experience it every day? It's kind of on the level of saying "racism exists"? There's a whole history behind it?
Heck can you believe that I actually benefit from white privilege? I'm a brown hijab-wearing Muslim woman with an English last name. I get treated differently because people assume I'm white before they see me. It happens all the time o.o
Hidden:
-
It's not an easy thing to accept, Robo, but I did. I was convinced, even though I was told that I was privileged. When all of the evidence is laid out in plain sight for you to see and make your own judgment on, it's much harder to stick your head in the sand and pretend that it's all misconstrued or wrong.
Instead, it's you. You're wrong. And once you start to accept that, things become much easier.
No offense, but I'm bothered by the religious nature of your response. :/
You really sound like a born again Christian there, and it's kinda creeping me out. -
Emphasis on the "some" ;)
I mean it's good to learn about opposing viewpoints, and I previously thought that most to all people acknowledged white privilege so yeah. Where one opinion exists it's a fair bet to say that there must be others.
It is a bit suprising at times. Like when someone you know who is generally a openminded and understanding person, someone you sort of feel is of the same mind as you, comes out against something you never considered that he/she could've possibly been against or for. That aha this is what happens outside of my bubble huh moment.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
Cuz basically it's… a norm to acknowledge white privilege I guess? A lot of us experience it every day? It's kind of on the level of saying "racism exists"? There's a whole history behind it?
Heck can you believe that I actually benefit from white privilege? I'm a brown hijab-wearing Muslim woman with an English last name. I get treated differently because people assume I'm white before they see me. It happens all the time o.o
Steve can you come in here? It happened again
loud sigh from the HR room
-
Cuz basically it's… a norm to acknowledge white privilege I guess? A lot of us experience it every day? It's kind of on the level of saying "racism exists"? There's a whole history behind it?
Heck can you believe that I actually benefit from white privilege? I'm a brown hijab-wearing Muslim woman with an English last name. I get treated differently because people assume I'm white before they see me. It happens all the time o.o
That's anti-Islamic bigotry and xenophobia. I fully acknowledge that those exist, but combining every anti-minority bigotry into one term is a huge oversimplification.
Minorities have been treated terribly throughout history, some worse than others. Many of them have been white people, so really I think you'd have a better argument for "Christian privilege" existing currently than anything else.
-
It's also white privilege and I must acknowledge that. I have the protection of a white last name that a lot of others don't have.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
Steve can you come in here? It happened again
loud sigh from the HR room
Well at interviews I do experience "YOU'RE Jane Doe? Wow, where are you from?" and at my current job my Syrian coworker keeps pronouncing my last name with an Arabic accent cuz she's assuming it's a foreign name xD
Hidden:
-
Well at interviews I do experience "YOU'RE Jane Doe? Wow, where are you from?" and at my current job my Syrian coworker keeps pronouncing my last name with an Arabic accent cuz she's assuming it's a foreign name xD
I can't even imagine how one puts an Arabic spin on your last name.
But bless her for trying to be nice and respectful i guess
-
Absolute, ultimate, final, last try. This is it. No sarcasm, minimal snark. A genuine, sincere attempt.
Leaving nothing out of this explanation, even if it seems really basic. That said, there are wayyyy better writers on the subject out there than me. Read anything by Ta'nehisi Coates for example.Calling a white person "privileged" is not an insult. Nor does it imply anything about their personal income level (or their parents') or possession of material goods, as per the dictionary definition. It implies that a person enjoys ("enjoys," here not being the basic definition either. it means "benefits from") a different standard of treatment and opportunities in life purely because of their skin color and ethnic background. For our argument, we're talking about the United States, though I'm sure this applies to many European countries and even countries with non-white majorities (where lighter skin tones are revered as more beautiful because of white, western beauty standards- this is true in India, South Korea, Brazil, and others).
White privilege is not having to fear for your life during a routine traffic stop.
White privilege is not having your job applications rejected at a disproportionately high rate because of a "black"-sounding name (Femme's personal example).
White privilege is not worrying about being rejected for bank loans at disproportionately high rates.
White privilege is having 90% of movie/TV casts be people who look like you.
White privilege is not being called "thugs" for rioting in the streets after a sports event.
White privilege is moving into a neighborhood and raising the property value just by being there (see: Brooklyn).
White privilege is enjoying the fruits of black culture (cuisine, music, etc.) without enduring the pain that went into it (black southern cuisine came about during slave times due to limited/inferior resources for example).
White privilege is not being systematically disenfranchised by republican voter suppression efforts by nature of not living in primarily minority voting districts.
White privilege is all the basic stuff that you've already thought of, like not being attacked by the KKK with lynching ropes or being gunned down by George Zimmerman for wearing a hoodie.These are all things that happen in this country.
Some of those examples are more dire than others, yes, but it's about the entire picture, because you get the whole prize package when you're white. Once again, saying someone has white privilege is not an insult. It's an attempt to imbue within them a sense of sympathy for those less privileged. To make them understand that not everyone is at the same starting line in so many ways. Cleetus the Redneck might not have a college education or a 401k (so he's not very privileged financially!) but he benefits from institutional and systemic racism on a daily basis, whether he knows it or not, and whether he wants to or not. That last part is very important! Read it again! It's why saying that someone has white privilege is not an insult or an attack. Because the person doesn't make an active decision to be born with that privilege. Once they understand all this, however, the burden is on them to recognize privilege in daily life, have sympathy for their fellow humans, and to fight back against inequity wherever it appears. Ignorance does not make one a bad person, but once you truly understand and internalize, you are absolutely a bad person if your response is, "I don't care. I've got mine."
Addendum after Femme posted: non-whites can also benefit from white privilege! Weird, huh? Because the concept describes the system itself, so by circumventing the "rules" (like say, by having a white-sounding name), a PoC can sometimes fly under the radar.
Addendum after post 12921: The concept of white privilege is not "every anti-minority bigotry," and hopefully you understand that after reading this post. Bigotry is active on the part of the individual and the system (going out of your way to make others' lives worse). Enjoying white privilege is passive on the part of the individual, as I explained. I'm not supposed to hate myself just because I have the ability to walk past a cop car with a hoodie on and not be (that) scared. I'm supposed to get angry that other people can't do that.
"Christian privilege" is by no means a better simplification than "white privilege" in 21st century America, because the vast majority of white people don't wear ID tags stating our religion (save for yarmulkas, hijabs, and the like). Skin color is an inextricable part of the equation that cannot be hidden away in daily life save with a literal mask, gloves, long sleeves, and by lying on the census. We are not talking about "history" because history is very long and very complicated and events and trends within civilizations change all the time. We are talking about our country, now.
Isn't that what both irritates you and keeps drawing you back into the conversation?
What draws me back is pure rage over the fact that ignorant, misinformed, dangerous statements are being written and possibly not addressed. AKA "Someone on the internet is wronnnng…in a way that actually matters!" It feels physically difficult to read these posts sometimes and just walk away, even when it cuts into work/hobbies I'd rather be doing and leaves me trembling with stress.
...The internet is really not a place I should be, admittedly.The magic revelation moment would be him understanding white privilege. It seriously would be. So if that doesn't happen, here and now, with actual people of color in this thread (and me...and other people whose skin color I'm not sure about) trying to explain it and flip that switch, then I know it's all for naught. At that point I'll know it's more worthwhile to find other minds that can possibly be convinced or to read literature on the subject so I'm better informed, rather than hammering away at one fellow New Yorker.
If he claps back now with nitty gritty multi-quotes trying to dispute every point in this post, or trying to police the tone because it's mean to cops or something (no pun intended), I've failed.
-
I can't even imagine how one puts an Arabic spin on your last name.
But bless her for trying to be nice and respectful i guess
Yes it's quite cute XD in Arabic P's get converted to "B" and "o"s become a longer "oo" sound like in "soon" sometimes, so I guess you can figure it out from there.
Edit: Nice post, C-cubed. It's helpful to read it out explained in detail even if you think you understand it.
-
My boss, who came from a way poorer background than me, or my parents, once told me that I didn't understand something (can't remember) because I was privileged.
I talked about what ammounts to "first world problems", meaning that I lived a modest and confortable life, had to stick to a budged of around of half minimun wage, but.. that money was certain, that my parents payed my room was certain. I was humbled that day, and even though that guy ended up being and asshole, scamed my coworkers for a hefty sum, tried to emotionaly manipulate me to keep my wages down, and keept pushing me to dead end projects, I can't deny that day where I understood what Privilege means.
Privilege is what you percieve as a right, that is not share by everyone.
-
Be honest, Robo, are you a KKK member? We won't judge.
-
Be honest, Robo, are you a KKK member? We won't judge.
Not helping, even if it's a joke.
-
Be honest, Robo, are you a KKK member? We won't judge.
Come on, no one's going that far :P
Here's another story of privilege I recently experienced, except this time I wasn't the privileged one:
[hide]So recently I visited Hong Kong for the fourth time. When you exit the plane and walk down the ramp towards immigration, they have some program in place that one person will stand in the middle of the crowd of hundreds of people and "randomly" check people's temperatures with a temperature gun to see if sick people are entering the country.
Except it's never random :p it's the same thing every time.. I'll be the one brown person in a sea of Chinese hongkongers and from far away I'll notice the temperature lady making no move to check anyone, until she sees me. She'll start making her move towards me from far away, letting tens of people stream past her.
So she stops me and checks my temperature, and as usual I'm fine. I used to laugh about this but this being the fourth time it happened, I was livid. Being singled out like you're the diseased foreigner makes you feel lesser than everyone else.
Is this a racist oft-occurring incident? Absolutely.
However the Chinese hongkongers I flew with were privileged to not have to be singled out because of a factor they enjoy that is beyond their control: their skin colour.
Are they racist because they're privileged to not have to go through what I go through? Not at all.
However to empathize with what I went through, they must recognize that "how come she has to deal with that just because she looks different?" and it's important for them to acknowledge that. [/hide]
Hidden:
-
I think that we are going in circles, what does Roboblue actually doesn't believe? That white people get treated better in USA? or that calling people on it is worse than ignoring it?
-
Shocking! Some of the deplorables suddenly regret voting for Trump:
http://theslot.jezebel.com/sad-these-people-already-regret-voting-for-trump-1789641088Best gif from the comments to sum it up:
-
This election really is the Garbage Man episode of the Simpsons come to life
-
@CCC:
Some of those examples are more dire than others, yes, but it's about the entire picture, because you get the whole prize package when you're white. Once again, saying someone has white privilege is not an insult. It's an attempt to imbue within them a sense of sympathy for those less privileged. To make them understand that not everyone is at the same starting line in so many ways. Cleetus the Redneck might not have a college education or a 401k (so he's not very privileged financially!) but he benefits from institutional and systemic racism on a daily basis, whether he knows it or not, and whether he wants to or not. That last part is very important! Read it again! It's why saying that someone has white privilege is not an insult or an attack. Because the person doesn't make an active decision to be born with that privilege. Once they understand all this, however, the burden is on them to recognize privilege in daily life, have sympathy for their fellow humans, and to fight back against inequity wherever it appears. Ignorance does not make one a bad person, but once you truly understand and internalize, you are absolutely a bad person if your response is, "I don't care. I've got mine."
I agree that racism is a massive problem… but your narrative is extremely condescending to minorities. "Pity the poor, miserable black man; see how much worse off he is than us superior white folk" just doesn't sound right at all.
We all need to work together to end racism, and I really don't see how highlighting the apparent situational superiority white people have over other racial groups is anything but condescending. Every person of every color has an inherent responsibility to show sympathy towards their fellow human beings.
The fact that you're ready and willing to call me a bad person based solely on political beliefs is horrible, especially because I agree with most of your anti-racism views.
@CCC:
What draws me back is pure rage over the fact that ignorant, misinformed, dangerous statements are being written and possibly not addressed. AKA "Someone on the internet is wronnnng…in a way that actually matters!" It feels physically difficult to read these posts sometimes and just walk away, even when it cuts into work/hobbies I'd rather be doing and leaves me trembling with stress.
That feeling is someone challenging your world view, and you instinctively feel the need to defend it. It happens to me a lot, and I've learned a great deal from people with other world views.
Edit: I guess my real problem with the concept of "white privilege" is that I don't like to consider the suffering of others a benefit to me. If every other horse in a race suddenly dies, you could maybe kind of say that the remaining horse has benefited, but it feels extremely crass and insensitive to the other horses.
-
Annnnd I've failed. Phew.
-
@CCC:
Shocking! Some of the deplorables suddenly regret voting for Trump:
http://theslot.jezebel.com/sad-these-people-already-regret-voting-for-trump-1789641088"Wait a minute, I didn't know that arming the nuclear bomb meant it would go off!"
It is from these people that I shall derive my joy for the next four years.
-
Joe is a prime example of what I'm talking about when I say that conservatives are fine with the idea of taking things away from other people but who never stop to think that it could apply to them as well.
-
I said no such thing. Try reading again.
@CCC:
Ignorance does not make one a bad person, but once you truly understand and internalize, you are absolutely a bad person if your response is, "I don't care. I've got mine."
You have not understood or internalized anything I explained to any meaningful degree, which explicitly does not put you on the "bad people" side of the spectrum.
-
No offense, but I'm bothered by the religious nature of your response. :/
You really sound like a born again Christian there, and it's kinda creeping me out.I'm about as far from that sort of person as can be. Your philosophy seems to be "question everything". Then, why not question your own perspective, sometimes?
-
This was a very interesting debate:
Oh its that girl. The one with the permanent expression of "I'm really dumb, but not so dumb that I don't process that people think I'm dumb, and so I look constantly on the defensive."
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
but it's hard for me to say how widespread the problem (white supremacy or xenophobia) is or how much anti-white racist counterbalance it.
Are you kidding me. Like fuck I know I'm on permanent death watch for speaking up in this thread. But are you seriously kidding me.
-
@Robo:
I mean, that's really the true nature of science, you know. It's not about constantly questioning what you're told. It's about making a hypothesis, and then testing and testing and testing it, because you can never be completely sure that your theory is right. Instead of constantly "but such and such"-ing everyone else, why not apply that to yourself for a change?
It'd certainly make the rest of us feel a little less annoyed/perturbed/homicidal. I can't even count how many times you've come in here making some sort of nit-picky argument against what someone was saying, only to be completely shot down by some of the most basic facts. And then you respond with a, "oh, well, i'm not all that surprised, anyway." Or you completely miss the point and just keep rambling on about something that doesn't fucking matter in the slightest. It's infuriating.
-
@CCC:
Shocking! Some of the deplorables suddenly regret voting for Trump:
http://theslot.jezebel.com/sad-these-people-already-regret-voting-for-trump-1789641088Best gif from the comments to sum it up:
[qimg]https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s–8ACYgn7G--/zktlhtqyxvq4zml6j4ic.gif[/qimg]I posted a Twitter hashtag to it, but now it's nice to see where it originated from.
Joe is a prime example of what I'm talking about when I say that conservatives are fine with the idea of taking things away from other people but who never stop to think that it could apply to them as well.
Good ol fashioned "This
sufferingchange has to happen, but not to me". -
James Bond 25 (working title): Scale to Kill Bond must stop a mad billionaire from constructing a satellite beam that will force balance into every issue on earth.
-
@CCC:
Shocking! Some of the deplorables suddenly regret voting for Trump:
http://theslot.jezebel.com/sad-these-people-already-regret-voting-for-trump-1789641088
-
Cobra De Vries: Mr. Bond I don't think you appreciate what power I have in this machine.
Bond: Don't make me laugh De Vries, the Russians, the Chinese, they already tried it and failed.
Cobra De Vries: They never knew what it took….FOR FULL EQUIVOCATION.
he slams his hand on the button, and the model satellite fires two beams into the cages across the lab
the Nepalese bean farmer begins complaining about stock options, the Manhattan broker begins dying of choleraBond: .....!!!
--- Update From New Post Merge ---
Bond and Booty are lounging on the veranda
Booty Smax: What's wrong baby.
Bond: I'm not sure I heard your story love, where did you say you came from again?
Booty Smax: A slum in Luxembourg.
Bond whips out a gun and points it at her
Bond: Nice try my dear, but tell your boss he needs to try harder next time to get one over on me.
She lunges growling, but Bond is quicker and fires
She lands face down in her brunch plateBond: I suppose we can call that a balanced breakfast.
-
I agree that racism is a massive problem… but your narrative is extremely condescending to minorities. "Pity the poor, miserable black man; see how much worse off he is than us superior white folk" just doesn't sound right at all.
The reaseaning seems to be much more, white folk receive much more inherent trust and acceptability from being white in the US. It's merely acknowledging a fact. I mean if you say rich people have more opportunities(health, school,…) than poor people would you consider it a fact or a condescending comment.
We all need to work together to end racism, and I really don't see how highlighting the apparent situational superiority white people have over other racial groups is anything but condescending. Every person of every color has an inherent responsibility to show sympathy towards their fellow human beings.
The first step to solving a problem is to acknowledge his presence. I mean highlighting the apparent situational superiority white people have over other racial groups was integral to the for civil right movement.
The fact that you're ready and willing to call me a bad person based solely on political beliefs is horrible, especially because I agree with most of your anti-racism views.
There isn't really anyone calling you a bad person. The problem is that without a minimum of accepted fact debates become impossible and considering how much you question those basic facts even starting the debate become a problem.
I guess my real problem with the concept of "white privilege" is that I don't like to consider the suffering of others a benefit to me. If every other horse in a race suddenly dies, you could maybe kind of say that the remaining horse has benefited, but it feels extremely crass and insensitive to the other horses.
So do you have acknowledge the reality described by the term but don't like the name or do you disagree it is reality all together.
-
@Robo:
I mean, that's really the true nature of science, you know. It's not about constantly questioning what you're told. It's about making a hypothesis, and then testing and testing and testing it, because you can never be completely sure that your theory is right. Instead of constantly "but such and such"-ing everyone else, why not apply that to yourself for a change?
I do that constantly. It's why I change my mind so often.
It'd certainly make the rest of us feel a little less annoyed/perturbed/homicidal. I can't even count how many times you've come in here making some sort of nit-picky argument against what someone was saying, only to be completely shot down by some of the most basic facts. And then you respond with a, "oh, well, i'm not all that surprised, anyway."
Are you complaining that I admit when other people are right? :/
-
I'm complaining that you didn't do the most basic of questioning on your own arguments before questioning others. If you're not all that surprised when you're wrong, then why do you take such a hard line stance against like literally everyone? If you're wrong all the time, and you change your opinions all the time because of it, then why do you bother arguing in the same arena so often? Maybe you'd learn more and bother people less if you just listened.
It's like when the slowest kid in class keeps interrupting the professor to argue with them.
-
The reaseaning seems to be much more, white folk receive much more inherent trust and acceptability from being white in the US. It's merely acknowledging a fact. I mean if you say rich people have more opportunities(health, school,…) than poor people would you consider it a fact or a condescending comment.
Rich people have more opportunities as a direct result of their wealth. White people have more opportunities (In the US) as an indirect consequences of the suffering of others. A rich person in Afghanistan would still have a major advantage over others, whereas a white person would not. It isn't the same.
So do you have acknowledge the reality described by the term but don't like the name or do you disagree it is reality all together.
I feel like it's an oversimplification of a lot of problems that I agree need to be worked on. There are also exceptions such as Ashkenazi Jews, who white supremacist groups continually try to ostracize from "the white race" and do experience discrimination based on name and appearance.
I'm complaining that you didn't do the most basic of questioning on your own arguments before questioning others. If you're not all that surprised when you're wrong, then why do you take such a hard line stance against like literally everyone? If you're wrong all the time, and you change your opinions all the time because of it, then why do you bother arguing in the same arena so often? Maybe you'd learn more and bother people less if you just listened.
I'm not wrong all the time, but I do try to learn from every debate. I learn best by discussing/debating and evaluating the result, but I'm sorry for bothering people in the process.
@benjamminbrown:It's like when the slowest kid in class keeps interrupting the professor to argue with them.
Heh… I actually was that kid who argued with the pastor in church during the sermon.
-
I agree that racism is a massive problem… but your narrative is extremely condescending to minorities. "Pity the poor, miserable black man; see how much worse off he is than us superior white folk" just doesn't sound right at all.
As a black man myself, it just grates on my nerves whenever I hear someone complain about "white privilege" being the reason they can't get ahead in life.
No, it's your victim mentality that's keeping you down. You get out of life what you put into it, no matter who you are.
-
Seriously, do I need to remind you of how you kept arguing that the Pew Research Center links I was providing about polarization of American politics didn't apply because it didn't factor in independent voters?
When if you had simply spent 5 minutes reading the actual article, you would have seen that they did in fact do precisely what you said they weren't?
And now, you argue that CCC is saying minorities need to be "pitied" because white privilege exists? I mean, what the fuck are you actually reading?
-
As a black man myself, it just grates on my nerves whenever I hear someone complain about "white privilege" being the reason they can't get ahead in life.
No, it's your victim mentality that's keeping you down. You get out of life what you put into it, no matter who you are.
Something tells me that either A or B will happen:
A.) People are going to question if you're really black, or just faking.
B.) People will treat you slightly better now because of your race. -
As a black man myself, it just grates on my nerves whenever I hear someone complain about "white privilege" being the reason they can't get ahead in life.
No, it's your victim mentality that's keeping you down. You get out of life what you put into it, no matter who you are.
Do you even realize that all playing fields are not equal? A kid coming from a high income family, that's been college educated for generations (and has all the connections that sort of background entails), does NOT have to work as hard to get a prestigious degree as a kid coming from the inner city who is a first generation college student.
It's one of the simplest proofs that not everyone gets the same out of life for putting in the same effort.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
I recognize that I have white privilege. Even though I went to public school, I grew up in a well-to-do neighborhood where the local high school offered more AP classes and paid the teachers better than private schools in several counties only a hundred miles away. Without even trying, I got a better education than kids who grew up in the same country, the same state. That made it unbelievably easier for me to get into a decent college. And the achievement gap only widens from there.
I'm not saying that I didn't try, but I sure as hell didn't have to try that hard.
-
I guess my real problem with the concept of "white privilege" is that I don't like to consider the suffering of others a benefit to me. If every other horse in a race suddenly dies, you could maybe kind of say that the remaining horse has benefited, but it feels extremely crass and insensitive to the other horses.
Thing is, in the majority of cases where the concept of white privilege applies, you aren't really benefitting from the problems other people face, and they don't directly suffer from the benefits you receive. It's simply a case of two different standards, where a group of people struggles against the various biases each day while you don't have to. You aren't benefitting unless you believe everybody should be held to the same standards or face similar biases as the disadvantaged. It's a matter of where you set the expectations.
The people in this thread talking about white privilege see that disparity between the two standards and believe everyone should be held to the easier one that you and I experience. You don't need to lose any benefits, we just want people of color and other minorities to experience those benefits too so that they're no longer "benefits" - they're basic standards.
-
And now, you argue that CCC is saying minorities need to be "pitied" because white privilege exists? I mean, what the fuck are you actually reading?
@CCC:
It's an attempt to imbue within them a sense of sympathy for those less privileged. To make them understand that not everyone is at the same starting line in so many ways. Cleetus the Redneck might not have a college education or a 401k (so he's not very privileged financially!) but he benefits from institutional and systemic racism on a daily basis, whether he knows it or not, and whether he wants to or not. That last part is very important! Read it again! It's why saying that someone has white privilege is not an insult or an attack. Because the person doesn't make an active decision to be born with that privilege. Once they understand all this, however, the burden is on them to recognize privilege in daily life, have sympathy for their fellow humans, and to fight back against inequity wherever it appears.
That's what I was reading.
-
sympathy != pity
lurn2reed
-
As a black man myself, it just grates on my nerves whenever I hear someone complain about "white privilege" being the reason they can't get ahead in life.
No, it's your victim mentality that's keeping you down. You get out of life what you put into it, no matter who you are.
You make a living through anonymous online transactions. Please tell the folks who have in person jobs all about how they aren't fucked with passively or otherwise actually at all.
-
sympathy != pity
lurn2reed
They're often used interchangeably. Please be a little nicer with your responses.
-
Chrissie knew someone in Cyprus turned down for a job with the employer literally saying to her face that she was great for the position but he wouldn't hire a woman that high up.
Guess she didn't put enough in to get the desired result.
The world is just, the world is just, the world is just, the world is just.
Say it enough times and it becomes true! -
They're often used interchangeably. Please be a little nicer with your responses.
Second sentence of the wiki article you posted: "Through insincere usage, it can also have a more unsympathetic connotation of feelings of superiority or condescension."
Sympathy doesn't ever imply that. You applied that meaning yourself.
