Racial Tension in the U.S.

[Whittaker]

But white privilege isn't a negative quality that exists within someone

This is where you lose me.
If it doesn't exist in members of a group how can it be a quality of that group(whites)?
And how would they go about checking something they don't have, embrace, exhibit, partake of...etc?

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

But white privilege isn't a negative quality that exists within someone, it's the societal factors that affect everyone that perpetuate white dominance in business, culture, and government. Checking your privilege is about taking into account the realities of life in the western world.

I'll stop you right there. That exists in some places. It does not exist everywhere, certainly not to the point where it is of major importance compared to other factors. In some cases, poor minorities may even have it better than poor white people, especially if those poor white people happen to be a minority within a black community. There are minority-owned business preferences that exclude all white people, regardless of their own personal advantages/disadvantages in life. I can state personally that black people with certain academic credentials are often expressly preferred over similarly-qualified white people. It is not monolithic. And of course, there are massive individual factors that greatly outweigh factors of race.

Additionally, there are plenty of other types of "privilege" that have as great or even a greater effect on your life's fortunes. Good-looking people have it much easier than those who aren't. Those born to wealthy, well-educated families have a huge advantage over those who weren't. Those who were born intelligent or athletically-gifted have an advantage over those who weren't. Yet, we don't shove those terms in the faces of all those people. And by not using the "privilege" meme equally in those circumstances, we are effectively elevating race as the single most important factor. Which is crap.

....it's necessary for progress for white people to recognize that and work against it.

What does that actually mean, other than not affirmatively discriminating against black people/women, because "male privilege" is an equally common trope. Does it mean "shut up, you're white/male and can't understand", because that is how it is actually used on many college campuses. Or do you oppose the "check your privilege" meme?

 

[Whittaker]

The concept of white privilege simply means that white people, in this area of the world, don't have as many negative social, political or economic consequences based on their race.

First of all I read your whole post there wasn't much with which I disagree.
And I definitely agree that a person should periodically self-examine. They should look within themselves and try to root out bad habits, bad behavior, bad assumptions, etc.
I think everyone should "check themselves" in all things, counting their blessings and seeing their shortcomings. The best place to start with this is "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", IMO.
And I understand the concept of privilege. Some people, through circumstances they had no control over, are born into wealth and vast opportunity. And some are born into poverty and limited opportunity.
What I don't see is the how the focus on race does anyone any good, except for the few who earn a living assigning racism as the core cause for every problem.
In short, I think White Privilege is a convenient scapegoat for people who want to assign blame but can't find someone to blame.

In the quote above you cite social consequences.
That is people. If there are people who are oppressing blacks in social situations let's identify them, shame them and discipline them. Let's not blame some abstract concept that says every white person(and no white person) is to blame.
You cited economic consequences. Economic decisions are made by people. If economic enterprises are treating people differently because of skin color let's nail them to the wall. Why blame society when we can blame the offender?
You cited political consequences. I'm not sure what you mean here as we just had a two-term president who was bi-racial. But politics is definitely people-driven. We don't have to blame some fuzzy concept. If some politicians or govt officials are treating people differently based on race it shouldn't be hard to identify the offenders in this era of intense media focus on all things political. Let's find them and get them fired.

Let's go even further.
Let's all criticize every club, organization, event, award show, bloc, college and charity that identifies with a particular race and therefore tacitly excludes other races. Does anyone disagree with this last suggestion? I think it would greatly improve race relations in a few short years.

 

[-Akronite-]

This is where you lose me.
If it doesn't exist in members of a group how can it be a quality of that group(whites)?

It's a quality of our society that benefits white people, men especially. It's not an inherent trait in our genes.

And how would they go about checking something they don't have,

Eh, more like "get" I suppose, but again, not an inherent quality.

embrace,

You may not openly embrace it, but you likely benefit from it without thinking about it. That's why it's being talked about now.

exhibit, partake of...etc?

It's likely you benefit from it and perpetuate it WITHOUT thinking about it. So of course you aren't racist and wear a klansmen outfit, but that doesn't mean you don't benefit from racism.

 

[Cavatt]

The White Privilege concept doesn't get serious discussion because it doesn't warrant serious discussion. It is assigning a negative quality to a particular race under the disguise of academia. It is a way to blame whites collectively for something that they aren't being accused of individually.
Then, when individuals object they say "Why are you taking that personally?"

It is akin to claiming 'The Black Work Ethic' is a negative cultural phenomenon and citing unemployment figures to give it academic legs.
Imagine a white college professor telling black students to; "Be on guard against the laziness that is currently endemic in your race...but don't take it personally."

White privledge is this:

If you are white and poor and you work hard and buy yourself a mercedes one day, no one blinks.

If you are black and poor and you work hard and buy yourself a mercedes one day, you will be pulled over and asked who owns the car.

White privilege isn't something you do, it is the way you are perceived as a white person. So you totally don't seem to understand it, yet you are dismissing it as irrelevant. Making my point for me.

 

[Cavatt]

It shouldn't get serious discussion even though it often does. It implicitly makes group characteristics more important than individual ones, which I think most people should find offensive. It is entirely possible to have a black female lead a far more "privileged" existence than a white male. Yet, the "privilege" concept starts her off on a morally elevated high ground, which is absurd.

It's also not worthy of respect as a concept because of his it is often used -- as a tool used to shut people up who disagree with leftist orthodoxy. If someone white/male disagrees with the SJW perspective on an issue, they're told to "check your privilege", which translates to "shut up, you have no right to speak on this issue, and don't know what you're talking about."

So screw that.

Not into shutting people up. Checking your white privledge is when your black friend doesn't want to go to a place because of how they have been treated, and you tell them that is not what happened.

Again everyone here doesn't seem to know what it is even though they are tired of it.

I'm tired of Aflac commercials, but I realize it is supplemental insurance that can help you when you get hurt or get cancer.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

White privledge is this:
If you are white and poor and you work hard and buy yourself a mercedes one day, no one blinks.
If you are black and poor and you work hard and buy yourself a mercedes one day, you will be pulled over and asked who owns the car.

So what? What do you expect any of us to do about that, other than promise not to pull you over if he happen to see cops and see you driving a Mercedes?

Is that fair? No. It's also not fair that some kids have rich parents who buy them a Mercedes, and some kids don't.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

Not into shutting people up. Checking your white privledge is when your black friend doesn't want to go to a place because of how they have been treated, and you tell them that is not what happened.

What if I don't tell them that didn't happen?

Again everyone here doesn't seem to know what it is even though they are tired of it.

No. I'm tired of hearing about it, whatever someone may think it is. And I'm particularly tired of it being used as a tool to silence disagreement/debate. And if you don't think that happens, you're wrong. Many college campuses, in particular, are terrible when it comes to that.

I'm with this guy:

http://time.com/85933/why-ill-never-apologize-for-my-white-male-privilege/

 

[Cavatt]

I'll stop you right there. That exists in some places. It does not exist everywhere, certainly not to the point where it is of major importance compared to other factors. In some cases, poor minorities may even have it better than poor white people, especially if those poor white people happen to be a minority within a black community. There are minority-owned business preferences that exclude all white people, regardless of their own personal advantages/disadvantages in life. I can state personally that black people with certain academic credentials are often expressly preferred over similarly-qualified white people. It is not monolithic. And of course, there are massive individual factors that greatly outweigh factors of race.

Additionally, there are plenty of other types of "privilege" that have as great or even a greater effect on your life's fortunes. Good-looking people have it much easier than those who aren't. Those born to wealthy, well-educated families have a huge advantage over those who weren't. Those who were born intelligent or athletically-gifted have an advantage over those who weren't. Yet, we don't shove those terms in the faces of all those people. And by not using the "privilege" meme equally in those circumstances, we are effectively elevating race as the single most important factor. Which is crap.



What does that actually mean, other than not affirmatively discriminating against black people/women, because "male privilege" is an equally common trope. Does it mean "shut up, you're white/male and can't understand", because that is how it is actually used on many college campuses. Or do you oppose the "check your privilege" meme?

You would be wrong as an attractive person to not check your privilege because that is one of the few privileges that straight up go away. Tell me you don't know a formerly hot babe who has lost it in her 40's or 50's because they aren't treated the same way they were in their prime.

White privilege is part of what makes people mad when someone else gets the rights they do. Hetero-privlege isn't a real thing either?

Remember when gays were allowed to get married and nothing bad happened and they are happy and we don't have to hear about it anymore? Supposedly gay marriage was going to besmirch hetero privlege.

 

[-Akronite-]

I'll stop you right there. That exists in some places. It does not exist everywhere, certainly not to the point where it is of major importance compared to other factors. In some cases, poor minorities may even have it better than poor white people, especially if those poor white people happen to be a minority within a black community. There are minority-owned business preferences that exclude all white people, regardless of their own personal advantages/disadvantages in life. I can state personally that black people with certain academic credentials are often expressly preferred over similarly-qualified white people. It is not monolithic. And of course, there are massive individual factors that greatly outweigh factors of race.

Additionally, there are plenty of other types of "privilege" that have as great or even a greater effect on your life's fortunes. Good-looking people have it much easier than those who aren't. Those born to wealthy, well-educated families have a huge advantage over those who weren't. Those who were born intelligent or athletically-gifted have an advantage over those who weren't. Yet, we don't shove those terms in the faces of all those people. And by not using the "privilege" meme equally in those circumstances, we are effectively elevating race as the single most important factor. Which is crap.

I think what they are actually saying is that it IS a factor when it shouldn't be. So it's not elevating the factor of race, but recognizing it and seeking to rectify it. There really isn't an argument to be made that white people don't have it easier in this country, or hold more control over society. I don't see what's wrong with recognizing truth.

What does that actually mean, other than not affirmatively discriminating against black people/women, because "male privilege" is an equally common trope. Does it mean "shut up, you're white/male and can't understand", because that is how it is actually used on many college campuses. Or do you oppose the "check your privilege" meme?

For the former question, it's a lot of things. Race plays a role in social interactions, media representation, political organization... Like, everything. Again, whether people want to recognize it or not, this country was built on racism and has deep scars, many of which have barely begun to heal and some which still fester. I don't have a comprehensive checklist of ways to end racism.

For the latter, a lot of people are frustrated and I'd argue go too far with trying to silence non-minority voices, but there are groups in this country that don't feel heard or represented. I mean, we just elected a guy president who kicked off his campaign by calling Mexicans rapists. Meanwhile we have white men all over the country upset at how boxed in they are by these radical leftists.

 

[Cavatt]

What if I don't tell them that didn't happen?



No. I'm tired of hearing about it, whatever someone may think it is. And I'm particularly tired of it being used as a tool to silence disagreement/debate. And if you don't think that happens, you're wrong. Many college campuses, in particular, are terrible when it comes to that.

Should have said "one" didn't mean You you. If you say, "cool we will go somewhere else" that is one checking his privilege. You have to have a black friend for this scenario to fit you exactly of course.

You just demonstrated in several paragraphs that you don't understand the concept. Don't blame me for that.

 

[Cavatt]

So what? What do you expect any of us to do about that, other than promise not to pull you over if he happen to see cops and see you driving a Mercedes?

Is that fair? No. It's also not fair that some kids have rich parents who buy them a Mercedes, and some kids don't.

It's fine. If you want to live in that biased world and see no room for improvement fine. This is the perfect demonstration of white privilege right there. You don't care that police treat black people differently because you never ever have to deal with it. You are so good at proving my point today.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

Should have said "one" didn't mean You you. If you say, "cool we will go somewhere else" that is one checking his privilege.

No, it's not. It's just being respectful of a friend, any friend, of any race, who says they didn't like the way they were treated somewhere. Doesn't have a damn thing to do with race or privilege. And if that's all it is, it's a big fat nothingburger.

But that's not all it is. Read up on what is happening on college campuses.

 

[-Akronite-]

In the quote above you cite social consequences.
That is people. If there are people who are oppressing blacks in social situations let's identify them, shame them and discipline them. Let's not blame some abstract concept that says every white person(and no white person) is to blame.
You cited economic consequences. Economic decisions are made by people. If economic enterprises are treating people differently because of skin color let's nail them to the wall. Why blame society when we can blame the offender?
You cited political consequences. I'm not sure what you mean here as we just had a two-term president who was bi-racial. But politics is definitely people-driven. We don't have to blame some fuzzy concept.

White privilege is people too. You're talking about racism as if it's a concept that only exists in the thoughts and actions of individuals, as if it is not a societal issue as well. You act as if people are using this "fuzzy concept" to ignore the issues you brought up when it's the opposite.

If some politicians or govt officials are treating people differently based on race it shouldn't be hard to identify the offenders in this era of intense media focus on all things political. Let's find them and get them fired.

You'd think so but no, it isn't that simple. Again, racism is not such a black and white concept. Not every racist is gonna walk around with a Confederate flag on their hat to let you know- Oh wait, according to some people that has nothing to do with race.

 

[Cavatt]

No, it's not. It's just being respectful of a friend, any friend, of any race, who says they didn't like the way they were treated somewhere. Doesn't have a damn thing to do with race or privilege. And if that's all it is, it's a big fat nothingburger.

But that's not all it is. Read up on what is happening on college campuses.

I know college campuses well. Spent a lot of time there. I'm not into censorship.