White Privilege?

[Anastasia13]

Is this idea anything more than a hoax to make people feel better or worse about themselves?

[Ice_nine]

No, it's just an idea, valid in my opinion, that being White in America (a country built on slave labor and imperialistic conquest) still has social and economic advantages to this day. Maybe it makes people feel bad but hopefully that feeling bad will eventually prompt change and moev us towards greater equity.

[CatholicsAreKewl]

this is something that you hear a lot of imports (including me at one time) talk about. I think white men definitely have an unfair advantage in many areas. This is less obvious for nonblack imports because black people have it the worst (i'd say even worse than American muslims). I think white privelage is slowly going away in america. 

on the flipside, it's also true that self-handicapping can/does occur when people use this as an excuse. i think the biggest problem is that many poor neighborhoods are zoned to crummy public schools. our society is set up in a way that makes it difficult for poor minorities to escape a cycle of poverty. i think this contributes to a feeling of helplessness that middle class whites mistake for sheer laziness. 

but i probably got this all wrong because im not exactly black. 

Edited May 29, 2015 by CatholicsAreKewl

[Kia ora]

only someone white (and usually rich male) could say that white privilege doesn't exist. white poor people exist as well, and they suffer because of their poorness but black people, regardless of whether they're middle income or low income, suffer also because of their blackness. white people, doesn't matter if they're rich or poor can't say they suffer because of their whiteness, certainly not on an institutional level like black people do.

and that goes also for all the minorities. american indians? hard to say with a straight face that whites don't have it better than those american indians who live on the res. one of the reasons why american indians have reservations rather than y'know countries in the boundaries of their traditional lands is because of whites.

 

^

i speak as a non-american though

Edited May 29, 2015 by Kia ora

[Norseman82]

Sounds like another excuse to make white people feel bad and guilty.

Instead of achieving "equality" by dragging "privileged" people down, why don't we achieve it by lifting those who are not "privileged" up?

[Kia ora]

affirmative action yo is a thing. but then some white people seem to think that's discriminatory against them as well. as if everything revolves around them

[little2add]

racist come in all colors, national origins and social rank

 

[Lilllabettt]

racism is something only white people can do. You can only be racist sitting on top of the power hierarchy. 

Now, racial prejudice is something all people can do. In my experience colored people are far more likely to consciously embrace prejudice, see it as a legitimate expression, etc.,  than white people.

In a way, that is a facet of white privilege . The freedom to embrace being "colorblind" as an ideal. 

[little2add]

 

Doesn’t the sin of Judging by The Color Of Their Skin And Not By The Content Of Their Character, apply white privilege attitudes?

Edited May 30, 2015 by little2add

[Era Might]

only someone white (and usually rich male) could say that white privilege doesn't exist. white poor people exist as well, and they suffer because of their poorness but black people, regardless of whether they're middle income or low income, suffer also because of their blackness. white people, doesn't matter if they're rich or poor can't say they suffer because of their whiteness, certainly not on an institutional level like black people do.

and that goes also for all the minorities. american indians? hard to say with a straight face that whites don't have it better than those american indians who live on the res. one of the reasons why american indians have reservations rather than y'know countries in the boundaries of their traditional lands is because of whites.

 

^

i speak as a non-american though

​You assume that "whiteness" is solely a color. There's actually a recent book by (black) historian Nell Irvin Painter called "The History of White People." I haven't read it yet but it's about the idea of "white people" has evolved:

http://www.amazon.com/History-White-People-Irvin-Painter/dp/0393339742

Even among white people there is no common whiteness...someone in Alabama and someone in Manhattan are probably going to be very different "white people." And that's just in the United States...a Spanish-speaking white person is very different from an English-speaking one.

[Era Might]

Sounds like another excuse to make white people feel bad and guilty.

Instead of achieving "equality" by dragging "privileged" people down, why don't we achieve it by lifting those who are not "privileged" up?

​The problem with "lifting people up" is that the ones doing the lifting set the standards and assumptions. They make the rules of the game.

[Ice_nine]

racism is something only white people can do. You can only be racist sitting on top of the power hierarchy. 

​I agree with you, but people will whine and insist you are wrong.

[hotpink]

The problem I have with "White privilage" is that it assumes only skin color.  There's still many factors that go into "white privilage" including naming conventions and actual appearance.  They've proven that professors will respond much more helpfully to students they think are of their own race, accross the board.  So if they have a class of 500 students and Timmon Von writes to an asian professor she's more likely to get help than if Timothy Vance.  

A deeply hispanic man with a white face and an anglisized name can enjoy all the privilages of "whiteness" aka George Zimmerman while white hispanics with ethic names or dark skinned hispanics with anglicized names do not.

There's also the problem of culture.  I've noticed that in Cali, NYC and the mid west those other than white seem no different than anyone else in the way they talk, compose themselvels and the oppurtunities they have.  But go to Atlanta and things are different.  Those who are not white have a whole differen culture and are really not welcome and seem to have a much harder time escaping poverty.  I feel like people's perception on this not only comes from their skin color but from where in America they live.

On a side note, looking etnic can have power.  I know 2 brothers, both half native american.  One inherited his father's bright blue eyes, harrieness and muscles...the other looked rather native american.  Both speak the language and spent summers on "the rez" The light skinned brother was told that he couldn't be hired under affirmative action even if he proved his indian because he wasn't really.  The brother with the native looks, however, has not only been hired under affirmative action but also scouted out by competetors to fill their affirmative action quotent.  Both are very talented and well paid engineers but there is a severe imbalance as to oppurtunity.  Both got native american scholorships, though, so both went to college for free.

 

[Seven77]

It seems to me that white privilege does exist, objectively speaking. Why? Because it *has* existed--beyond dispute. When did it end? At desegregation? At an institutional level. Yes. But people are still discriminated against because of skin color. Clearly then, it exists. Obviously.

[Seven77]

Of course, "white privilege" can be misused but that can't negate the fact that it exists.

Edited May 30, 2015 by Seven77