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I object to the use of "white privilege" on first principles: Interpreted literally, it implies all whites are privileged. This is categorically untrue. It en

I object to the use of "white privilege" on first principles: Interpreted literally, it implies all whites are privileged. This is categorically untrue. It encourages racism through associating an immutable trait with a negative word. "White privilege" is no more true than saying "Jewish privilege" or "Asian privilege" when referring to trends that do not reflect the whole. For the latter two one would be accused of anti-semitism or racism but for the former it's common parlance. Therefore, to be logically consistent, "white privilege" must also be racist. Associating a negative trait of a minority of a race with the entire race, is in fact, the very definition of racism. To further exemplify the point whites still hold a majority in the US. This means, by the numbers, there are many more disenfranchised whites than literally any other race. Consequently, there are more very disenfranchised whites who are probably experiencing the same, if not worse, conditions as others races. The right wing gets it wrong, the largest welfare recipient group is in fact low income whites. This makes sense when you actually look at the numbers. The entire structure of the term "white privilege" is designed first to divide and then to discourage. During the BLM riots you had white people groveling, begging for forgiveness, like this so-called "privilege" is some sort of original sin (which is how it is sold) that can only be cleansed through constant, deliberate self-flaggelation. This repentance ceremony is further promoted (and even incited) by the bigoted and racist Kendi and D'Angelo. Both suggest the only solution to this privilege is constant, deliberate, self-flaggelation. CRT is rightly criticized because being encouraged to denigrate yourself for some alleged (in reality, manufactured) original sin is simply gaslighting. No one should be made to feel this way on the basis of their skin color. It is simply the race hustlers promoting such terms to sow further division. Division among races means they cannot unite and focus on class issues. Racism, as a tool, is the perfect way to induce this division. "White privilege" is one of many examples of this racism.

daxelrod 4y ago
Why do you believe "privilege" is a negative word? Also, assuming you mean Robin DiAngelo, what of hers have you read? She's pretty clear in both White Fragility and Nice Racism in advocating against "constant, deliberate, self-flaggelation" because they center the person doing it and take energy away from productive action.
- ameister14 4y ago
  Not the person you were replying to, but do you have positive associations with the word "privilege?"
  - daxelrod 4y ago
    My associations are mostly neutral. It can even be positive in certain contexts, like "It was a privilege to meet him".
    - ameister14 4y ago
      Even then, it's not entirely positive, is it? It's essentially saying 'It was an honor to meet him;' that could mean that you were undeserving, or simply that it was something unusual that most people didn't get to do; if it were common, it wouldn't be a privilege, would it? In the thread's context, usually it's associated with not granting the privilege to someone else, as well - you have a privilege that others do not, one that you do not do anything to deserve. I don't know about you, but I don't really believe that 'white privilege' is intended as a positive. It's intended to have a negative connotation, otherwise there would be no impetus for change.
      - daxelrod 4y ago
        I agree that it denotes an imbalance. I also agree that terms like "white privilege" are intended as criticism. However I don't see them as criticism of the individual who has the privilege, but rather of the society whose circumstances gave them that privilege. The term is an attempt to promote systems thinking.
      - Izkata 4y ago
        > It's essentially saying > In the thread's context > but I don't really believe that 'white privilege' is intended as a positive It's not. Within the context of CRT it has a pretty tight definition: "undeserved benefits"
kmeisthax 4y ago
"White privilege" means that you fit in the particular mold that American society pours and casts people out of. Nothing more and nothing less. If you want to object to the jargon on the grounds of being jargon, fine, but I've yet to find better terminology than this. It doesn't mean that all white people are rich, it means that poor white people are in less of a shitty situation than equally-improverished black people. It could be as simple as just living in a better ZIP code with more opportunities in it[0], for example. But it's still a shitty situation, in the same way that third-degree burns are bad but different from a broken arm. The constant self-flaggelation approach is actually opposed by a lot of anti-racists specifically because it takes focus away from the victims of racism and to people who benefit from it. [0] Thanks, Robert Moses.
- Vt71fcAqt7 4y ago
  >If you want to object to the jargon on the grounds of being jargon "Jargon" like that is not accrptable. Would you allow it for any other group? And many people use the term white privilege to mean an intrinsic power held by white people as a result of their oppression of blacks. So you are wrong on all acounts. >but I've yet to find better terminology than this. It's hard to come up with a name for something that barely exists in tbe first place. "You're zip-code is privileged" doesn't invoke the same guilt does it?
mcguire 4y ago
"Consequently, there are more very disenfranchised whites who are probably experiencing the same, if not worse, conditions as others races." I grew up white and lower middle class, but I've never been worried about being arrested hanging around my own house (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Louis_Gates_arrest_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Louis_Gates_arrest_contr..., https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/10/04/brutal-video-shows-white-officer-violently-arresting-black-man-sitting-on-his-mothers-porch/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/10/0..., https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2020/09/17/wisconsin-black-man-arrested-his-own-new-home-suing-monona/3483421001/ https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2020/09/17/wisconsin-bla...) or helping one of my neighbors (https://www.npr.org/2022/09/10/1121857070/black-pastor-watering-flowers-alabama-lawsuit https://www.npr.org/2022/09/10/1121857070/black-pastor-water...) or taking out my trash (https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/News/video/body-camera-footage-released-black-man-arrested-taking-76941995 https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/News/video/body-camera-footage-re...) or going to a coffee shop (https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/4/14/17238494/what-happened-at-starbucks-black-men-arrested-philadelphia https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/4/14/17238494/what-happe...) or going to a bank (https://www.gq.com/story/ryan-coogler-bank-of-america-handcuffed-mistaken-bank-robbery https://www.gq.com/story/ryan-coogler-bank-of-america-handcu..., https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/valley/black-man-cashes-check-bank-police-called/75-f3121f65-788e-4eba-90e0-3113a3ab974c https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/valley/black-man-c..., https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/banking-while-black-police-video-shows-how-cashing-a-paycheck-led-to-handcuffs/ https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/banking-while-black-poli...) or even by police chasing someone completely different (https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/04/us/massachusetts-wrong-suspect-arrest-lawsuit-reaj/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/04/us/massachusetts-wrong-suspec...). Fortunately, I don't jog (https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/02/us/san-antonio-black-jogger-charges-dropped-trnd/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/02/us/san-antonio-black-jogger-c...), but I do like to eat out (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/police-apologize-after-handcuffing-black-man-they-thought-was-credit-n1252128 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/police-apologize-after-...) and I might get sick (https://www.wbur.org/news/2021/10/12/boston-police-arrest-police-misconduct-settlement https://www.wbur.org/news/2021/10/12/boston-police-arrest-po..., https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/va-resigns-taser-pepper-spray-stroke-victim-article-1.2232948 https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/va-resigns-taser-pepp...). I've only been pulled over without cause once (https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/us/racial-disparity-traffic-stops-driving-black.html https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/us/racial-disparity-traff..., https://www.aclu.org/report/driving-while-black-racial-profiling-our-nations-highways https://www.aclu.org/report/driving-while-black-racial-profi...).

daxelrod 4y ago

Why do you believe "privilege" is a negative word? Also, assuming you mean Robin DiAngelo, what of hers have you read? She's pretty clear in both White Fragility and Nice Racism in advocating against "constant, deliberate, self-flaggelation" because they center the person doing it and take energy away from productive action.

ameister14 4y ago
Not the person you were replying to, but do you have positive associations with the word "privilege?"
- daxelrod 4y ago
  My associations are mostly neutral. It can even be positive in certain contexts, like "It was a privilege to meet him".
  - ameister14 4y ago
    Even then, it's not entirely positive, is it? It's essentially saying 'It was an honor to meet him;' that could mean that you were undeserving, or simply that it was something unusual that most people didn't get to do; if it were common, it wouldn't be a privilege, would it? In the thread's context, usually it's associated with not granting the privilege to someone else, as well - you have a privilege that others do not, one that you do not do anything to deserve. I don't know about you, but I don't really believe that 'white privilege' is intended as a positive. It's intended to have a negative connotation, otherwise there would be no impetus for change.
    - daxelrod 4y ago
      I agree that it denotes an imbalance. I also agree that terms like "white privilege" are intended as criticism. However I don't see them as criticism of the individual who has the privilege, but rather of the society whose circumstances gave them that privilege. The term is an attempt to promote systems thinking.
    - Izkata 4y ago
      > It's essentially saying > In the thread's context > but I don't really believe that 'white privilege' is intended as a positive It's not. Within the context of CRT it has a pretty tight definition: "undeserved benefits"

kmeisthax 4y ago

"White privilege" means that you fit in the particular mold that American society pours and casts people out of. Nothing more and nothing less. If you want to object to the jargon on the grounds of being jargon, fine, but I've yet to find better terminology than this. It doesn't mean that all white people are rich, it means that poor white people are in less of a shitty situation than equally-improverished black people. It could be as simple as just living in a better ZIP code with more opportunities in it[0], for example. But it's still a shitty situation, in the same way that third-degree burns are bad but different from a broken arm. The constant self-flaggelation approach is actually opposed by a lot of anti-racists specifically because it takes focus away from the victims of racism and to people who benefit from it. [0] Thanks, Robert Moses.

Vt71fcAqt7 4y ago
>If you want to object to the jargon on the grounds of being jargon "Jargon" like that is not accrptable. Would you allow it for any other group? And many people use the term white privilege to mean an intrinsic power held by white people as a result of their oppression of blacks. So you are wrong on all acounts. >but I've yet to find better terminology than this. It's hard to come up with a name for something that barely exists in tbe first place. "You're zip-code is privileged" doesn't invoke the same guilt does it?

mcguire 4y ago

"Consequently, there are more very disenfranchised whites who are probably experiencing the same, if not worse, conditions as others races." I grew up white and lower middle class, but I've never been worried about being arrested hanging around my own house (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Louis_Gates_arrest_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Louis_Gates_arrest_contr..., https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/10/04/brutal-video-shows-white-officer-violently-arresting-black-man-sitting-on-his-mothers-porch/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/10/0..., https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2020/09/17/wisconsin-black-man-arrested-his-own-new-home-suing-monona/3483421001/ https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2020/09/17/wisconsin-bla...) or helping one of my neighbors (https://www.npr.org/2022/09/10/1121857070/black-pastor-watering-flowers-alabama-lawsuit https://www.npr.org/2022/09/10/1121857070/black-pastor-water...) or taking out my trash (https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/News/video/body-camera-footage-released-black-man-arrested-taking-76941995 https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/News/video/body-camera-footage-re...) or going to a coffee shop (https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/4/14/17238494/what-happened-at-starbucks-black-men-arrested-philadelphia https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/4/14/17238494/what-happe...) or going to a bank (https://www.gq.com/story/ryan-coogler-bank-of-america-handcuffed-mistaken-bank-robbery https://www.gq.com/story/ryan-coogler-bank-of-america-handcu..., https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/valley/black-man-cashes-check-bank-police-called/75-f3121f65-788e-4eba-90e0-3113a3ab974c https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/valley/black-man-c..., https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/banking-while-black-police-video-shows-how-cashing-a-paycheck-led-to-handcuffs/ https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/banking-while-black-poli...) or even by police chasing someone completely different (https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/04/us/massachusetts-wrong-suspect-arrest-lawsuit-reaj/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/04/us/massachusetts-wrong-suspec...). Fortunately, I don't jog (https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/02/us/san-antonio-black-jogger-charges-dropped-trnd/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/02/us/san-antonio-black-jogger-c...), but I do like to eat out (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/police-apologize-after-handcuffing-black-man-they-thought-was-credit-n1252128 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/police-apologize-after-...) and I might get sick (https://www.wbur.org/news/2021/10/12/boston-police-arrest-police-misconduct-settlement https://www.wbur.org/news/2021/10/12/boston-police-arrest-po..., https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/va-resigns-taser-pepper-spray-stroke-victim-article-1.2232948 https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/va-resigns-taser-pepp...). I've only been pulled over without cause once (https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/us/racial-disparity-traffic-stops-driving-black.html https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/us/racial-disparity-traff..., https://www.aclu.org/report/driving-while-black-racial-profiling-our-nations-highways https://www.aclu.org/report/driving-while-black-racial-profi...).