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Does white privilege exist? (1 Viewer)

Wrigley said:
Just to clarify, white privilege is white people being nicer to white people, right?
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Not necessarily.  It's sometimes other ethnicities being nicer to white people, too.  And sometimes just being able to grow up with a mindset that allows you to be nicer to or feel more secure with yourself.

It's the niceties, but also the things we get to think about or don't have to think about because we are white. 

 
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Eminence said:
Rich Conway said:
I imagine there is no single, common definition of what white privilege is*.  Under some definitions, I suspect the answer is "absolutely, it exists", while using other definitions would lead to the conclusion that it does not exist.

* For example, I would hazard a guess that Eminence and timschochet have wildly different definitions of white privilege.
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The concept is abstract which clearly shows the agenda. Don't good looking people have privledge?

Doesn't it seem moronic to try and force things to be fair based on genetics? We have stats that I'm sure can prove people with blue eyes get the best jobs.

It's nonsense. You work hard, somebody will notice. Businesses are in the business of making money, a.k.a hiring the best qualified candidates that fits into the company.

I don't think you can be that intelligent and overtly racist at the same time.
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BTW, I suspect you and I would define "white privilege" very differently.  Specifically, my definition is probably closer to Henry Ford's than yours.

 
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Many years ago a black coworker was incredulous that I was passed over for a promotion that he was sure I was going to get. He actually said  something like "They can't do that to you! You're white! If you can't get a promotion you deserve, what chance do I have?"

I laughed & said "Welcome to the big leagues... white only gets you past the first cut. 99% of all promotions are rigged."  Pretty sure I tossed out the "If you're not inside, you're outside" line as well.

 
SameSongNDance said:
Yes, there is an inherent positive bias towards a specific gender and race within our society. To deny it is to deny reality.
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What's the next step in fixing this "inherent positive bias towards a specific gender and race within our society"?  Seems like this could be a real problem so we better tackle this sooner rather than later.

 
MaxThreshold said:
What's the next step in fixing this "inherent positive bias towards a specific gender and race within our society"? Seems like this could be a real problem so we better tackle this sooner rather than later.
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I sense the sarcasm but I'll expand..

The real question is not whether it exists but rather how to respond to it. If we all agree that it is something that is systemic then you can't blame the privileged, they had as much of a "choice" as the underprivileged. I get this feeling that privileged individuals who pretend that their privilege doesn't exist are doing so because they are afraid to be seen as apathetic. It's okay to be apathetic, you don't have to act as an agent of change. I don't know how to "fix" it since it's so ingrained into society but I'm betting the first start is universal acknowledgement.

 
SameSongNDance said:
I sense the sarcasm but I'll expand..

The real question is not whether it exists but rather how to respond to it. If we all agree that it is something that is systemic then you can't blame the privileged, they had as much of a "choice" as the underprivileged. I get this feeling that privileged individuals who pretend that their privilege doesn't exist are doing so because they are afraid to be seen as apathetic. It's okay to be apathetic, you don't have to act as an agent of change. I don't know how to "fix" it since it's so ingrained into society but I'm betting the first start is universal acknowledgement.
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Didn't we acknowledge it with affirmative action?

 
MaxThreshold said:
Didn't we acknowledge it with affirmative action?
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Because something is codified into law does not mean it is universally acknowledged. If you posed the "Does white privilege exist?" question to Trump supporters for example, you'd likely get a universal no.

Also, there are many different types of privileges such as race, gender, economical and etc. and they all stack. "Rich white male" just so happens to be the apex of those privileges.

 
Henry Ford said:
Also, my name is super white.  "Henry Ford" sounds positively ethnic compared to my name.  Like, "Benedict Cumberbatch" level white. I have no doubt that I've gotten job interviews, loans, credit cards, grades, and all kinds of crap because of my super white name over the years.
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Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III?

 
SameSongNDance said:
Yes, there is an inherent positive bias towards a specific gender and race within our society. To deny it is to deny reality.
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Semantics, but I would take it a step further and say "any/every" society.  Not just "ours".  Not sure that isn't what you meant, just saying.

And, I'm not saying it's always gender and/or race.  But, it's always something.

 
SameSongNDance said:
Because something is codified into law does not mean it is universally acknowledged. If you posed the "Does white privilege exist?" question to Trump supporters for example, you'd likely get a universal no.

Also, there are many different types of privileges such as race, gender, economical and etc. and they all stack. "Rich white male" just so happens to be the apex of those privileges.
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I would say being codified into law is the ultimate acknowledgement.

 
RnR said:
It may still exist, but it's EXTREMELY overplayed in 2016.
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I agree with this. I think in general, white youth is surrounded by better influences which in turn allows for a higher percentage to become successful. It's not some SNL Eddie Murphy skit like some on the fringe may believe.

 
  • I don't get pulled over due to my Kansas tag and newish vehicles.  Minorities with Missouri tags are always getting pulled over in Kansas.
  • In college, if I was overserved, police officers would drive me home.
  • I can walk into meeting with business owners (majority white men) and things go smoothly.
  • I've never had to deal with racial slurs
  • I've never had to be questioned about my college admission and asked if I "earned" my spot.
  • My parents both have masters degrees and education was stressed in my family
  • I was able to attend a private, Catholic prep high school.
  • My parents and grandparents paid for all my undergraduate tuition.
  • I've never been expected to be a good basketball player or fast.
 
BigSteelThrill said:
Affirmative action was about people who had been intentionally disadvantaged.  While it is related, it's not the same thing.
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agree to disagree.  In fact, you could say that we've EXPLICITLY codified privilege into law, but now for groups who were at one time disadvantaged and now have an advantage via AA.

 
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MaxThreshold said:
you could say that we've EXPLICITLY codified privilege into law, but now for groups who were at one time disadvantaged and now have an advantage via AA.
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Its true. Yet its about resources, and they have been destroyed on that front. The laws are a barely a trickle of a fix on that.

 
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Nugget said:
  • I don't get pulled over due to my Kansas tag and newish vehicles.  Minorities with Missouri tags are always getting pulled over in Kansas.
  • In college, if I was overserved, police officers would drive me home.
  • I can walk into meeting with business owners (majority white men) and things go smoothly.
  • I've never had to deal with racial slurs
  • I've never had to be questioned about my college admission and asked if I "earned" my spot.
  • My parents both have masters degrees and education was stressed in my family
  • I was able to attend a private, Catholic prep high school.
  • My parents and grandparents paid for all my undergraduate tuition.
  • I've never been expected to be a good basketball player or fast.
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* If you want to stop getting pulled over, stop getting caught with illegal #### when you get pulled over.  In other words, if I catch fish every time I throw my line in the water, I'm going to keep fishing in that hole.  Maybe doesn't make it right, but something to think about.

* I'm a white, college educated male that never experienced that.  In fact, we were always afraid of and avoided cops when we were drinking...  Still do.

* Me too.  I'm in meetings all the time with blacks, asians, hispanics, etc.  It's all good.

* Really, cracker?

* Me neither.  I'm not an athlete, or minority, or any other demographic that got a spot any other way than beating out my other white brethren on basic entry criteria.

* Are you saying that's a uniquely white experience?

* Are you saying that's a uniquely white experience?

* Are you saying that's a uniquely white experience?

* I have.  I'm 6'2", not that that's all that tall, but I've been asked on many occasions about playing basketball.  You think a short, fat, black kid get's met with those same expectations?  Or, are there other criteria, other than skin color that make people think you might be an athlete?  Similar to point #1, if most of the NBA players are black, is it all that odd that we think an athletic, tall, black kid might be capable of achieving that status, more so than a white kid?

 I'm not saying you're totally wrong on all of this, but some of this is just basic statistics.  You're blind if you don't see tendencies & trends, and you're intentionally blind if you don't see them on purpose.  Someone said the first step to fixing this is to recognize it exists, but I'll counter by saying we also need to acknowledge where we are, and that the numbers don't lie.  Again, doesn't make it right, and hopefully some of the more negative statistics will change over time, but it will take a long time, and making excuses is not the way to get there.

 
Yes, and it mostly involves security guards or police.  Also, white people over forty don't even notice I am there. They ALWAYS notice certain other people when they are around.  I only know this because of the comments they always make about those people. They don't notice me or see me as a threat, so they will say almost anything. 

 
Of course it does. 

I know it's hard for some to accept, but there are literally hundreds of things that white people don't even think about that affect POC every day. You don't think about them because you don't have to think about them, it doesn't even cross your mind that something as arbitrary as that would be different if you weren't white. 

Good example: if a black person has an online-based business, they will oftentimes exclude their picture from the website or make it seem like a white person owns it? Why? Because black-owned business are simply patronized less by whites AND blacks. Why is this? Who the hell knows.

One time I was pulled over for speeding, the cop made me get out of my car and get inside of the police car while he ran my license. When nothing came up he simply told me to get out and threw my license out the window on to the ground. I'll never forget that day because I thought he was going to kill me, I was only 17. 

Don't even get me started on resumé discrimination and racist hiring practices. People scream affirmative action, but why do black college graduates have an unemployment rate double that of white college graduates? Black people want jobs too. The way some people speak about affirmative action you'd think that every boardroom in America was 90% minority, but we all know that isn't true. Top tech companies like Google and Facebook are always under fire because they're less than 1% minority. 

White welfare recipients receive more aide than black and latino recipients, almost 50% more.

I could go on, but I think I made my point. 

What I think upsets people is they take "white privilege" to mean that society wants them to feel bad for being white, and they get angry about that. I don't blame them, they didn't choose to be white. But I get angry too when my entire existence is judged based on the color of my skin, and again, that's something white people don't have to worry about.

 
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Leroy Hoard said:
Not sure I would take that as a compliment.
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:lmao:

They were doing a street promotion and passing them out to everyone that walked by, I saw the name Gilette and thought it was a shaving product, so I took it. 

 
I like to think of it as like being at a nice restaurant and choosing a really kick-### entree.  And your date accidentally gets the worst thing on the menu.  

You don't have to feel bad about choosing a great meal, you can even talk about how awesome it is, but you shouldn't sit there and tell her what she has is just as good.  And you might want to share a few bites.  

And if you want to get laid, you could try to get her one of what you're having.

 
Gachi said:
What I think upsets people is they take "white privilege" to mean that society wants them to feel bad for being white, and they get angry about that. I don't blame them, they didn't choose to be white. But I get angry too when my entire existence is judged based on the color of my skin, and again, that's something white people don't have to worry about.
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What about the good things about being black?

 
One time when I was like 19 I was with a group of my friends (like 6-7 white guys) and we were playing basketball at 1:00 am (and drinking of course) at this grouping of like 6 basketball courts.

Cops roll up--shine the light on us all and then proceed to drive down to the next court which had maybe 5 black guys playing on it. They got out of their car and started questioning them. The end result is they were told to leave because the park was supposed to close at midnight.

Still remember that some 27 years later here. I'd like to think they let us continue to play because that felt sorry for us after watching us attempt to ball (even though I had game :yes: ), but I think there was something more nefarious going on there.

 
Gachi said:
We have basically no incidences of skin cancer (due to the melanin in our skin). 

That's pretty cool I guess..

All I can think of right.  :shrug:
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You get an extra 20% at that one store.  What's it called?  Court? The one where they give out prison sentences. 

 
The best descriptor I read was that basically white privilege is a the lack of additional negatives.  Which can make it hard to perceive for some people.    

Privilege is a loaded word, because it implies good, more, winning, ease of burden.... it implies a lot of things.    And for the white kid who's born into poverty with drug addicted parents and no one teaching him right from wrong -- it's easy to look at a situation like that and say WHERE'S HIS WHITE PRIVILEGE?   There's nothing about being white that is going to improve that situation for him.   In that sense, you're right.   

But if thats the only scope you want to view this with, you're being obtuse.    That kid does not have the ADDITIONAL problems of higher incidence of punishment and expulsion from school , lowered job prospects, disproportionate police attention, harsher sentencing for the same crimes, and a slew of other fun stuff.    


This is not to say that all white people are on the straight and narrow to success, and that no black people can do well via working hard.   And there are other factors at play, as well.   A black kid born into a wealthy family probably has better outlooks that the first white-kid example I created above.   But don't close your eyes and pretend there's no difference in paths once all the other factors have been taken into account.    

 
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There are very few white people who would rather be black.  Hovering close to zero, I suspect.  I doubt the reverse is true.

 
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