Bernie Sanders And The Myth Of White Privilege

*sigh* Oh John Scalzi....

He's a modern science fiction writer, and quite popular too. He had an interesting way in describing this "white privilege", especially if you like video games and are familiar with them. It certainly caused quite the stir:

I’ve been thinking of a way to explain to straight white men how life works for them, without invoking the dreaded word “privilege,” to which they react like vampires being fed a garlic tart at high noon. It’s not that the word “privilege” is incorrect, it’s that it’s not their word. When confronted with “privilege,” they fiddle with the word itself, and haul out the dictionaries and find every possible way to talk about the word but not any of the things the word signifies.

So, the challenge: how to get across the ideas bound up in the word “privilege,” in a way that your average straight white man will get, without freaking out about it?

Being a white guy who likes women, here’s how I would do it:

Dudes. Imagine life here in the US — or indeed, pretty much anywhere in the Western world — is a massive role playing game, like World of Warcraft except appallingly mundane, where most quests involve the acquisition of money, cell phones and donuts, although not always at the same time. Let’s call it The Real World. You have installed The Real World on your computer and are about to start playing, but first you go to the settings tab to bind your keys, fiddle with your defaults, and choose the difficulty setting for the game. Got it?

Okay: In the role playing game known as The Real World, “Straight White Male” is the lowest difficulty setting there is.

Straight White Male: The Lowest Difficulty Setting There Is

He actually goes into quite a bit of detail.

Make sure to read the follow-ups, in which he probably will address the problems you find with his reasoning. Seriously, the guy probably already has something to say to whatever issues you have.

I found it an interesting analogy. It's certainly a different way to look at things.

Whats the hardest setting?




Oh Gay Minority Female.

ROFL.

Does that beat 3rd world orphan with no limbs?

hahaha.

Sounds like a bunch of losers on CS:GO

YOU'RE HACKING! CUZ YOURE WHITE! got the n00bcannon!

I guess Rachel Dolezea was pretty "hardcore" hahaha

Money is, and always will be the game changer.

That Scalzi piece was well written, I still don't buy the idea that Swm s have it easier than Sbm s .

I can see how gender and sexuality can perhaps hold someone back as lots of people are still hung up on such stuff, but with the amount of legislation protecting people of various ethnicities from discrimination I think it's risible that the colour of a persons skin affects their life chances.

a reply to: Lysergic

3rd world orphan doesn't live in America...

a reply to: MystikMushroom

Then take your pick of any orphan in America.

a reply to: SprocketUK

Well, ask yourself a simple question.

If you got to keep everything the same in your life, other than the color of your skin. Would you have any problem, whatsoever with changing it?

Would you go from white to black? I mean, you get to keep your job, family, home, cars, all your personal possessions and friends. Would you willingly trade skin color to prove it doesn't matter?

Just sit for a moment and ponder it. I do mental exercises like this all the time.

(I'm not actually wanting an answer, just posing a hypothetical for you and others to ponder in their heads)

And do Asians level even faster?

a reply to: Lysergic

I cannot believe I have never seen that before! Hilarious regardless of what the agenda might be behind it. Let me try and oneupsman you :



BAAAAAAAAM!

originally posted by: Lysergic
a reply to: MystikMushroom

Then take your pick of any orphan in America.

Most orphans in America aren't white...

Based on the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) in the U.S., the fiscal year of 1998 showed that approximately 64% of children waiting in foster care were of non-Caucasian background; 32% were white. Out of all foster children waiting for adoption 51% are black, 11% are Hispanic, 1% are American Indian, 1% are Asian/Pacific Islander, and 5% are unknown/unable to determine.
Wiki

a reply to: MystikMushroom

Nope. I don't know many black people that would either. My wife might though, but I would never let her.

a reply to: MystikMushroom

Didnt say they were, I only asked if it trumped the other "hardcore" setting.


I mean really that was so random of you, like it was some sort of valid point you were going to make?

a reply to: Winstonian

Can't be played, sorry, fail.

a reply to: Winstonian

Haha omg, this why were all going to hell haha.

derpdblpst

originally posted by: MystikMushroom
a reply to: SprocketUK

Well, ask yourself a simple question.

If you got to keep everything the same in your life, other than the color of your skin. Would you have any problem, whatsoever with changing it?

Would you go from white to black? I mean, you get to keep your job, family, home, cars, all your personal possessions and friends. Would you willingly trade skin color to prove it doesn't matter?

Just sit for a moment and ponder it. I do mental exercises like this all the time.

(I'm not actually wanting an answer, just posing a hypothetical for you and others to ponder in their heads)

Well to be fair, I ve never heard of a black person who would swap their skin colour for white (Apart from Micky Jackson, but he was mental)

a reply to: Lysergic

Yeah some people are youtube noobs and when they post videos they forget to click the box allowing it to be embedded, so I had to find another one for your personal entertainment. It isn't often you have someone serving your entertainment needs directly to you is it?

a reply to: Winstonian

You can start with the Census.
Let me know if the numbers don't mean anything to you.

In the news, All of the White Churches in Mississippi, once again, were not burned.
In the news, Driving while Black is finally a Federal Crime.

When I read about 'white supremacists', I will imagine that they are not toothless and from Tennessee with nearly the education level you fellow first class travelers enjoyed.
To be fairer....apparently The Atlantic is an intellectual delight and they covered this unpleasant aspect of public schooling.
www.theatlantic.com...

Anecdotes blow unless they apply to a SINGLE case. People who use anecdotes to argue their opinion have unsubstantiated opinions. I guess I am stating, grow a little substance and stop being so flaccid.

a reply to: MystikMushroom

I would in a second and I would troll liberal white people all the time.

my food is over done, did you do that because I am black?

You won't give me a discount, is it because I am black.

It would be so munch fun

I wonder if the black know how COLD we are to each other as white people?
I 'm not sure they would LIKE it or handle it well.
THEY are more folksy and out going than we are as a skin coloration.
WE are controlled and secretive for the most part ,of course NOTHING applies to all,but we do take self pressure to move ahead FAR better as well.
Hold up your end WELL or screw YOU, is how life is for us ALL.
My white brother and sister were orphans we were adopted by an Airforce officer(I THINK I got a secret clearance from it)
It didn't help ME get off the Sped bus and is HASN'T gotten me a better income than 35000.00 a year.
Intellectual handicap took care of a lot of that.
Skin...STILL no help.

I hate hearing about "white privilege". I'm in Canada and here you are openly discriminated against because you are white. My entire working life has been like this. All job applications for major companies or government ask your skin color because they have "race" based quotas, meaning if they already have enough people with "white" skin working for them they won't even consider you.

Also, I'm a white but I'm also male and as a male I'm discriminated against by a female quota which was put in some time back. To me that makes at least slightly more sense than a quota based on skin color as back in the day it was a larger imbalance, but the preference to hire women is still being enforced and the Canadian government is currently 45% male and 55% female.

Also, still "white" remember, I am discriminated against because I am an anglophone. Jobs are given to "bilingual" people or those who are french because they also already know English anyways. Francophones get special rules and things for them, but there is nothing but penalties for being an anglophone. They are closing English schools everywhere for French only because these people were brainwashed into believing it's required, even though in the future when the kids are in the work force the jobs that needed bilingual will be obsolete.

How's that for "white privilege".

I don't believe in race, it's all BS garbage. We are humans, some of us have different skin tones. Hair color isn't a race, arm length isn't a race, nose hair count isn't a race, your brain size isn't a race. Skin color isn't a race.

Also, anyone telling me I am privileged for having "white skin" is a bigot as they are saying I have more value than others, when we are all equal - human beings.

Also, I can't believe people think that it is a "privilege" to not be mistreated or have illegal actions done against you if your skin is white. If that is the case, then using the same logic here's a few more privileges.

- Obese women are privileged as it is almost an impossibility that they will be sexually assaulted or raped.
- Homeless people are privileged because they don't have to worry about people breaking into their homes or buying alarm systems
- Handicapped people are privileged because people open the doors for them and not others, also they are given privileged parking while everyone else has to park farther away.