What is white privilege?

At the very end, even if there is no apparent evidence that the white person in question has it any better than the person of color, even if the person of color has every apparent advantage, the end game is to say that the white person still has privilege because a bunch of white men wrote the constitution and thus the very country itself gives the white person the advantage somehow.

That's how messed up the concept of white privilege is. It is nothing more than either the ultimate guilt trip or ultimate excuse depending on how it is being used.

a reply to: ketsuko

Starred you for that, because it is the truth. Well said.

a reply to: ketsuko

There is statistically more chance that a black person will face racial discrimination in a majority white historically racist society.

That is a fact. And the fact white people are less likely is essentially white privilege.

Facts are facts.

originally posted by: Quetzalcoatl14

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: BigBangWasAnEcho
White privilege is your white great grandpa inheriting a home, land, gas station, political seat and textile mill while blacks were just figuring out how to remo those pesky shackles they were mysteriously born with.

So if my great grandparents did not live here and I am a first generation American, do I still have the vaunted Willy P advantage?

According to identity politics yes, because you will accrue some kind of unseen advantage as you move through the system.

No it's simply that they are less likely to face discriminatory disadvantage, based on skin color in majority white population, with a history of racial discrimination.

Here is my white privilege.


In school, I worked hard and took as many dual credit courses as possible in order to lower my eventual costs for college. I was unable to afford more than 1 semester in a community college so I gave up on that idea and went into a trade. I spent several years working as a service tech for various security companies one of which wasn an "all-black" company where I was the only white employee (you wanna talk about racism and hostility trying being a skinny white kid in charge of a buncha black dudes on a job site). I was able to identify an under served area of my market. I then created a LLC which I read how to do online at 23. For the next few years I ran my own business employing a few of my friends and co-workers until 2008 when the markets crashed and I lost all my job contracts on the same day. I managed to get a job working tech support due to a high school friend I had kept up with and spent most of my cash putting my wife through college. There over the course of 5 years I worked my way into their programming department by teaching my self 3 different programming languages in my spare time. Meanwhile I scraped every penny together I could and saved up 100 grand. My wife had gotten a degree in marketing and a real estate license during this time. So after a few years of real estate we decided to create our own home building company.

I work 5 days a week for my "real" job and 7 days a week for my company. My wife runs the business primarily during the week. We now have 3 homes going at once, and are building our second personal home in 2 years. I have a broken hip and fracture femoral head, yet this weekend I worked in the Texas sun moving rock, grading dirt, and installing appliances by hand to the point I was nearly about to break down and literally had to crawl to my vehicle to go home. I then got up the next day and did it again, today as I hobble into work barely being able to walk, I get to take a break finally and sit here and do some coding and continue to migrate our old payroll system to new software for a company of 5,000.

I got their by literally collecting beer cans from trash cans at apartment complexes, going to garage sales and buying resellable items at local flea markets for a small mark up and meanwhile raised the kid we had at 16 who is about to graduate high school with scholarships in robotics and has held a job at his local super market since his junior year of high school.


I don't think most people could handle my kind of privilege.

a reply to: openminded2011

My take:

Blacks perpetuate their own stereotype and part of that stereotype is to blame others, thus white privilege is the scapegoat. Nothing ever changes with the thought process. I use blacks on purpose because this is what we're talking about. If I said minorities, readers may think it's native Americans or Asians in this country. This is not the case.

a reply to: staticfl

Blacks perpetuate their own stereotype and part of that stereotype is to blame others, thus white privilege is the scapegoat.

Do you know these Blacks you speak so passionately about?

Stop believing the BS.

I don't judge all White people by your personal beliefs, or even by the over the top racist comments that I have read in this post.

There is no one idea, belief, or even behavior, that is truthfully descriptive of people with darker pigmented skin.

If you are specifically separating out Native Americans and Asians, then exactly what group of people are you including, and how do you determine that they fit into you personal view?

Not supporting his videos, but this guy doesn't seem to be blaming Whites as you decry.


I don't live in an area where half of this stuff people are claiming exists. If I did, I would move like this woman's family did.

She agrees with you and has her own set of biases. We all have opinions and we can all be arseholes.

For every person you try to hold up as an example to prove your bias, I can hold up one that is just the opposite. Racism and ignorance come in all sizes and flavors.

originally posted by: staticfl
a reply to: openminded2011

My take:

Blacks perpetuate their own stereotype and part of that stereotype is to blame others, thus white privilege is the scapegoat. Nothing ever changes with the thought process. I use blacks on purpose because this is what we're talking about. If I said minorities, readers may think it's native Americans or Asians in this country. This is not the case.

You have somewhat hit on the truth, that being, believing others' stereotyping of certain aspects of race to intellect, race to athletic superiority, etc., will affect your self-identity.

“Unconscious bias occurs from normal cognitive processes within all people,” says Laura Hunter, PhD, associate diversity officer for the University of Arizona’s Office of Diversity and Inclusive Excellence. Hunter also offers a workshop for UA faculty and instructors called Diversity and Unconscious Bias in the Academy. “It is unconscious and without any malicious intent. For example, there are false assumptions that people with physical disabilities or older students need more attention in the classroom or take longer to learn. Because the thought process occurs on an unconscious level, it is challenging to address easily. It takes vigilance and incorporating various strategies to reduce the impact of unconscious bias in the classroom. ”

diversity.arizona.edu...

S&F.

In my opinion, it's simply another way that non-white people feel it's okay to be raciest towards white people.

Ill tell you all about "white privilage". Years ago in my wilder days i made the decision to recite the Smile Empty Soul song, For My Country a little too loudly in my front yard. I was just hacing fun. The next thing you know i am in cuffs because my black neighbors, who have always had it out for me, claimed that i was threatening to kick thier door in. Within minutes of my trial they pulled the race card. They claimed that i have called them the "n word" on many occasions and threatened them with violence. My lawyer was so threatened by the idea of trying to defend a man deemed a racist that he urged me to plead guilty for fear of his own rep. So i did and i was punished accordingly. Lets get something straight. I dont typically use the word 'n-word' out of respect for my black brothers in arms and all of the other decent black folks ive met. Its also notable that there were five witnesses in court that day even though there was only one person present while singing one of my favorite songs in my own front yard that night. Yeah, we definately live in the country of white privilage.

dumb af. what was segregation , civil rights, feminist movement etc. just for fun ? of course whites are not getting the pass they once did so yeah you may or may not experience white privilege. why do white people play innocent and dumb when it comes to topics like this. wisdom is embracing your privilege and using it for the good.

a reply to: badw0lf

You are clearly triggered by the truth in Chris Rock's example, and you are a covert racist. Most likely one of the leftovers from godlikeprod

It is political word used by democrats and does not even exist anymore.

originally posted by: FelisOrion
a reply to: dfnj2015

They still won't see it though.

"See the black man has to fly, to get something the white man has to walk to"

And that quote truly sums up 'white privilege'/


You still won't see it though.

Maybe its outside of a white persons capacity to see because they have never experienced it. I will concede that. My whole purpose of posting this thread is to understand it from a perspective outside my own. That may be the ONLY way to see it for some.

That's easy!

It's the privilege to not take part in anything that even remotely resembles something set aside for a protected class, or a minority.

It's the privilege of being called racist, despite not having a racist bone on your body.

it's the privilege to watch you mother struggle to pay bills, and buy groceries and get denied assistance, because of her race.

It's the privilege of being told you cannot join the school band, because you're not of the same race as the rest of the band.

Basically, it's the privilege to be treated as if you're guilty of every single atrocity that was perpetrated on another race, by people you never knew, and were born 100's of years before you.

Yay!!

It means getting screwed over by your own government in favor of immigrants.

The issue is sort of exactly the opposite of white privilege. Why would people want to bring a white person down to their perceived level? The point would to being your race up to that level, as equals. That should be the goal. It's ironic that people who feel strongly that they are not treated as equals due to their color, and call it racism, want someone else to be treated less than they are because of their color.

I'm not saying there is not a problem, I feel there is. I just think groups like BLM go about solving that problem in exactly the wrong way.

As an aside, I ironically lost a job of 14 years because I was white. They had to meet their #s for the correct amount of minorities. I felt very privileged to have worked there...

originally posted by: MysticPearl

originally posted by: FyreByrd

originally posted by: MysticPearl

originally posted by: FyreByrd

originally posted by: Tardacus
There`s no such thing as white privilege which is why nobody can define it or give examples of it.

any definition or example put forth to try to explain it will have to include and apply to ALL "white" people.

if it doesn`t include and apply to poor whites as well as rich whites then it isn`t white privilege.
if it doesn`t include and apply to white people who immigrated here yesterday as well as white people who`s ancestors have been here for hundreds of years, then it isn`t white privilege.
if it doesn`t include and apply to white people who live in big cities as well as rural areas, then it isn`t white privilege.
if it doesn`t include and apply to white people who are conservatives as well as liberals then it isn`t white privilege.
if other ethnic groups, such as Asians, receive 'white privilege" benefits then it isn`t white privilege.

white privilege doesn`t exist it`s just the paranoid delusions of some non white people.

White privilege does apply to ALL whites - rich and poor, young and old, male, female, other.

Then why aren't we as privileged as Asians?

I made a point of stating White Western Privilege. I don't know enough about asian cultures/history to begin to understand how their 'pecking' order is internalized.

When Asians come to the west, to America, and out earn everybody, black or white, it suggests there isn't inherent privilege based on skin color. Skin color is not preventing Asians from having even more success than whites in the west.

What it suggests is culture, namely family values, as the key reason for success or failure.

Actually asians are a good example of white privilege at work. Though they average more education, more income, higher iq, etc they still don't have white privilege. You see it in silicon valley where many asians work - they don't (generally) own the big companies and in lesser roles where their 'assests' are exploited by the 'big' boys. They are invited to join white clubs or faternities. They fact asians face a lot of 'sub rosa' discrimination - but are more 'tolerable' then even darker skinned people.

a reply to: FyreByrd

They fact asians face a lot of 'sub rosa' discrimination - but are more tolerable' then even darker skinned people.

That may be partially due to the fact that racism is inherent in their culture as well. One of my dearest friends is Chinese, and she always defines herself as "White" Chinese. Dark skin Chinese are looked down on. The same also occurs in India, and a lot of other countries.

originally posted by: 0racle
a reply to: FyreByrd

No - there is no analog in other races. All privilege (western privilege) derives from white privilege. The two cannot be separated.

I disagree. European ancestry does not equal rich & privileged. What you're talking about is class / social privilege. The racial wealth gap seen today has always existed in white society, but before immigration it was a class gap, and poor whites have always had it as bad as poor blacks / browns etc

I'm not certain you understand what I said, so I will restate.

In clearly causcasion countries, class was the original privlege. As white societies began to colonize the world, it morphed the white privilege we see today where being white makes one better then those of other races.

You see it's a hierarchical system. The poor white sots, where coerced into 'conquering' the 'pagan' world (and to pay off debts) and given permission (by their lords) to rape and plunder at will because they were 'better' then the 'pagan's". And so for and so on to today.

I'm abused/used by those above and so I get to abuse/use those below me and the prond white male (to quote Oingo Boingo) is on top with all women and all 'lessor' males. It's the nature of hierarchical societies. (See Riane Eisler).