Originally posted by SamLuv
I think the main problem with the POV of the OP is that your saying, based off my experiences, all of these things have or could happen to me as
well.. That (to you) is a valid point, but leaves a gaping black hole in the facts. Once again, you are talking about your experiences as a white
person. You cant claim to have an understanding of other ethinicities struggle without living in their shoes and feeling it. Black people are arrested
WAY more often then white people, even tho statistically crimes committed are equal between wht/ltn/blk generally. However, people of color have the
most intense accountability for their actions compared to white offenders.
Be more open minded. Just because you dont like the idea of white privilege doesn't mean it isnt a clear reality for many many many people all around
the world, not just in the US
If I can't claim to have an understanding of how a minority group lives, then they should also have no right to claim to understand how I, a white
person, lives. Therefore their claim of white privilege is void, because according to you they simply cannot know what it's like to be white (so they
can't know if any privilege exists)
They cannot know the things I deal with anymore than I know what they deal with.
You're correct, I approached this list from my own perspective. Because that's the only perspective that a person can REALLY speak from. Anybody can
imagine walking a mile in someone elses shoes, but nobody can REALLY know what it's actually like. Therefore nobody can claim that I get special
privileges simply for being white.
Someone else in this thread mentioned that yes, I could have the same issues as a minority. Well, if I have the same issues (harassment by law
enforcement, financial issues, etc) then where does the privilege come from?
Everything is relative, and there isn't a single aspect of being a minority that some white people don't also deal with, and there isn't any
advantage to being white that minorities don't also have depending on their environment and surroundings.
Some might say I can get a job easier because I'm white, because business owners discriminate against minorities. Well what if I'm applying for a
job where the owner or manager is a minority who doesn't like whites? Don't I share the exact same experience of not getting a job because the
person hiring is racist?
It all comes down to people. There are racist white people, black people, asian people, etc. If the person you are dealing with can influence your
fate in any negative way, and they are of a different race and are also racist, they are going to make your life tough. This goes for anybody.
The simple fact that whites are the majority means, just by a function of the higher number of us, that there will be more racist white people around
the country. Considering there are a large number of people out there that can influence your life (police, employers, bankers, etc) this means that
yes, minorities are going to be discriminated against.
But the opposite is also true. There are for sure racist minority groups who hold positions that can effect others, and those people are going to be
against whites and negatively effect them.
So if ALL races have to deal with those of other races being against them, then the ONLY advantage to being white is that there are more of us,
meaning the odds of coming across someone who won't like you because of your race is lower for a white person.