# Does the term White Privilege hurt it's own cause **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 14, 2012, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-white-privilege-hurt-its-own-cause/637673 "2012-10-14T06:50:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-white-privilege-hurt-its-own-cause/637673/81 "2012-10-14T21:24:37Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > So we are the ones who have to be PC in order to not hurt anyone’s feelings now? exactly my point… you’re reaction to me /\ is not uncommon, in not the most common, but it comes up a lot. These talks get very divisive very quickly. I am not blaming you or anything, it just seems to be where these conversations lead. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-white-privilege-hurt-its-own-cause/637673/82 "2012-10-14T21:31:47Z")
> [@brickbacon](#): > > So what? Academia doesn’t exist to settle debates amongst laymen on the internet. If someone tries to do that, explain to them why they are wrong. Don’t insist that we need a new term because it’s been co-opted by people who don’t understand it. Brick, chill out. I wasn’t suggesting that the academic world stop using white privilege. I was simply relating my observations on seeing “privilege” used more on message forums and that posters often used the term incorrectly. I was curious to see if anyone else noticed privilege being brought up more on internet forums. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-white-privilege-hurt-its-own-cause/637673/83 "2012-10-14T21:33:37Z")
Hey, I think it’s good to every once in a while ask yourself “Am I perhaps being a whiny bitch?” ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-white-privilege-hurt-its-own-cause/637673/84 "2012-10-14T21:35:24Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > Brick, chill out. I wasn’t suggesting that the academic world stop using white privilege. I was simply relating my observations on seeing “privilege” used more on message forums and that posters often used the term incorrectly. I was curious to see if anyone else noticed privilege being brought up more on internet forums. i see it brought up more often and i do see it used to silence people. but some white people aren’t bothered by the term at all. it definitely gets people talking. i think a better term could be used though. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-white-privilege-hurt-its-own-cause/637673/85 "2012-10-14T21:37:40Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > Hey, I think it’s good to every once in a while ask yourself “Am I perhaps being a whiny bitch?” yes, of course it is, but are you not being a bit polemic here? Polemic: A controversial argument, especially one refuting or attacking a specific opinion or doctrine. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-white-privilege-hurt-its-own-cause/637673/86 "2012-10-14T21:40:30Z")
Missed the edit window: > [@Robert163](#): > > do you really think this type of decisiveness helps? You’re essentially calling me a whiny loser when I am saying I’d like to be more aware on this topic but I’m having trouble. I do. The concept isn’t difficult to understand unless you’re really, reeeeeeaally determined to not understand it. There are a bunch of reasons for that. Mostly it’s because admitting you have any sort of privilege raises the question of whether you should try to mitigate it somehow, but for lots of people (and I’m not necessarily saying you) it raises the even more horrifying realization that even with the privilege they enjoy, they’ve failed to make much of a go of it. Makes 'em understandably tetchy. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-white-privilege-hurt-its-own-cause/637673/87 "2012-10-14T21:46:13Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > Missed the edit window: > I do. The concept isn’t difficult to understand unless you’re really, reeeeeeaally determined to not understand it. There are a bunch of reasons for that. Mostly it’s because admitting you have any sort of privilege raises the question of whether you should try to mitigate it somehow, but for lots of people (and I’m not necessarily saying you) it raises the even more horrifying realization that even with the privilege they enjoy, they’ve failed to make much of a go of it. Makes 'em understandably tetchy. well, to be honest, i’m having a trouble with my own subjectivity. it is really hard for me to determine what is me being oversensitive and what is a sound complaint. my reaction, an emotional reaction, is i’m being blamed, ie: 1- racism is bad 2- racism functions as a result of white privilege 3- i’m white 4- i don’t want to be “bad” ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-white-privilege-hurt-its-own-cause/637673/88 "2012-10-14T21:46:38Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > So, some white homeless guy who is missing his legs is a “whiny loser”? You may not have meant it that way - but that’s the way it comes across. Only if you misread it, intentionally or otherwise: > [@DianaG](#): > > I will, in fact, take a stand that anyone complaining about how haaaaaard they have it **as a white person** is a whiny loser. Hint: Unless the guy is talking about how the loss of his legs have made him 40% less white, you’re not talking about the same situation as **DianaG** at all. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-white-privilege-hurt-its-own-cause/637673/89 "2012-10-14T21:47:40Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > The concept isn’t difficult to understand unless you’re really, reeeeeeaally determined to not understand it. Which most people _will_ be, since the term is so obnoxious. Most people simply aren’t going to bother listening to you when you call them privileged when by the way the term is usually used they _aren’t_. Using the term makes the user come across as at best dishonest. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-white-privilege-hurt-its-own-cause/637673/90 "2012-10-14T21:50:13Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Only if you misread it, intentionally or otherwise:Hint: Unless the guy is talking about how the loss of his legs have made him 40% less white, you’re not talking about the same situation as **DianaG** at all. White is pretty much my point. Regardless of your intent, when you start talking about white people all have “white privilege”, you come across like someone who _would_ sneer at the legless homeless man because he’s white. The term is so bad that it poisons its own well. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-white-privilege-hurt-its-own-cause/637673/91 "2012-10-14T22:06:41Z")
DT, if you applied this sort of determination to something useful, you’d be nigh unstoppable. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-white-privilege-hurt-its-own-cause/637673/92 "2012-10-14T22:09:44Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > well, to be honest, i’m having a trouble with my own subjectivity. it is really hard for me to determine what is me being oversensitive and what is a sound complaint. my reaction, an emotional reaction, is i’m being blamed, ie: > > 1- racism is bad > 2- racism functions as a result of white privilege > 3- i’m white > 4- i don’t want to be “bad” Well, I’m happy to help; it’s all oversensitive. It is, I repeat, not about you personally. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-white-privilege-hurt-its-own-cause/637673/93 "2012-10-14T22:14:29Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > Well, I’m happy to help; it’s all oversensitive. It is, I repeat, not about you personally. yes, but that is the way i take it. stay with me for just a moment and please don’t look at it as an excuse. it’s the way I take it, even if it’s not logical, and the point is, lots of people react exact the same, even if they shouldn’t. for practical or utilitarian purposes alone, maybe a better term is needed? ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-white-privilege-hurt-its-own-cause/637673/94 "2012-10-14T22:21:36Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > well, to be honest, i’m having a trouble with my own subjectivity. it is really hard for me to determine what is me being oversensitive and what is a sound complaint. my reaction, an emotional reaction, is i’m being blamed, ie: > > 1- racism is bad > 2- racism functions as a result of white privilege > 3- i’m white > 4- i don’t want to be “bad” You said in the OP that you understand that it isn’t about you personally, and you’ve been very clear about the fact that you understand that this is an emotional reaction you’re having. So the question is why would a different phrase to say what you understand to be the exact same thing make any difference? You’re having an emotional reaction to your interpretation of the existence of white privilege (which is that you must be doing something wrong because you’re in an unfair position of power). How can anybody point out that fact without you having that reaction? I think they can’t. So ultimately it really is about just getting over it. It’s understandable to be uncomfortable and to take the small logical leap from “privileged” to “villain.” But it’s still a leap. Privileged doesn’t mean villain. How is a better term going to change your emotional reaction to the fact underlying the necessity for the term? ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-white-privilege-hurt-its-own-cause/637673/95 "2012-10-14T22:24:33Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > You said in the OP that you understand that it isn’t about you personally, and you’ve been very clear about the fact that you understand that this is an emotional reaction you’re having. So the question is why would a different phrase to say what you understand to be the exact same thing make any difference? You’re having an emotional reaction to your interpretation of the existence of white privilege (which is that you must be doing something wrong because you’re in an unfair position of power). How can anybody point out that fact without you having that reaction? I think they can’t. So ultimately it really is about just getting over it. It’s understandable to be uncomfortable and to take the small logical leap from “privileged” to “villain.” But it’s still a leap. Privileged doesn’t mean villain. > > How is a better term going to change your emotional reaction to the fact underlying the necessity for the term? I think you are right, I’d be just as emotional/defensive if it used different term ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-white-privilege-hurt-its-own-cause/637673/96 "2012-10-14T22:24:58Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > yes, but that is the way i take it. stay with me for just a moment and please don’t look at it as an excuse. it’s the way I take it, even if it’s not logical, and the point is, lots of people react exact the same, even if they shouldn’t. for practical or utilitarian purposes alone, maybe a better term is needed? For practical and utilitarian reasons, illogical people shouldn’t be indulged. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-white-privilege-hurt-its-own-cause/637673/97 "2012-10-14T22:26:03Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > I think you are right, I’d be just as emotional/defensive if it used different term OK, so the question then is how’d we get here. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-white-privilege-hurt-its-own-cause/637673/98 "2012-10-14T22:27:47Z")
I agree with **DianaG**. The problem is personalization. Whether it be you applying “white privilege” to yourself or people accusing other individuals of having “white privilege”. I think both are overwrought ways of looking at the subject. To go back to the word “oppressed”. I have only rarely heard someone say “I have been oppressed.” Usually, people will apply this word to institutions and peoples. As in, “The Jews were oppressed by the Third Reich.” Or “Jim Crow was an oppressive institution.” Likewise, I would not accuse an individual of being “oppressive”. Maybe an agent of oppression, but I would save the word “oppressor” for something bigger than one individual. I am not a victim of oppression, but my people (black Americans) have collectively been victimized by oppression. My neighbor, a white guy, may or may not be privileged, but he belongs to a group that enjoys privilege. You may not be able to help feeling guilty when the top of white privilege comes up. But you can frame the discussion in ways that mitigate these feelings. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-white-privilege-hurt-its-own-cause/637673/99 "2012-10-14T22:28:55Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > White is pretty much my point. Regardless of your intent, when you start talking about white people all have “white privilege”, you come across like someone who _would_ sneer at the legless homeless man because he’s white. The term is so bad that it poisons its own well. This is linguistic sophistry on the same level as the claim that homophobia is the wrong word because people don’t actually _fear_ gays, or that the theory of evolution is “only” a theory. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-white-privilege-hurt-its-own-cause/637673/100 "2012-10-14T22:52:12Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > When people get defensive, doesn’t it suggest they have something to defend? Like, oh just guessing, white privilege? > > Seems to me that it’s a human trait to want to hang on to privileges, and they’ll do a whole lot of complex arguing and rationalizing in order to feel okay about enjoying benefits which require that others go without. It is also a human trait to want to hang on to their _rights_, especially when people like yourself start calling them privileges. > [@DianaG](#): > > Yeah, I don’t get what’s supposed to be offensive about acknowledging the obvious. “All other things being equal, being white will make your life easier than being not-white.” seems like kind of a no-brainer. I will, in fact, take a stand that anyone complaining about how haaaaaard they have it as a white person is a whiny loser. > > It’s not personal, and it’s certainly not about blaming you personally. Get over yourself for a goddamned second. All other things being equal, not having cancer will make your life easier than having cancer. But the problem is that some people have cancer, not that some people have the “privilege” of not having cancer. “White Privilege” is _Harrison Bergeron_ thinking. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-white-privilege-hurt-its-own-cause/637673.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-white-privilege-hurt-its-own-cause/637673.md?page=6)