The two-step dance that a lot of people like yourself do is a very subtle revenge dance. I grew up in Brooklyn, so I know how to read bullshit well. Basically, you want a seesaw. It can’t be that blacks and whites exist on the same playing field; no; it has to be reversed. It can’t be equality with you people; as you said ‘some boats going to sink.’ Meaning, the white males will be reduced in order to lift up the black man and woman. Fuck that shit. I didn’t do anything to be turned into a second class citizen. The Far Left has abandoned traditional religion in favor of this Race Religion, where white skin is the new Original Sin.
A sinking boat? What do you know of my life?
I never was part of any “old boy’s club”. No one in my family is or was a union member. I’m unemployed, struggling to find a job, and right now subsist because of welfare. My family was never rich; at most, solid middle class. My grandmother just retired a few years ago at 85 - so privileged. We never lived in luxury. My father did time in jail. My mother nearly died from Hepatitis C and I had to drop out of college for several years to take care of her. But yeah, I have soo much fucking privilege. Them good old white guys in Washington really give a shit about me. Oh, no, wait, I’ll be one of the thousands who loses health insurance if Trump’s bill goes through.
I apologize for not hating myself because I’ve never taken part in racism or done anything to hurt a POC. I’m sorry I won’t accept becoming a “sinking boat” so someone can stand on my shoulders so I can atone for crimes someone else’s ancestors committed.
I know about the same as you do about my life. If you know enough about me to feel confident enough to throw a “you people” at me, I know enough to surmise that you’re “sinking.”
Actually Mike the color of the skin was not the most mitigating factor. The biggest factor was that they had been backed by government subsidized programs for blacks and had little or no investment of their own to protect. As I said in my post, I didn’t hold that against blacks and assumed my own blame for taking bad risks.
Given my arguments, the post a few back saying : “Here are realistic bonuses that white people get that POC ( including the aforementioned Indians and those of Asian descent to a degree) don’t get.” Is the one that is giving me the most thought.
I think in general, a negative “privilege” ( don’t have to worry about getting shot ) is difficult to grasp as a privilege.
But “more likely to get a warning on a speeding ticket” is definitely a bonus that I think is real and not particularly trivial.
Someday I’ll do a poll and ask servers “Do you give black patrons extra service to avoid the perception you’re being racist and to make sure you did nothing to deserve a bad tip”
It’s not often that somebody shows you exactly what type of person they are so succinctly! I now know to completely disregard every opinion and everything to have to say. Thanks!!
I agree with all this except that I’ll quibble with the “I’ve got too much pride to actively take advantage of it” – one of the things about privilege is that we don’t have any control of it. Us white folks take advantage of it whether we plan to or not.
I’ll also note that in the sense that “privilege” is used here, pretty much everyone experiences some sort of privilege in various circumstances, whether it be straight, cis, able-bodied, white, non-black, non-immigrant, etc.
I agree with you that that is what the OP probably meant, but technically it’s can’t be true. A person who is Muslim can not be “mistaken for a Muslim” as there is no mistake.
If you’re someone reading this thread and not entirely sure about the notion of white privilege, or about whether racism is a big problem in 2017 America (and that you might be complicit in that problem), I recommend reading some books. Here’s my current set of recommendations:
[ul]
[li]The Color of Law (the history and origins of residential segregation)[/li][li]Just Mercy (Bryan Stevenson’s memoir of his work on the death penalty and juvenile life without parole)[/li][li]Racecraft(a collection of essays about race, racism, and the ways in which racism produces ideas about race)[/li][li]The Warmth of Other Suns(history of the great migration of African-Americans fleeing terrorism in the South)[/li][li]Ghettoside(reporter’s account of homicide policing in LA and description of the problem of simultaneous overpricing and underpolicing of black communities)[/li][li]Colony in a Nation (A look at racial justice in 2017 from the perspective of white privilege)[/li][li]Between the World and Me (Ta-Nehisi Coates’s memoir and contemplation about race in America)[/li][/ul]
Well, whose boat did he mean? And why is full equality such a horrible thing? Why does one person have to be reduced for another to be on equal footing? Instead of knocking me down to uplift someone else, how about bringing that person up alongside me?