# It would appear that the DNC likes being in the minority **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 1, 2017, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-would-appear-that-the-dnc-likes-being-in-the-minority/800427 "2017-11-01T20:01:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-would-appear-that-the-dnc-likes-being-in-the-minority/800427/181 "2017-11-10T18:07:46Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > That’s all fine, and if you just look at people as individuals and consider the specific privileges and hardships that they may have had in their lives then no one would disagree with you. > > Where the intersectional people part ways with that is 1) in viewing people as “privileged” or otherwise not based on their own experiences in life but based on their membership in “privileged” or “underprivileged” groups, and 2) based on a worldview which is overly focused on who is or isn’t “privileged” as opposed to dealing with privilege and hardship and their ramifications when they become necessary and relevant. Just trying to get a feel for your own ideological orientation, here. Would you agree that black people, as a demographic group in the US, have disadvantages in the criminal justice system? ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-would-appear-that-the-dnc-likes-being-in-the-minority/800427/182 "2017-11-10T18:31:07Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > What’s special about white males as a demographic? Why specific focus on them vs any other demographic? These sound like good questions for Madeleine Leader. She’s the one that put the focus on white men. > [@QuickSilver](#): > > Does every vote count or do white male votes carry more weight/value? One person, one vote is the standard AFAIK. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-would-appear-that-the-dnc-likes-being-in-the-minority/800427/183 "2017-11-10T18:37:03Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Just trying to get a feel for your own ideological orientation, here. Would you agree that black people, as a demographic group in the US, have disadvantages in the criminal justice system? “As a demographic group”, almost certainly. But that might not be true of any individual black (or white). OJ Simpson found his skin color to be a big advantage, just to give one particularly egregious example. But there are also many people who don’t interact with the criminal justice system that much or altogether. The point I was making was that any individual black or white may have had a tough life or not, in all sorts of ways and regardless of color. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-would-appear-that-the-dnc-likes-being-in-the-minority/800427/184 "2017-11-10T18:38:30Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > These sound like good questions for Madeleine Leader. She’s the one that put the focus on white men. This [Madeleine Leader](https://twitter.com/madeleineleader?lang=en)? Why her, specifically? Is she the inspiration for you starting this thread? I’m sorry… I don’t understand what you’re saying, **H-D**. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-would-appear-that-the-dnc-likes-being-in-the-minority/800427/185 "2017-11-10T18:44:03Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > “As a demographic group”, almost certainly. But that might not be true of any individual black (or white). > > OJ Simpson found his skin color to be a big advantage, just to give one particularly egregious example. > > But there are also many people who don’t interact with the criminal justice system that much or altogether. > > The point I was making was that any individual black or white may have had a tough life or not, in all sorts of ways and regardless of color. I follow you, but would you be okay with something like, “Steps should be taken to address discrimination against black people in the criminal justice system?” I guess I’m having difficulty understanding how I, a white woman, would NOT be part of a privileged demographic in that context. I’d have the advantage of both whiteness and femaleness on my side. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-would-appear-that-the-dnc-likes-being-in-the-minority/800427/186 "2017-11-10T18:45:18Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > This [Madeleine Leader](https://twitter.com/madeleineleader?lang=en)? > > Why her, specifically? Is she the inspiration for you starting this thread? > > I’m sorry… I don’t understand what you’re saying, **H-D**. Did you read the OP? ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-would-appear-that-the-dnc-likes-being-in-the-minority/800427/187 "2017-11-10T18:54:33Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I follow you, but would you be okay with something like, “Steps should be taken to address discrimination against black people in the criminal justice system?” > > I guess I’m having difficulty understanding how I, a white woman, would NOT be part of a privileged demographic in that context. I’d have the advantage of both whiteness and femaleness on my side. Not to interrupt, but from my perspective, being “part of a privileged demographic” is hardly any guarantee of benefit. You may be treated gently by the criminal justice system, as probably happens to a lot of white women, or you might get a raw deal from the criminal justice system, as happens to some white women. The same could be said, for example, of black men, although the proportions in each group are different, perhaps roughly reversed. Knowing your group membership isn’t any sort of proof that you’ve been treated unfairly by the criminal justice system. We’d have to look at the individual’s circumstances to know that. See the OJ example, or for another example, Justine Damond, the white woman who was recently shot dead by the police in Minneapolis after calling 911. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-would-appear-that-the-dnc-likes-being-in-the-minority/800427/188 "2017-11-10T18:57:52Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I follow you, but would you be okay with something like, “Steps should be taken to address discrimination against black people in the criminal justice system?” Sure. Does anyone disagree with this? Certainly this notion doesn’t seem unique to “intersectional” ideology. > [@](#): > > I guess I’m having difficulty understanding how I, a white woman, would NOT be part of a privileged demographic in that context. I’d have the advantage of both whiteness and femaleness on my side. Belonging to these groups may have helped you or harmed you, or - most likely - helped you in some ways and harmed you in other ways and been neutral for the most part. But as you noted initially, there are innumerable other ways in which you may have had it good or bad, irrespective of your membership in some group or other (unless that group is itself defined by the harm or benefit). So imagine you have a guy who is born into poverty and whose mother has all sorts of parenting issues but who also has a high IQ and a likeable personality versus a woman whose parents are fine but who has a lower IQ plus a club foot, versus a minority member whose parents are also poor but who happens to be extremely talented at basketball, versus a white guy whose parents are extremely wealthy but dysfunctional and has no brains or personality etc. etc. How do you figure out who is really “privileged” or “underprivileged”? Does it boil down to memberships in groups which are privileged or underprivileged “as a demographic group”? (If so, you would have to create groups based on health, personality, appearance etc.) Point being that the focus of this intersectional stuff is on membership in “privileged” versus “underprivileged” groups, versus actual life experiences of individuals. (That, along with a too high focus on privilege versus under-privilege to begin with.) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-would-appear-that-the-dnc-likes-being-in-the-minority/800427/189 "2017-11-10T20:06:58Z")
Just for starters, all demographics is about studying groups _as groups_. In close observation, it is a given that individuals will vary within a group. By definition, demographic studies are not about finely detailed observations, and individual variations and exceptions are not relevant. Unless, of course, there are enough such variation that it nullifies a group identity, so that demographics do not apply. So, if you want to prove that “white privilege” does not exist, the best way is to prove that the demographic “white people” does not exist. Jolly good luck with that. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-would-appear-that-the-dnc-likes-being-in-the-minority/800427/190 "2017-11-10T20:17:56Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Did you read the OP? Ya’know… I did. Then forgot about it. :smack: Then joined the discussion days later on page 4 without looking back at OP or connecting the dots. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-would-appear-that-the-dnc-likes-being-in-the-minority/800427/191 "2017-11-10T20:24:51Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Ya’know… I did. Then forgot about it. :smack: Then joined the discussion days later on page 4 without looking back at OP or connecting the dots. Understandable. It’s been a meandering discussion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-would-appear-that-the-dnc-likes-being-in-the-minority/800427.md?page=9)