# Video: Whites are privileged, and that's unfair **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 22, 2012, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928 "2012-06-22T11:36:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/201 "2012-06-24T08:08:54Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > More “us versus them” bullshit. In this scenario, your boss is the one causing your problem, directly: he’s the one who is paying your coworkers 30% more for doing the same work as you. The random white guy with “white privilege” is the coworker, not your boss. Just because he’s not getting screwed does not mean it’s his fault that you are. Okay fine, let me change that then. You complained to your boss and he told you to fuck off and you have no recourse because you need the job. You’re upset so you talk to your coworker about what’s happening to you, and he says so what, all you have to do is work harder and live frugally which are things you should be doing anyway, instead of agreeing that yeah, that is totally unfair. Maybe he can’t be expected to quit his job in protest or anything, but he can be expected to not be a total dick about it. ---
**Author:** ![kp\_72110](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e68b1a/32.png) [@kp\_72110](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kp_72110)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/202 "2012-06-24T11:17:59Z")
[quote=“Blackberry, post:198, topic:625928”] That can only be the bottom line in a discussion about white privilege to someone who has absolutely no idea what is being discussed. Imagine this scenario: you get a job and find out that everyone else with your exact same experience and qualifications makes 30% more than you…/QUOTE] Well quite honestly that is very similar to what happened to me at one job I did tech support at and had a black manager and many black co-workers. Except I was the one getting paid less. After I saw how I was treated for being white I finally moved on and found a better job elsewhere. What else could I do? Scream “discrimination”? Yeah right. That’s one thing a white person can never get away with. But so what? Matters not to me. I don’t let shit like that hold me back and I know many black people that don’t either. They shrug it off and move on. They’re usually as saddened by the ghetto niggers as I used to be of the white trash crackers. I stress that I used to be saddened by it. Now I just see people that are trash of all colors and people that are decent of all colors. Sadly black people would have treated President Obama poorly had he been in some black neighborhoods that I probably fit in better then he did because black people in the ghetto will hardly tolerate a black person that acts or sounds what they consider to be “white”. Let blacks be as they wish but in my opinion they do more to hurt themselves screaming discrimination at every situation they are involved with where a white person makes a decision that they don’t like. People like Jesse Jackson and his ilk do nothing but promote keeping this separation for their own gain. Yes there are still many racist in this country. Mostly white. But let your white ass walk down some streets in Oakland or Chicago or Detroit or [you pick a big city ghetto] and then tell me black people aren’t also racist. To their own detriment. It’s no more acceptable for white people to be such low lifes either. Taking pride in being so “ghetto” and saying whitey is keeping you down doesn’t do anything good for you. I don’t hear hardly any Hispanics, Asians or those from places like India or Pakistan being too concerned about the fact that many whites are also racist towards them. Our government give-a-ways have destroyed the black family unit in this country and THIS to me is the biggest act of racism other then slavery that has been perpetrated against them. Maybe I’m wrong though. Maybe I’m the one keeping them down. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/203 "2012-06-24T11:36:30Z")
> [@mister\_nyx](#): > > I’m annoyed by him failing to respond to particular things I’ve said more than once, emphasized, and explained at length. He ignores them and I see no reason not to assume that it’s because he can’t respond to them. A controlled experiment is in order, then. You’ve tried clarifying your argument and asking for a response in a post that was obnoxious, rude, and insulting, and I didn’t respond. If your hypothesis is correct, you could clarify your argument and ask for a response in a post that was respectful, and I still wouldn’t respond. If my hypothesis is correct, I would. Wanna try? [edit: if you’re up for the experiment, try it soon–I’m leaving town for a few weeks and am not sure how often I’ll be online] ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/204 "2012-06-24T11:41:49Z")
> [@kp\_72110](#): > > Well quite honestly that is very similar to what happened to me at one job I did tech support at and had a black manager and many black co-workers. Except I was the one getting paid less. After I saw how I was treated for being white I finally moved on and found a better job elsewhere. What else could I do? Scream “discrimination”? Yeah right. That’s one thing a white person can never get away with. This is patently untrue. [Plenty of race discrimination cases are white people suing because they were discriminated against](http://www.doi.gov/pmb/eeo/cases/reverse.cfm). The law cuts both ways. Sure, in this case, you just moved on–because that’s the kind of person you are, you’re not a fighter, I guess. Neither am I; there’s a good chance I wouldn’t sue either. Other white people in your position have sued. And still there’s a difference, because what was for you a one-time case of (stipulated) discrimination is for many black people a quotidian occurrence. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/205 "2012-06-24T14:11:14Z")
> [@kp\_72110](#): > > Well quite honestly that is very similar to what happened to me at one job I did tech support at and had a black manager and many black co-workers. Except I was the one getting paid less. After I saw how I was treated for being white I finally moved on and found a better job elsewhere. What else could I do? Scream “discrimination”? Yeah right. That’s one thing a white person can never get away with. Whites can sue for discrimination, and win. > [@](#): > > But so what? Matters not to me. I don’t let shit like that hold me back and I know many black people that don’t either. They shrug it off and move on. Nobody is obligated to tolerate racism just because you do, or because others do. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/206 "2012-06-24T14:14:04Z")
> [@mister\_nyx](#): > > No. It’s exactly equivalent to saying that members of racial minorities are subject to systematic racism. There is nothing racist about saying that, no matter how many people whine otherwise. Nope, it’s not the same, because it does not apply to all whites, and not to the same degree for all. Same goes for racism against blacks. This is why I said earlier that it’s not the privilege idea that really matters, it’s what you want to do with it. What policies would you use “white privilege” to justify? And there are thousands of unfair ways that some have privilege. We cannot fix them all. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/207 "2012-06-24T16:03:54Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > And you are basing this assertion upon what? The opinion of the group who says they are being looked at, or the group who is doing the looking? Ok, I’ll humor you. Are you seriously suggesting that people are regularly suspected of being shoplifters strictly because they are white? I’m asking because lots of people have been suspected of being shoplifters strictly because they were black. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/208 "2012-06-24T16:05:22Z")
> [@kp\_72110](#): > > They’re usually as saddened by the ghetto niggers as I used to be of the white trash crackers. I stress that I used to be saddened by it. Now I just see people that are trash of all colors and people that are decent of all colors. Using racial slurs is going to drag the discussion off track. Please don’t do this. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/209 "2012-06-24T16:13:43Z")
> [@kp\_72110](#): > > Well quite honestly that is very similar to what happened to me at one job I did tech support at and had a black manager and many black co-workers. Except I was the one getting paid less. After I saw how I was treated for being white I finally moved on and found a better job elsewhere. What else could I do? Scream “discrimination”? Yeah right. If what you say is true then yes, you could very easily have sued for discrimination and won a sizable chunk of money. It’s illegal to discriminate on the basis of race and whites have successfully sued when they faced discrimination. > [@](#): > > Sadly black people would have treated President Obama poorly had he been in some black neighborhoods that I probably fit in better then he did because black people in the ghetto will hardly tolerate a black person that acts or sounds what they consider to be “white”. Considering how popular President Obama is in the black community and how successful he was as a community organizer in the South Side of Chicago, I will say I find it very difficult to believe that most blacks would find him far less tolerable than a white person who makes references to “ghetto niggers.” > [@](#): > > I don’t hear hardly any Hispanics, Asians or those from places like India or Pakistan being too concerned about the fact that many whites are also racist towards them. Leaving aside the fact that it’s a bit odd to refer to “Asians or those from places like India or Pakistan”(I’m from Iran which I assume you’d classify as “like India or Pakistan”) if you’ve never met any Hispanics or Asians who’ve complained of racism it’s probably because you didn’t meet very many or they suspected, for some reason or other, that you weren’t the kind of person who’d be sympathetic to them. ---
**Author:** ![florez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9e5f3/32.png) [@florez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/florez)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/210 "2012-06-24T17:26:09Z")
> [@kp\_72110](#): > > I don’t hear hardly any Hispanics, Asians or those from places like India or Pakistan being too concerned about the fact that many whites are also racist towards them. I cannot speak for others, but Hispanics in the US have always been concerned about discrimination and racism, and have struggled for decades to attain social justice. For example workers rights, immigration rights, education and language rights…just to name a few, and a current example of concern over the issue of racism against Hispanics is the Joe Arpaio problem in Arizona. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/211 "2012-06-24T17:38:55Z")
> [@florez](#): > > I cannot speak for others, but Hispanics in the US have always been concerned about discrimination and racism, and have struggled for decades to attain social justice. For example workers rights, immigration rights, education and language rights…just to name a few, and a current example of concern over the issue of racism against Hispanics is the Joe Arpaio problem in Arizona. Haven’t they ever thought of just not letting it bother them? ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/212 "2012-06-24T17:49:12Z")
> [@florez](#): > > I cannot speak for others, but Hispanics in the US have always been concerned about discrimination and racism, and have struggled for decades to attain social justice. For example workers rights, immigration rights, education and language rights…just to name a few, and a current example of concern over the issue of racism against Hispanics is the Joe Arpaio problem in Arizona. Agreed. To ad to what you’re saying, “people from places like India and Pakistan” regularly complain about Islamophobia and the problems that we face when “flying while brown”. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/213 "2012-06-24T18:12:21Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Agreed. To ad to what you’re saying, “people from places like India and Pakistan” regularly complain about Islamophobia But that gives you an awesome opportunity to educate people about Islam. > [@](#): > > and the problems that we face when “flying while brown”. But it’s good to get to the airport early anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/214 "2012-06-24T18:31:13Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > But that gives you an awesome opportunity to educate people about Islam. Not when you aren’t even a Muslim. Fun fact: the only time I “wet shave” is before getting on a plane. I also wear cargo shorts, flip flops, and T-shirts, and clutch my (white) wife closely to me. I don’t know why, because I still get pulled out of the line at the metal detectors, but on the bright side it’s easier to take off flip flops at the scanner. ---
**Author:** ![florez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9e5f3/32.png) [@florez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/florez)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/215 "2012-06-24T18:34:32Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > Haven’t they ever thought of just not letting it bother them? Would the civil rights movement have taken place had oppressed racial minorities not let unjust treatment, discrimination, and racism bother them? ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/216 "2012-06-24T18:44:49Z")
> [@florez](#): > > Would the civil rights movement have taken place had oppressed racial minorities not let > unjust treatment, discrimination, and racism bother them? Hey, no one’s saying the civil rights movement wasn’t called for. Clearly it was, because racism was sufficiently bad then. Hell, I’m even opposed to slavery. But I, as a white person, am here to tell you that the racism faced by minorities today is not bad enough to merit complaints, a.k.a. “crying racism” or “playing the race card”. Minorities should stop thinking that it is, because I have spoken. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/217 "2012-06-24T18:46:51Z")
It was a joke. ETA: It _wasn’t_ a joke? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/218 "2012-06-24T18:56:26Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > It was a joke. > > ETA: It _wasn’t_ a joke? It was a joke. He has, after all, spoken. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/219 "2012-06-24T19:01:12Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > It was a joke. He has, after all, spoken. She ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/220 "2012-06-24T19:03:13Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > She ☹ I know, I know–I’m checking my privilege :(. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928.md?page=12)