# 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:** 16
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/301 "2012-06-26T19:45:58Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > But being white is but one of the many many day to day privileges people may have (or being black is one of many disadvantages). To this we must add male or female privilege (there are both), Actually, yes, I was going to mention male privilege as another analogy. Men do not have to be wary of being yelled at or propositioned or denigrated or threatened, to the point where many of them simply don’t even believe it can and does happen to women. Maybe we have to accept it as a fact of life that we’re never going to stomp out the catcallers or the suspicious store clerks, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be aware that it happens and work against it when possible. It’s primarily about having empathy for others and realizing that _your_ situation is not the same as _their_ situation, and it isn’t actually _their_ fault for being in that situation. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/302 "2012-06-26T19:57:39Z")
I obviously didn’t read this whole thread, as is my white privilege (REE-EH-EEE-EEE-EEE!). Anyway…are white people privileged? Yes. Remember, privilege doesn’t have to mean “special benefits.” It can mean “not being subject to particular harms,” or “having your cultural experience or point of view be considered the norm” (Example: nearly all Americans, whatever their religious persuasion, will have some level of familiarity with Christianity, such that being Christian in America is not an exotic or particularly remarkable thing). BUT… If you account for class, a lot of the supposed privileges white people have turn out to be theoretical. Tell some poor white guy in coal country that he is privileged because he’d have no problem getting a cab in NYC, and he will rightly regard you as a clueless asshole. And news flash: in absolute terms, there are more non-Hispanic whites in poverty in the U.S. than any other race or ethnicity (though of course the percentages are higher for Latinos and blacks, which is shameful enough). To have white urban liberals tell some poor SOB, living in a dying town that business and society have forsaken, that he is actually quite privileged (which he would realize if he wasn’t such ignorant white trash), only to wonder why he keeps voting “against his interests” for the party that is at least willing to pretend to care about his fears and frustrations, is simply amazing to me. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/303 "2012-06-26T20:04:15Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > To have white urban liberals tell some poor SOB, living in a dying town that business and society have forsaken, that he is actually quite privileged (which he would realize if he wasn’t such ignorant white trash), only to wonder why he keeps voting “against his interests” for the party that is at least willing to pretend to care about his fears and frustrations, is simply amazing to me. Is anyone actually doing that? White privilege only comes up in the context of race relations; where it’s irrelevant, it’s irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/304 "2012-06-26T20:08:15Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > White privilege only comes up in the context of race relations… I don’t know what you mean by that. ---
**Author:** ![florez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9e5f3/32.png) [@florez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/florez)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/305 "2012-06-26T20:57:55Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > Okay. > > But being white is but one of the many many day to day privileges people may have (or being black is one of many disadvantages). To this we must add male or female privilege (there are both), blonde privilege, tall privilege, thin privilege, attractive privilege, good-dresser privilege, good-taste-in-hair style privilege, young/old privilege, nice car privilege, speaks without a weird accent privilege… Blond, tall, thin, great hair, etc., attractive, and by whose standards? Sorta like the white Barbie & Ken dolls, and now we have brown Barbie and Ken available so everything should be equal. But what of the sociological study done in the 1940’s that show a majority of black children preferred to play with white dolls instead of black, and how fifty years later in a repeat study the change in preference was only slight? The right to white privilege might be unconsciously absorbed at an early age, as well as any internalized ideas of what might identify people with this privilege or without it. And this might also cut through many class differences, if not color differences; and still not hold everyone with internalized inferiority back, or give everyone with internalized superiority a leg up. But it is still real for many, and probably has it’s roots in our histories with institutionalized racism. > **[New ‘doll test’ produces ugly results](http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/National_News_2/New_doll_test_produces_ugly_results_2919.shtml)** ---
**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 26, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/306 "2012-06-26T21:13:51Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > I obviously didn’t read this whole thread, as is my white privilege (REE-EH-EEE-EEE-EEE!). Yes, it’s obvious you didn’t read the thread since the rest of your post shows that you didn’t to read the arguments about the subject and simply decided to project strawman arguments onto the people discussing it. > [@](#): > > To have white urban liberals tell some poor SOB, living in a dying town that business and society have forsaken, that he is actually quite privileged (which he would realize if he wasn’t such ignorant white trash), only to wonder why he keeps voting “against his interests” for the party that is at least willing to pretend to care about his fears and frustrations, is simply amazing to me. If anyone was doing that you’d have a point, but no one is, so you don’t. Beyond that, I’m amazed to find yet another person who seems to think that it would be wrong to claim that Muslims were privleged over Christians in the Ottoman Empire and Christians over Jews in Tsarist Russia. Obviously, you have stated that, but that would be the logic conclusion of your arguments, particularly since the average Ottoman Christian was better off financially than the average Ottoman Muslim and the same was true regarding Jews and Christians in Tsarist Russia. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/307 "2012-06-26T21:14:15Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Did you earn your height? Because, again, that’s the analogy. > > It wasn’t about what you did with your height, or whether you helped the short woman, or whether you’re a nice person. It’s about whether you have an advantage that she doesn’t. That’s it. That’s all it is. Do you have an advantage that she doesn’t, in the analogy, and was it something you earned? > > You keep trying to make the analogy oppress you. It can’t do that. Height isn’t the best analogy, unless you are asserting there is something unfair about the fact that some people are taller than others. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/308 "2012-06-26T21:28:58Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Yes, it’s obvious you didn’t read the thread since the rest of your post shows that you didn’t to read the arguments about the subject and simply decided to project strawman arguments onto the people discussing it. > > If anyone was doing that you’d have a point, but no one is, so you don’t. > > Beyond that, I’m amazed to find yet another person who seems to think that it would be wrong to claim that Muslims were privleged over Christians in the Ottoman Empire and Christians over Jews in Tsarist Russia. > > Obviously, you have stated that, but that would be the logic conclusion of your arguments, particularly since the average Ottoman Christian was better off financially than the average Ottoman Muslim and the same was true regarding Jews and Christians in Tsarist Russia. The situation of Jews in Russia and Christians in Ottoman Turkey (or for that matter, overseas Chinese in Indonesia) is the reverse of the coin - a minority that on average does financially well in spite of majority oppression. The case of “white privilege” is that of a majority that does financially better. The cause of this is debatable (and much debated), but probably is a combination of factors - the least significant being actual outright oppression by the majority, in this day and age. In the case of (say) Jews in Tsarist Russia, even extremely fierce oppression did not result in Jews doing worse financially than the majority population. The natural inference is that one cannot reason backwards from the financial situation of one segment of the population to determine that oppression or advantage exists, since an oppressed minority can, in some cases, do better than the unoppressed (or not oppressed in the same way) majority. So I’m not sure where the analogy takes you. ---
**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 26, 2012, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/309 "2012-06-26T21:35:05Z")
> [@florez](#): > > But what of the sociological study done in the 1940’s that show a majority of black children preferred to play with white dolls instead of black, and how fifty years later in a repeat study the change in preference was only slight? > > The right to white privilege might be unconsciously absorbed at an early age, as well as any internalized ideas of what might identify people with this privilege or without it. Uh, wait a minute. You’re not talking about white privilege any more, you’re talking about a new thing - an alleged innate belief that one deserves the privilege (or doesn’t in the case of blacks) - in other words, racism. Not the same thing. And, of course, we know that many other privileges are also internalized. Big, athletic types soon feel superior because they get what they want, for instance. Blondes too. > [@](#): > > And this might also cut through many class differences, if not color differences; and still not hold everyone with internalized inferiority back, or give everyone with internalized superiority a leg up. But it is still real for many, and probably has it’s roots in our histories with institutionalized racism. So what do you want? From whites, or anyone else? What should whites do about this? What should people do about their other privileges? ---
**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 26, 2012, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/310 "2012-06-26T21:39:14Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Actually, yes, I was going to mention male privilege as another analogy. Men do not have to be wary of being yelled at or propositioned or denigrated or threatened, to the point where many of them simply don’t even believe it can and does happen to women. First of all, men do face many problems due to their gender. They must tread lightly lest they be falsely accused of sexism, for instance. They are viewed with suspicion if they’re too friendly with a woman. Put children in the mix - like a man trying to get a job at a child care center - and they think you might be a pedophile. But I digress. > [@](#): > > Maybe we have to accept it as a fact of life that we’re never going to stomp out the catcallers or the suspicious store clerks, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be aware that it happens and work against it when possible. That goes without saying though, at least for me. > [@](#): > > It’s primarily about having empathy for others and realizing that _your_ situation is not the same as _their_ situation, and it isn’t actually _their_ fault for being in that situation. I learned empathy as a small child. I hope you can see how it can border on insulting to suggest that someone needs more empathy. I don’t need a PSA for that. And why it’s unfair to focus it only on whiteness, or maleness, as if that’s the only place where empathy is lacking in our society. ---
**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 26, 2012, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/311 "2012-06-26T21:40:46Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Height isn’t the best analogy, unless you are asserting there is something unfair about the fact that some people are taller than others. Well, there is something unfair about it. Life’s unfair. Let’s stipulate that we can’t, and shouldn’t, try to fix every little unfairness. We shouldn’t create new ones either, like racism or sexism. And we should do what’s reasonable to make life more fair. But we can’t fix everything. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/312 "2012-06-26T22:02:55Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > I don’t know what you mean by that. So let’s put it another way: > [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > To have white urban liberals tell some poor SOB, living in a dying town that business and society have forsaken, that he is actually quite privileged (which he would realize if he wasn’t such ignorant white trash), only to wonder why he keeps voting “against his interests” for the party that is at least willing to pretend to care about his fears and frustrations, is simply amazing to me. How much shittier would that guy’s life be if he were in the exact same town in the exact same situation…but black? He’s not privileged as in he’s got it good, he’s just better off than a black guy in his circumstances would be. Maybe not by much, but it’s undeniably better to be white than black. Outside of race, “white privilege” has no meaning. It’s just a different way to talk about underlying racism. I don’t expect the guy to care. He has more immediate things to deal with than big-picture race issues. But that doesn’t make the issue go away, and the people who are able to deal with it should be aware of it. ---
**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 26, 2012, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/313 "2012-06-26T23:23:36Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > First of all, men do face many problems due to their gender. They must tread lightly lest they be falsely accused of sexism, for instance. They are viewed with suspicion if they’re too friendly with a woman. Put children in the mix - like a man trying to get a job at a child care center - and they think you might be a pedophile. But I digress. No, no, let’s look at these. Except for on the Internet, I haven’t been accused of sexism, real or falsely, since 1997. (On the Internet I foolishly wandered onto the Ms. Messageboards some years ago–what a trainwreck–and then I may have been accused of sexism around here by some lunatic or another, but I’m honestly not sure). The 1997 incident involved someone who was determined to get my goat and threw every insult she could think of at me. I am totally unaware of being viewed with suspicion for being too friendly with a woman. Who would do it–my wife? If so, wouldn’t this be exactly the same danger a woman with a jealous husband would face? Men working with children do face a bit of danger, I think. I have co-workers who will give students rides home or pick them up for an event, things I would never in a million years consider doing, out of a desire to protect me. The other danger I face is being viewed by sexist co-workers as an affirmative-action hire. More than one female co-worker has made some nasty comment about how easy it must be to get a job if you have a penis, and it pisses me off. But I deal with it by a civil but forceful confrontation with them, something along the lines of, “Actually, I try really hard to be a good teacher, and I hope I stay in the classroom because of my skills rather than my gender, and I hope people don’t just view me as the male teacher.” This has invariably worked to stop that particular co-worker from making such comments (at least to my face). These hazards frankly pale compared to what women face. Think of the things you do that many women may not feel comfortable doing. It’s pretty good being a man, all told. ---
**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 26, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/314 "2012-06-26T23:33:13Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > How much shittier would that guy’s life be if he were in the exact same town in the exact same situation…but black? He’s not privileged as in he’s got it good, he’s just better off than a black guy in his circumstances would be. Maybe not by much, but it’s undeniably better to be white than black. Outside of race, “white privilege” has no meaning. It’s just a different way to talk about underlying racism. WEB Du Bois [talked about the wages of whiteness](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_privilege#History): > [@WEB Du Bois](#): > > It must be remembered that the white group of laborers, while they received a low wage, were compensated in part by a sort of public and psychological wage. They were given public deference and titles of courtesy because they were white. They were admitted freely with all classes of white people to public functions, public parks, and the best schools. The police were drawn from their ranks, and the courts, dependent on their votes, treated them with such leniency as to encourage lawlessness. Their vote selected public officials, and while this had small effect upon the economic situation, it had great effect upon their personal treatment and the deference shown them. White schoolhouses were the best in the community, and conspicuously placed, and they cost anywhere from twice to ten times as much per capita as the colored schools. The newspapers specialized on news that flattered the poor whites and almost utterly ignored the Negro except in crime and ridicule. This system is much diminished from the Jim Crow era in which Du Bois wrote these words. However, consider the following lines from this article: > [@Wikipedia](#): > > In her book Privilege Revealed: How Invisible Preference Undermines America, Stephanie M. Wildman writes that many Americans who advocate a merit-based, race-free worldview do not acknowledge the systems of privilege which have benefited them. For example, many Americans rely on a social or financial inheritance from previous generations, an inheritance unlikely to be forthcoming if one’s ancestors were slaves. Whites were sometimes afforded opportunities and benefits that were unavailable to others. In the middle of the 20th century, the government subsidized white homeownership through the Federal Housing Administration, but not homeownership of other minorities. When I’m dealing with students, I may be dealing with two boys in poverty. The black boy has grandparents who grew up in a viciously racist society and who undoubtedly tell him about it; they may themselves view white people with intense mistrust born of their experiences in their youth. The white boy may have similar grandparents, except that, having grown up in a viciously racist society, they tell him about his natural superiority over black classmates. Both boys live in poverty; both face pernicious legacies from their grandparents. Which legacy will be more psychologically crippling? ---
**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 27, 2012, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/315 "2012-06-27T00:03:43Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > Should I make a PSA too? If you feel strongly about the issue, sure. ---
**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 27, 2012, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/316 "2012-06-27T00:26:18Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > If you feel strongly about the issue, sure. Would you take it seriously? ---
**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 27, 2012, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/317 "2012-06-27T00:29:40Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Except for on the Internet, I haven’t been accused of sexism, real or falsely, since 1997. You’re one person. > [@](#): > > I am totally unaware of being viewed with suspicion for being too friendly with a woman. Who would do it–my wife? If so, wouldn’t this be exactly the same danger a woman with a jealous husband would face? No, I mean on the job or some other inappropriate way. > [@](#): > > These hazards frankly pale compared to what women face. Think of the things you do that many women may not feel comfortable doing. It’s pretty good being a man, all told. Sure. There’s no denying we get it better. My point was that it’s not as simple as one side getting it all. Oh, to add a few things - we are expected to do more physical or dangerous work (and die on the job alot more often), we get drafted for wars. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/318 "2012-06-27T00:43:39Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Yes, it’s obvious you didn’t read the thread since the rest of your post shows that you didn’t to read the arguments about the subject and simply decided to project strawman arguments onto the people discussing it. Hey look, a snotty **Ibn Warraq** post I didn’t read. > [@Bosstone](#): > > So let’s put it another way: > > How much shittier would that guy’s life be if he were in the exact same town in the exact same situation…but black? He’s not privileged as in he’s got it good, he’s just better off than a black guy in his circumstances would be. Maybe not by much, but it’s undeniably better to be white than black. But why? It’s not self evident to me that that’s true. Let me put it this way. Who’s worse off in the following scenario: the children of the black guy who finds his economic opportunities limited because of white flight from the inner city, or the children of the white guy who finds his economic opportunities limited because neoliberal economic policies led to his town’s largest employer shipping his steady job with benefits overseas? The reasons for their respective predicaments are certainly different, and you can decide that one is worse than the other, but I think the effect is largely the same. We had a thread a few months ago about Charles Murray’s (the Bell Curve guy) latest book, which pointed out that we’re seeing some of the same problems in white communities devastated by economic upheaval that are commonly associated with inner city black communities (higher infant mortality, more teen pregnancy, drug use, etc). Of course, Murray tried to pin this on a change in white working class culture that he pretty much pulled out of his ass, while ignoring the growing economic insecurity that I believe provides a much better explanation for what’s happening. I don’t think you can draw meaningful distinctions between black poverty and white poverty. It fucking sucks either way. ---
**Author:** ![florez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9e5f3/32.png) [@florez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/florez)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/319 "2012-06-27T00:55:15Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > Uh, wait a minute. You’re not talking about white privilege any more, you’re talking about a new thing - an alleged innate belief that one deserves the privilege (or doesn’t in the case of blacks) - in other words, racism. > So what do you want? From whites, or anyone else? What should whites do about this? What should people do about their other privileges? The OP is about white privilege which IMO is one of the co-products of racism, and from what I understand innate means inborn and natural, and I do not consider institutionalized racism to be natural; but internalizing a societal message is probably no different for any group of children growing up and absorbing the reality around them. What do I want whites or anyone else to do about it? Many people of all colors are already aware that undoing institutionalized racism will probably involve more decades of muti-cultural collaboration and speaking out against racism and other forms of oppression. Also helping to empower groups that take action against it, or joining such groups and making it a priority would be a good thing. I would hope that certain white people try to take into consideration that racism is not always the personal problem of a race card carrying cry baby with a skewed view, and that to assume such might be comparable to victim blaming. And that it is important to clearly recognize who is disadvantaged and who is not when it comes to light that racial bias still exists, for example racial profiling, sentencing and conviction rates, disparities in education, housing and loan practices,etc. And discussions like this on the OP of white privilege is addressing the issue in a constructive way, even if it brings out disagreement and some frustration. IMO it is good to know where others are coming from, and how many white people do understand the issue and want fairness to prevail. ---
**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 27, 2012, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928/320 "2012-06-27T01:06:16Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > Hey look, a snotty **Ibn Warraq** post I didn’t read. Heh. I try not to be snotty, for exactly this reason, but this thread is evidence enough that I don’t always succeed. > [@](#): > > Let me put it this way. Who’s worse off in the following scenario: the children of the black guy who finds his economic opportunities limited because of white flight from the inner city, or the children of the white guy who finds his economic opportunities limited because neoliberal economic policies led to his town’s largest employer shipping his steady job with benefits overseas? The black kids, because they’ll also see a disproportionate number of folks who look like them in jail, and their dad is disproportionately likely to be hassled by homeowners when he goes to pick his kids up from the bus stop, and they’re likelier to get the hairy eyeball from store-owners, and so on and so forth. Economics are one piece of the sandwich, and if you’re poor, that’s a big old turd in your sandwich. But if you’re black in the US, you also get a booger in that sandwich. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-whites-are-privileged-and-thats-unfair/625928.md?page=17)