# White Privilage **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 9, 2018, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-privilage/808511 "2018-02-09T14:26:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-privilage/808511/41 "2018-02-09T17:22:06Z")
> [@thatbpguy](#): > > GREAT QUESTION!!! > > My wife is a poet and writer and she wanted to hear her. I wasn’t given a choice. What was your wife’s reaction to what she supposedly said? ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-privilage/808511/42 "2018-02-09T17:22:15Z")
> [@thatbpguy](#): > > …I have been turned down flat for 2 jobs and was told straight up it is because I’m a white male… Specifically, which companies told you that? ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-privilage/808511/43 "2018-02-09T17:25:16Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Well, there is that. 😃 > > Happy wife, happy life - that’s worth the money paid. Make an ugly woman your wife is probably a safer bet. Plus it sounds better in a song (sung by some black dudes even!). ---
**Author:** ![Taber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-privilage/808511/44 "2018-02-09T17:25:50Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > White privilege is a motte and bailey argument. There is majoritarian advantage. More products are made for right handers than left hander, for gentiles than jews, and for whites than blacks. That is just the result of numbers. > However, that does not mean that white people get all the opportunity or that it is a huge advantage to live a good life. Well, I guess it’s fair that the right found their own version of dogwhistling accusations. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-privilage/808511/45 "2018-02-09T17:26:20Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > And there’s always value in listening to points of view you don’t agree with. Be nice if that sentiment was more prevalent around here… ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-privilage/808511/46 "2018-02-09T17:27:20Z")
“A couple of non white males”. What a vague turn of phrase to use. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-privilage/808511/47 "2018-02-09T17:29:58Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-privilage/808511/48 "2018-02-09T17:38:42Z")
> [@thatbpguy](#): > > My understanding is that in the highest echelons of Fortune 500 companies non whites are still not making headway, but non whites have 100% equal opportunity in education and trade work, starting businesses… I can make a case that non whites and women now have a better chance of obtaining jobs. No, they don’t. Non-whites are far less likely to have a “family fortune” to provide seed money. Non-whites and women have a less extensive “old boys network” equivalent to provide contacts and opportunities. The Weinstein bullshit demonstrates that even women with talents and drive can be exploited and denied opportunity by bigots the devalue them - bigots who would never treat men the same way. I can’t say from personal experience, but it would not surprise me if minorities can likewise find themselves deceived and exploited. > [@](#): > > I have been turned down flat for 2 jobs and was told straight up it is because I’m a white male. So I think non white males have excellent opportunity now. It’s just a matter of taking advantage of it. I’ve been turned down for a LOT more than just 2 jobs for being female - “you’re not strong enough”, “you’re too emotional”, “you’re not feminine enough”, “you’re just going to drop out of the job and have kids” (that last as recently as 3 years ago - have I mentioned I’m in my mid-50’s and menopausal? Yeah, kids, right…:rolleyes: ) There was the asshat 10 years ago who said he MIGHT give me and interview… if I got a boob job first. Men who said they’d give me a job if I gave them a blowjob, first. Have YOU ever had an interviewer demand you suck his cock to get a job? Boo-hoo-hoo - you got turned down for TWO jobs? Every woman and minority I’ve ever met has been crossed off the list for consideration for a LOT MORE than a measly two jobs. I get it - what was done to you was wrong. Outside of a certain select jobs - wet-nurse and surrogate mother come to mind - gender SHOULD be irrelevant. But sorry, your two jobs don’t hold a candle to the _dozens_ the non-white-male crowd can usually list that they didn’t get because they weren’t male or weren’t white or both. That’s what a lot of white men don’t see and don’t get - that as bruised at they feel for their handful of instances of being on the short end of the stick for the rest of us _it’s a constant and on-going phenomena_. That hurt you felt? It’s _routine_ for some other people, they get it on EVERY job hunt. When you are as outraged that everyone else is having to put up with that shit as you at having endured it merely twice then you’ll get it. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-privilage/808511/49 "2018-02-09T19:28:15Z")
> [@thatbpguy](#): > > I might also add she is married to a white guy, which made her speech all the more odd. Actually it makes your summary all the more suspect. I think you were failing to understand what you were hearing TBH. I’d really love to see a transcript or recording so we could all have an interesting discussion about what she actually said, and how things like what she said are often misperceived. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-privilage/808511/50 "2018-02-09T19:31:15Z")
> [@thatbpguy](#): > > Interesting. I would be more inclined to think names wouldn’t be a barrier for black/white. but more so for people with religious names. People in general would not be able to tell you which names are making religious references and which not. I was raised religious in Texas myself so, sure, I can spot a lot of biblical names etc. But the great, great majority of people will have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-privilage/808511/51 "2018-02-09T19:36:05Z")
All those Johns, Michaels, Adams, Sarahs, Ruths, and Marys must be so angry that people judge them for their obviously Christian names. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-privilage/808511/52 "2018-02-09T19:43:00Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > People in general would not be able to tell you which names are making religious references and which not. > > I was raised religious in Texas myself so, sure, I can spot a lot of biblical names etc. But the great, great majority of people will have no idea. There are quite a few names that originated in the bible that people name their children all the time. Sometimes it may be because it is in the bible, but most of the time, they just like the name, and wouldn’t have even known its origins. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-privilage/808511/53 "2018-02-09T20:17:19Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > Scalpers. They get you every time. That practice was invented by white settlers! ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-privilage/808511/54 "2018-02-10T00:45:16Z")
Even if you dismiss the article, note the links at the end…let me know when police bias and collusion is common on the non-white side. > **[California police worked with neo-Nazis to pursue 'anti-racist' activists,...](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/09/california-police-white-supremacists-counter-protest)** > > Officers expressed sympathy with white supremacists and sought their help to target counter-protesters after a violent 2016 rally, according to court documents ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-privilage/808511/55 "2018-02-10T04:50:07Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > Life doesn’t begin at 18, with a college application. Those 18 years are filled with racial disparities in poverty rates, school quality, and de facto segregation. Not everyone gets the same chance to develop abilities and meet standards. I dislike how threads such as this one invariably lead to everyone being forced to choose one side and deny any points being made by the other. I entirely agree that blacks are more likely than whites to suffer from poverty, police brutality, and other problems. However I don’t see any point is using the term “white privilege”, as I have never seen any evidence that white privilege exists. The roots of the problem lie in the fact that during 250 years of slavery and then another 100 years of segregation, most of America’s blacks were forcibly kept in poverty and socially cut off from the society around them, a society that was became the world’s most prosperous. By the 1960’s that had lead to a large number of blacks being forced into urban ghettos. Then official segregation was outlawed, but that in itself did not address the problems of crime, family breakdown, and police brutality that disproportionately affected blacks. 350 years of policy is not undone so easily. I’m sure that there are some people who fail to understand this, and think that “hey, the Civil Rights act was 55 years ago, what can blacks be complaining about now?” However, the fact that poverty and other problems disproportionately affect blacks does not mean that “white privilege” is a useful term. Plenty of white people suffer from poverty and police brutality too. Your Location bar says Kentucky, so you surely know it. Kentucky has many of America’s poorest counties, inhabited almost exclusively by whites. For a white person growing up in such a county, a lecture about his or her “privilege” would surely sound untrue and insulting. It would be much more useful to discuss the privileges of wealth instead, since there actually are a great many things that all wealthy people can do, but which no poor people can do. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-privilage/808511/56 "2018-02-10T05:23:05Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > 1. Democrats do a disservice to our cause by talking about it too much. _Work_ behind the scenes to level the playing field. Don’t _talk_ so much about it publicly. It just alienates white voters _whose votes we need to win._ We don’t need to pander to racists, we just gotta avoid rustling white peoples’ jimmies too much in the upcoming election, or else we get 8 years of Trump. Ah yes, the “We should avoid insulting people who aren’t going to vote for us anyway” argument. I have a bit of a hard time with trying to avoid hurting the feelings of people who just love the whole “fuck your feelings” thing. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-privilage/808511/57 "2018-02-10T05:33:37Z")
Bullshit. Michigan and Wisconsin should have been blue. Waiting for demographic shifts is not a viable strategy for the Democratic Party. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-privilage/808511/58 "2018-02-10T07:57:53Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > …What? I am pretty sure people like Mark Zuckerberg, Al Gore, Tom Hanks, Al Franken, Michael Moore, John Kerry, all the Kennedy men, Joe Biden, Bill Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Howard Dean all make well over $100k a year and are NOT all Republicans; ditto for millions of other rich white men in America. Not to mention that the median income in Santa Clara county is over $100 K, and it is heavily Democratic. Not nearly 100% white, but enough to make the claim unlikely. I suspect the claim was hyperbole. She’s an artist, not a sociologist, right? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-privilage/808511/59 "2018-02-10T08:05:36Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > However, the fact that poverty and other problems disproportionately affect blacks does not mean that “white privilege” is a useful term. Plenty of white people suffer from poverty and police brutality too. Your Location bar says Kentucky, so you surely know it. Kentucky has many of America’s poorest counties, inhabited almost exclusively by whites. For a white person growing up in such a county, a lecture about his or her “privilege” would surely sound untrue and insulting. > > It would be much more useful to discuss the privileges of wealth instead, since there actually are a great many things that all wealthy people can do, but which no poor people can do. I agree that affirmative action should be more based on wealth than race. But one problem is that whites in these places, who definitely do not have privileges, have been taught that they should be superior, and would rather vote for policies that hurt others than those that help them. There is also a definite bias to hire people who are like you - and that bias is not limited to whites. There is also the problem that if you recruit at schools with a skewed population, you get employees skewed in the same way, even if you are totally fair in hiring from that school. White privilege doesn’t necessarily come from people being evil, just being human. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-privilage/808511/60 "2018-02-10T09:37:20Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > Kentucky has many of America’s poorest counties, inhabited almost exclusively by whites. For a white person growing up in such a county, a lecture about his or her “privilege” would surely sound untrue and insulting. Imagine how much worse it would be if those areas were inhabited by minorities - like say, poor areas on the South side of Chicago. Except we can see exactly that - the recent campaign focused on those two areas. One candidate argued for training and education while the other argued for increasing historically consistent jobs. All we heard about the other area was threats to send in the Army to fix all the crime. Privilege isn’t an “I WIN!” button. It’s a step or two closer to the finish line in a race. Throw in a couple more for having a functioning family, with both parents. And a half-dozen for a safe neighborhood and solid schools. Maybe even sneak a toe forward because there’s no drug abuse in the family. Outside of race, NONE of those things are determined by the color of your skin, but there are significant correlations, much of them caused by the segregation you mentioned. Yes, someone with incredible drive, determination, and talent can overcome that deficit. But a lot of people are going to look at how far back they’re starting and just say, “Fuck it.” Privilege isn’t an accusation. It’s not to make those who have it feel guilty for the head start they received - it’s simply to help them acknowledge that extra boost they may have gotten, and to remind them their achievements don’t make them better than others who haven’t reached their level yet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-privilage/808511.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-privilage/808511.md?page=4)