"This is not said to make white people feel guilty about their privilege."
It is exactly designed to make white people feel bad about existing, with the goal being to extract money from that guilt. There can be no other purpose for pushing the "white privilege" premise than ultimately getting money from it.
This is race based original sin. You're a sinner just for having been born white.
You won't see these concepts anywhere else. In Africa you're not going to see arguments about black privilege because when white people turn on local tv, all they see are black people. In Japan, you're not going to see discussions about Asian privilege because when white people turn on the tv in Japan, all they see are Japanese people. Ditto China, and so on and so forth.
It's an entirely fabricated concept, meant to further segregate by race, with the goal being to redistribute money using guilt. All race pandering is either about power or money.
And I'd like to point out, Univision is killing it:
So is it Hispanic privilege that Univision is very likely about to become the most popular tv network in America? It is thus, and so easily, the white privilege concept crumbles when you apply any logical inspection to it at all.
> with the goal being to extract money from that guilt. There can be no other purpose for pushing the "white privilege" premise than ultimately getting money from it.
So... if I use the term then I am by definition trying to extract money from you?
> Japan, all they see are Japanese people. Ditto China, and so on and so forth.
Many of those countries are incredibly xenophobic. They don't have a concept of (e.g.) 'Japanese Privilege' as such, because they still have a national identity centered around "Japanese people are best people" or "Japanese culture is best culture" (even if those aren't explicitly stated). Look at the way that Japan has increased border security directed at foreigners while not acknowledging that the only terrorist attacks on Japanese soil were by Japanese citizens. If you feel that there is no 'Japanese Privilege' for many things when you are in Japan, then you are just kidding yourself.
...
I'm curious what you would use to refer to the fact that as a white person you can (e.g.) go fishing without needing to worry about random people hurling racial slurs at you (to the point that people driving by will stop their car just to yell at you)[1]? Are you arguing that things like this have zero affect on a person?
Perhaps we "privileged" folk wouldn't get so incensed about the term if it weren't constantly employed as an argument-ending sledgehammer. "Check your privilege" means "shut up, you have no right to speak because of your skin/income/gender/etc".
Ironically, the concept of "privilege" is pushed the hardest by those who want to classify and subdivide the population into little bureaucratically-approved boxes, thus perpetuating the idea that we are all different from each other.
I don't see what's so difficult about the idea that we should all just personally try hard to treat everyone on their merits, without having some pestering know-it-all breathing down our necks to make sure that we're doing it in the officially-approved manner.
Edit: @freakonom (I can't reply because the thread was killed) you really, catastrophically don't get it. Your goals are laudable, but the one-sided "conversation" (really a lecture) that you want to have is counterproductive, and results in all sides becoming defensive and polarized. That's what happens when you take your eyes off the actual goal (equality of opportunity) and focus on feel-good self-aggrandizement.
> constantly employed as an argument-ending sledgehammer
Or, it could be being employed as a reminder that in our systemically biased reality many people aren't judged on their merits. If people saw this we wouldn't have to have this discussion.
I'm not going to try to untangle the nest of motives on all sides, but I find it warmly ironic that this comment tries to shut up a discussion about "privilege" by accusing it of being used to shut people up.
5 comments
[ 2.7 ms ] story [ 25.6 ms ] threadIt is exactly designed to make white people feel bad about existing, with the goal being to extract money from that guilt. There can be no other purpose for pushing the "white privilege" premise than ultimately getting money from it.
This is race based original sin. You're a sinner just for having been born white.
You won't see these concepts anywhere else. In Africa you're not going to see arguments about black privilege because when white people turn on local tv, all they see are black people. In Japan, you're not going to see discussions about Asian privilege because when white people turn on the tv in Japan, all they see are Japanese people. Ditto China, and so on and so forth.
It's an entirely fabricated concept, meant to further segregate by race, with the goal being to redistribute money using guilt. All race pandering is either about power or money.
And I'd like to point out, Univision is killing it:
http://corporate.univision.com/2014/07/univision-ranked-as-t...
So is it Hispanic privilege that Univision is very likely about to become the most popular tv network in America? It is thus, and so easily, the white privilege concept crumbles when you apply any logical inspection to it at all.
So... if I use the term then I am by definition trying to extract money from you?
> Japan, all they see are Japanese people. Ditto China, and so on and so forth.
Many of those countries are incredibly xenophobic. They don't have a concept of (e.g.) 'Japanese Privilege' as such, because they still have a national identity centered around "Japanese people are best people" or "Japanese culture is best culture" (even if those aren't explicitly stated). Look at the way that Japan has increased border security directed at foreigners while not acknowledging that the only terrorist attacks on Japanese soil were by Japanese citizens. If you feel that there is no 'Japanese Privilege' for many things when you are in Japan, then you are just kidding yourself.
...
I'm curious what you would use to refer to the fact that as a white person you can (e.g.) go fishing without needing to worry about random people hurling racial slurs at you (to the point that people driving by will stop their car just to yell at you)[1]? Are you arguing that things like this have zero affect on a person?
[1]: http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/fishing-without-fear-report-inquiry...
Ironically, the concept of "privilege" is pushed the hardest by those who want to classify and subdivide the population into little bureaucratically-approved boxes, thus perpetuating the idea that we are all different from each other.
I don't see what's so difficult about the idea that we should all just personally try hard to treat everyone on their merits, without having some pestering know-it-all breathing down our necks to make sure that we're doing it in the officially-approved manner.
Edit: @freakonom (I can't reply because the thread was killed) you really, catastrophically don't get it. Your goals are laudable, but the one-sided "conversation" (really a lecture) that you want to have is counterproductive, and results in all sides becoming defensive and polarized. That's what happens when you take your eyes off the actual goal (equality of opportunity) and focus on feel-good self-aggrandizement.
Or, it could be being employed as a reminder that in our systemically biased reality many people aren't judged on their merits. If people saw this we wouldn't have to have this discussion.
I'm not going to try to untangle the nest of motives on all sides, but I find it warmly ironic that this comment tries to shut up a discussion about "privilege" by accusing it of being used to shut people up.