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YoungDemCA

(5,714 posts)
Wed Jan 9, 2013, 02:05 PM Jan 2013

There's no such thing as privilege....

My great-grandfather was a straight white male, who was a dirt poor Kansas farmer, and he was never rich, and he worked with his hands, in horrible conditions no less!

Therefore, obviously white privilege, male privilege, and straight privilege don't exist! Yes, it's that simple! The experiences and research and stories of literally millions of millions of people, or countless little factoids, like how two families of the same income level-one white and one black-the white family will, on average, have 20 times the accumulated family wealth of the black family,or the fact that men, to this day, get paid more for women for the same work, or the whole history of racism in the creation of American suburbia, or...etc.


No, my individual anecdotes and personal story somehow refute decades of research, or those facts pointed out above (and many others), or the reality that many millions of Americans live with and experience every, single day.


......................





But seriously...this is the kind of "logic" that a lot of people who deny that privilege exists use.



21 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
There's no such thing as privilege.... (Original Post) YoungDemCA Jan 2013 OP
Socialism is a great equalizer RobertEarl Jan 2013 #1
The problem in talking about white male privilege is that you have to personalize it to yourself el_bryanto Jan 2013 #2
No. There is no "privilege". sibelian Jan 2013 #4
i disagree fizzgig Jan 2013 #7
It couldn't be more clear in recent weeks that there is a privilege el_bryanto Jan 2013 #10
Nonsesne, peons do not count 1-Old-Man Jan 2013 #3
How many more white men have to not count? sibelian Jan 2013 #5
Farmers for one, according to your evidence 1-Old-Man Jan 2013 #11
Thanks for starting ... 99Forever Jan 2013 #6
it's happening in this thread fizzgig Jan 2013 #8
Really? 99Forever Jan 2013 #9
i'm not linking when you clearly did not even read the thread before responding fizzgig Jan 2013 #13
Hogwash. 99Forever Jan 2013 #15
then you clearly missed post number four fizzgig Jan 2013 #16
Did your.. 99Forever Jan 2013 #19
Two thoughts upaloopa Jan 2013 #12
Manifest Destiny. GeorgeGist Jan 2013 #14
Watch Mad Men for a season and get back to me. trumad Jan 2013 #17
A fictional idiot box show... 99Forever Jan 2013 #20
Yeah it is--- trumad Jan 2013 #21
But of course. 99Forever Jan 2013 #22
No such thing as being "self-made" Chathamization Jan 2013 #18
 

RobertEarl

(13,685 posts)
1. Socialism is a great equalizer
Wed Jan 9, 2013, 02:11 PM
Jan 2013

No one ever gives up power readily. That is why socialism is so hated. Socialism demands power be shared.

el_bryanto

(11,804 posts)
2. The problem in talking about white male privilege is that you have to personalize it to yourself
Wed Jan 9, 2013, 02:11 PM
Jan 2013

And that can be uncomfortable. Some people hear that and believe that it means that, as white males, they didn't really earn the things they have (nor did their Fathers or their Grandfathers). If that's how you take it, it's understandable that people reject it.

In so far as you have succeeded in life, that success is due to many factors - and if you are a white male, one of those factors is white male privilege.

Bryant

sibelian

(7,804 posts)
4. No. There is no "privilege".
Wed Jan 9, 2013, 02:26 PM
Jan 2013

It is clearer and clearer with every single post by those supporting this utterly meaningless idea that their argument for its existence consists entirely of asserting repeatedly that it exists.

It doesn't.

fizzgig

(24,146 posts)
7. i disagree
Wed Jan 9, 2013, 02:37 PM
Jan 2013

i am a white woman who benefits from privilege. i make more than my black and hispanic/latino sisters. i don't get pulled over for driving while black. clerks do not follow me in stores. i don't get frisked on the rare occasion i get pulled over.

simply being white gives you an edge, it's not a matter of being hardworking or how you live that life, but being white is often like having an ace in your hand. you're at an advantage.

el_bryanto

(11,804 posts)
10. It couldn't be more clear in recent weeks that there is a privilege
Wed Jan 9, 2013, 02:44 PM
Jan 2013

It's not something that shoots you automatically to the top - but you still have a host of benefits black people and people of color don't get.

Bryant

1-Old-Man

(2,667 posts)
3. Nonsesne, peons do not count
Wed Jan 9, 2013, 02:26 PM
Jan 2013

While many whites do not enjoy the privilidges that come with being white it does not for a minute mean that most do not.

99Forever

(14,524 posts)
6. Thanks for starting ...
Wed Jan 9, 2013, 02:32 PM
Jan 2013

.. another divide and conquer thread for the 1%.

Could you link us to where someone posted There's no such thing as privilege..."?

Thanks again.




99Forever

(14,524 posts)
15. Hogwash.
Wed Jan 9, 2013, 03:41 PM
Jan 2013

I read it both before and after I responded to your stupid and ridiculous claim. So, link it, fizz.


You got nothing.


99Forever

(14,524 posts)
19. Did your..
Wed Jan 9, 2013, 04:26 PM
Jan 2013

.. leg come off in that poster's hand? Or are you so hung up on this that you don't recognize when you are being played?

Funny how those of you that push this tired meme, generalize it to everyone you seem to think has it so easy. I've got news for you, I'd take being a rich, person of color, of the female gender, to being a "privileged" poor white male, every time. But then maybe that's because actually being of that demographic, has taught me some things you don't have the first fucking clue about. This crap is precisely what the 1% wants, keep us at each others throats, fighting for the scraps, while they feast.

So, congrats on helping make sure the 1% keep us ALL under their boot.

upaloopa

(11,417 posts)
12. Two thoughts
Wed Jan 9, 2013, 02:58 PM
Jan 2013

First if you are born a white male you learn early on that you get treated better than minorities.
Second, you had no choice in what race or sex you were born into.
Therefore you have no choice in how people treat you.
All you have a choice in is how you react to that treatment.
I think this makes clear that these white male privilege denial threads are a waist of time.

Chathamization

(1,638 posts)
18. No such thing as being "self-made"
Wed Jan 9, 2013, 04:15 PM
Jan 2013

That's the main issue. Anyone who's gotten anywhere in life did so because of others, or the system they were in, etc. Chances are, they also suffered in some way from some hardships. Being able to say "I understand that my victories are because of my advantages, and the things I dislike about others stem from their disadvantages or my own" is difficult.

If you're asking people to be charitable, try starting yourself. "I'm not particularly fond of Mitt Romney, but I understand that his shortcomings come from not having the advantages that I had" or something like that is a decent start.

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