General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThere'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.
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)No one ever gives up power readily. That is why socialism is so hated. Socialism demands power be shared.
el_bryanto
(11,804 posts)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)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)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)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)While many whites do not enjoy the privilidges that come with being white it does not for a minute mean that most do not.
sibelian
(7,804 posts)Again and again, the same argument: "oh, it's not YOU."
1-Old-Man
(2,667 posts)99Forever
(14,524 posts).. 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.
fizzgig
(24,146 posts)Then linking to it should VERY easy.
Go for it.
fizzgig
(24,146 posts)99Forever
(14,524 posts)I read it both before and after I responded to your stupid and ridiculous claim. So, link it, fizz.
You got nothing.
fizzgig
(24,146 posts)99Forever
(14,524 posts).. 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)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.
GeorgeGist
(25,326 posts)trumad
(41,692 posts)99Forever
(14,524 posts)... set 50 years in the past, is now considered "evidence?"
trumad
(41,692 posts)99Forever
(14,524 posts)Chathamization
(1,638 posts)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.