Tackling Asian Privilege
Amidst the hubris of the pope calling it quits and Miss Delaware relinquishing her sash due to porn allegations, it’s important we take a step back and discuss the elephant in the room—namely, racism. While the world collapses around us and we all complain about how hard it is to get by, people of color are forced to look up to our position and say, “I’d give the world for your problems.” This is because no matter how bad things appear to be, they are always worse when you are born without privileges.
Nobody clutches their purse to their side when an Asian walks into the elevator. If an Asian applies for a job at a bank or on the police force, he or she is welcomed with open arms. When an Asian commits a crime, people are shocked. When an Asian is appointed to the head of the Department of Energy, everyone knowingly nods their head. Asian privilege pervades every part of our day-to-day life and it’s time they joined the conversation about race.
Though they comprise less than 4.8% of the American population, they make up 8.3% of all doctors. Only 2.3% of doctors are African American, yet they’re 13% of the population. Thirty percent of African American men will go to jail, but only 1.6% of prisoners are Asian. Nobody sees the problem with that?
...
The reason for this is simple: PRIVILEGE.
Though many Asians come here with little or no money and live in rough neighborhoods, they are lifted out of this disadvantage within a generation and are soon living an upper-middle-class lifestyle. This is because in America, Asians live a disproportionately advantaged life where things are simply handed to them. Asians turn on the TV and they see George Takei driving a spaceship. When they’re told he’s a fictional character, they jump to real-life astronaut Dr. Eugene Trinh. Asians are overrepresented in science, medicine, law, finance, education, and virtually everything that generates wealth. They are drastically overrepresented in Nobel Prizes. These arrogant Orientals flaunt the racist moniker “model minority.” As a people, these Asians need to recognize they got to where they are not by the virtue of hard work but by stepping on the backs of others. I’m not saying Asians should be paying the rest of us reparations, but a simple “dùi bù qĭ” would be nice. (Thanks, Yahoo! co-founder Jerry Yang for the link!) They need to recognize that their position is innately unfair. They need to acknowledge they are lucky. And most importantly, they need to stop it right now.
http://takimag.com/article/tackling_asian_privilege_gavin_mcinnes/print
= new reply since forum marked as read
It isn't the
= : nuke :
I don't see it... To me this is more like:
Response to boston bean (Reply #2)
"Score!" 
just doesn't mean what it use to.
"A way of 'dismissing' something and not discussing it..."
Or merely pointing out relevant ideology of an author sourced-- as context allows us an even deeper glimpse into a passage, yes? 
However, I do understand that many people may yet believe Mel Gibson should also be afforded serious consideration vis-a-vis his reflections on race, discount his past, and maintain his credibility. I certainly wouldn't deny them their success and delight in finding a like-minded spirit from which to quote...
Enjoy!!! 
"Or is this an attempt to sidetrack from privilege because people deny it? "
It's simply relevant context... regardless of any projection.
Hmmmmmm, part deux-- for all its relevance.
(You make an excellent point, by the way.)
I am not saying there are no advantages to it either.
In certain ways, because of it, I didn't have to deal with some people saying...
"Isn't that too hard for you?"
Basically, there was no bar from trying to do something difficult, since they expect you to succeed any way.
Granted, it does make me feel like Dilbert here:
Al Sharpton is the Emperor of Black folks!
Still not fucking racist?
and have it carry more weight than otherwise. I don't know. But I disagree that "saying whites are privileged is no better than saying Jews are greedy, Hispanics are illegals, blacks are lazy or Asians are smart."
Really? Saying "whites are privileged" is simply stating a fact of American and European culture. "Privilege" is unearned credibility, based on who you are and what you look like, not on anything you've done or haven't done. In itself, the word carries no condemnation or moral judgment whatsoever. I don't understand why people, especially white males, get so defensive when someone points out that they have privilege. Privilege is mostly about how other people perceive you, and secondarily about how you perceive yourself in relation to other people.
BTW, I didn't realize until recently that Jews aren't considered "white," Ethiopian Jews being the obvious exception. But light-skinned Ashkenazi Jews like me (maybe you too?) were always classed as "white" and checked the "Caucasian" box on government forms if they chose to answer the racial question at all.
Of course the word "Ashkenazi" invokes an increasingly virulent stereotype all by itself. Nothing like being demonized for being a Semite and NOT being a Semite at the same time! 
it's frequently cited by avowed "race realists" and "human biodiversity" proponents (for which read: "racists"
like Steve Sailer (of racist site vdare.com) and Jared Taylor (of racist magazine "American Renaissance" .
See for instance the following:
takimag.com is often cited at the Internet’s most vile sites such as Stormfront, because they put a thin veneer of academic pretension over the racist sludge. Neo-Nazis think it makes them look smarter, because TakiMag doesn’t toss around the N-word with abandon (although Derbyshire does complain in this article that as a white man, he’s not allowed to say it).
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/40179_National_Reviews_John_Derbyshire_Publishes_Stunningly_Racist_Article_at_White_Nationalist_Site
double
Not that there really was a question ... but those applauding this sh*t have really completely show their hand
http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/1-what-does-right-wing-intellectual-racism-look-like-like-john-derbyshire/politics/2012/04/06/37681
"TakiMag.com is often cited at the Internet’s most vile sites such as Stormfront, because they put a thin veneer of academic pretension over the racist sludge. Neo-Nazis think it makes them look smarter, because TakiMag doesn’t toss around the N-word with abandon (although Derbyshire does complain in this article that as a white man, he’s not allowed to say it)."
Yet I see his stuff approvingly quoted here on the DU.
god help us if you agree with what you posted.
That's for sure.
me having a sad now
just let me know. 
Pinky: "Gee, Brain, what do you want to do tonight?"
The Brain: "The same thing we do every night, Pinky—try to take over the world!"
Muahahaha....
was replaced.
You will be very welcome as a GD host.
I'm looking forward to hosting GD again, as it's been a while
Where you make false equivalencies that this thread is just like other white privilege threads where the experiences of minorities is being discussed.
Understand?
Oh and ps you are the one who states that juries decide "whether" it's racist or not. Meaning that deference should be given to a jury and you are willing to believe yourself this post is not racist based on their vote.
Last edited Thu May 15, 2014, 10:30 AM - Edit history (1)
even though it is well-known that the Admins know who every juror is. They are just shaking in their boots.
Hey I can't do anything if Hosts aren't willing to think beyond the literal and question how they are making decisions. That would mean saying - "hey, there are a lot of posters on DU that think this post and the source is racist, a number of hosts think it's racist too. Maybe the jury got it wrong. I wonder if the Admins care if there are racist posts on their website. Maybe we should ask them."
This has implications way different from whether a gun or Pope thread should or shouldn't be locked, don't you think? If it's above your pay grade then consult the Admins.
If you are serious with this racist shit, Man, I'm disappointed in you, because either way, it is not cool. An apology and self delete is needed at this point.
I know that was a lot of work to put that together and it is much appreciated. And I'm very sorry about the hide.
Sad meanspirited rightwing garbage. If you thought this was funny or cute, you are a sad small minded, mean, little person.
"The reason for this is simple: PRIVILEGE."
Post hoc ergo prompter hoc.
it is a new low. did you rec it? Oh you did. Lovely!
Howdy bettyellen! Hope all is well!
Sad, isn't it?
Anyone? 
I wasn't exactly thrilled with the article, either, but open racism is hardly a problem on DU.....c'mon, man, get some perspective.
Isn't that the way to root out the racists. Way to go, DU.
Are you receiving PMs asking you to discuss this in private with the GD Hosts?
MY ancestorsMY ancestorsMY ancestorsMY ancestorsMY ancestors
nobody else in recent times
especially not now
no way
not like MY ancestors
offs WP360
Indeed, it's a lot tougher to go thru the system these days, in many ways, unless you're economically privileged. (although I wouldn't call the people hopping across the border "illegals". I think many here would prefer "undocumented".....no offense.)
I would hope, however, that at least some of the recently immigrated came for the American Dream of freedom, liberty, equality, and opportunity which brought MY ancestors here...and which they did find.
Yeah, me too. Me too.....documented or not.
In a few minutes, I'm going to terminate the second lengthy discussion of this OP in the host's forum, so rest assured that it has been thoroughly deliberated. And for a second time, GD hosts did not reach a consensus to lock it. Here's why, as simply as I can put it:
1) In DU3, GD hosts have one job only, and Skinner is very clear on this: to lock threads that violate the GD SOP:
Forum Hosts have one responsibility: They lock threads which they believe violate the forum's Statement of Purpose.
2) Currently, the GD SOP is:
Discuss politics, issues, and current events. No posts about Israel/Palestine, religion, guns, showbiz, or sports unless there is really big news. No conspiracy theories. No whining about DU.
That means GD hosts are authorized -- though not required -- to lock threads that discuss I/P, religion, guns, showbiz, sports, CTs, or disruptive meta, but only when a consensus of GD hosts agree that a lock is necessary. GD hosts are not authorized to act unilaterally and there are serious consequences if they do.
3) Subjects not named in the SOP are not within the purview of GD hosts and are either CS issues (handled by juries) or TOS issues (handled by admins). In this case, a jury considered the OP and, by request of the alerter, the source, and came to 2-5 decision to leave. Since the OP does not violate the GD SOP, it would be difficult to get a consensus of GD hosts to lock on other grounds, and in my experience, it hasn't been done.
If anyone would like more information on what GD hosts consider or how they arrive at decisions, please click the GD "About this Forum" button. And if anyone would like to know what happens when you alert on an OP in GD, there's a short explanation of the process in my journal. Thank you!
....................................
Note to jury: this note is for transparency purposes only and I do not claim to speak for anyone but myself, thank you.
Censorship happens every day at DU. When something off-topic is posted in a Forum or Group, it's censored by the Hosts.
if you don't think anything should ever be censored at DU, you've got no business being a Host.
Sid
1. Didn't know the whole living history of the source as I had never been there before. To be honest, still don't care as it was not relevant to the idea behind the posting. That others care so much and it freaks them all out is somewhat sad. Get over it. One post out of over 45,000 and people get all judgey like.
2. One jury, two host threads, 20 rec's and the thread is still here. If it scarred the adults around here so bad yell at your local neighborhood hosts who brought their personal fights here. Again, it is one thread out of a zillion on du. Seriously? This upsets people and motivates them to action. Probably 20 posts about missing girls in Nigeria but hey, they weren't white kids from Europe so let's just glide on by those posts. Lots of great places to have a discussion and you spent your time here whining about me. Nice. I am flattered.
3. People trying to goad me into replying: I had my say early on in this thread. Trying to bait me into replying to hide a post of mine or just get something off your chest - well , that would be allowing you to control me and my response. So I just sat back and observed. And wow is all I can say.
4. All I was trying to prove was a simple point. Talk about any race other than whites and add privilege and people suddenly get all hypocritical like on the issue. It is like they think white people are a special group, magical even. Talk about one race in one way but condemn those exact same words when using another race...I see a problem there. If you don't, maybe we should have a hundred more threads like this everyday until you do. Funny how that works.
5. Sorry about the source, never read them before, never really had a reason too. Google turns up a lot of things ya know. I have over 60k link karma on reddit, over 45k posts, and that covers a little of the surfing and reading I do. Go ahead. Judge me over it and think I am some while nazi racist over a post or two. Whatever you have to tell yourself to ignore the ideas behind some posts. But hey, I did a little digging myself once people got all up in arms. Checked out the twitter of the author. Not really a fun guy, last I saw he was interviewing someone named greenwald on fox business. I guess all such posts relating to that out to freak you out now.
6. Get out more. Have some fun. This thread turned quickly into a mess. And it wasn't me who did that. Grab a mirror. Trash thread, ignore, don't kick it (I pass by a lot of threads), bash the source like somehow that makes a lick of difference. Whatever. But if this thread was so bad you think for DU don't kick the daylights out of it.
7. For my host friends. What the hell are you doing? Two threads in hosts for about 200 posts. But let's not look at my post for a sec. You have one there with about 40 replies and a basic consensus to lock. But people are fighting that lock because a few hosts don't agree. All the damned infighting here about this post and you can't even bring yourself to from a thread that started Thursday and had more lock votes (looks like 7-2 that day) that day - it is still being debated and it is Monday AM here. If I had felt that strongly over my thread I would have locked it and dealt with it later. It ain't the end of the world if a post stands. Ignore it, move on, and for god's sake don't kick the hell out of something you personally feel is offensive to others (unless maybe you don't really feel that way and have some ulterior motive....)
8. Lastly. I don't see the value of continually replying to my own thread here. I had my say, I stand by it, and if you all see and take away from something is racism and hate based on my post I wish you would spend as much time on my other posts. But then, this being DU, I really don't see that happening. Easier to complain and flame away over some manufactured outrage - lord I wish people had this much emotion over the real issues people post about. Some folks really miss meta and some folks have went to a lot of trouble to make du more about du and how people discuss issues than intelligent commentary on issues.
Enjoy 
And if some folks hide this I won't be all upset, easier to bury things we don't like than to confront them. I'll see you all around. Oh - and for the record: I did email Skinner early on about this thread and offered to delete it if he liked. It is his site. He told me basically I own the thread and the mods don't generally delete peoples' threads. I got one email from someone asking me to. Again, nice job reaching out to people there hosts. Later.
the type of stuff you posted in your OP are the kinds of arguments and falsehoods that were used to scapegoat the Jewish people before and during the Holocaust.
it's totally ridiculous that you posted this stuff, but you know what?
it's rich that in your late coming reply, after posting racist crap, you post a "oh woe is me" because you feel you were treated unfairly.
based on what you posted, you deserved every word.
but "Asian privilege" has recently come to the forefront in California. Asians, particularly Chinese, rose up in outrage at an attempt to reverse Prop 182 and allow UC and CSU to use affirmative action in admissions. They were apparently concerned that that would mean they would no longer be overrepresented, particularly in the prestigious UC system. One of the ringleaders is even using this as a campaign issue, in a hopefully quixotic attempt to become my assemblymember. (His opponent is also Chinese, and serves as chief of staff to the termed-out incumbent.)
You do realize that way too many Asian parents beat the crap out of their kids if they don't get straight As and do not let them date until they get their doctorates. If you call that "privilege" you can have it.
really, *smh