White privilage

[mskied]

Do you think white people deserve the privilege that theyve earned? Do you think that it wasnt hard to get? Do you think that we should just give it to everyone? If so, how do you give away what youve received from your white privilege?

[Belteshazzar]

White privilege groups all white people into one big lump of socio-economic success, which ain't an accurate reflection of reality, and that is why I find the term to be kind of inherently racist in itself. I understand the point it's trying to make, but it just does it very poorly and there are so many holes in it. It would be better for the whole country if we just talked in terms of economic/social class when we are talking about those things, and not constantly attaching race to everything. Yes, race is, generally speaking, an identifiable characteristic when it comes to certain racial demographics - but not all. For example, I cannot say that the majority of white people have it better than the majority of black people, because there are so many white people that come from all walks of life. Some live in trailers, some live in crappy houses in the crappy part of town, some live a comfortable middle class life and some are wealthy. I would say there might be more widespread social/economic diversity amongst whites than blacks, but that does not equate to "White privilege."

A white person's ancestors may not have been slaves - but they may have had an economic status just as bad or worse. Some people really do come from crappy conditions.

I still believe we live in a country where, largely, employers will hire you if you are qualified and beat the competition. The black community has, generally speaking, been repressed and have had a harder time of things for various reasons. They've not always had a fair shot. I truly do sympathize with that and understand that. When I look at my own city, I see there is a stark difference in the widespreadness of lower income amongst the black side of town vs the widespreadness of lower income on the white side of town. But on the other hand, it's 2018. The civil rights movement was in the 1960's and 70's. It's just too easy to blame "white privilege." And a cop out. And the black community will always have the same problems it does now until people stop trying to blame their problems on things like "white privilege." It's like trying to blame black on black violence on cops. You can only give so many hand outs. In fact, many of the hand outs, and the way in which they've been given, have probably been part of the problem. You have politicians looking for dependency and votes from an entire demographic, and it's working out pretty well.

[mskied]

I totally agree. Im so sick of white bashing. Is it our fault that our ancestors worked so hard and got us where we are? Why am I suddenly an asshole? The real question is, whats your culture done? If your culture had succeeded as ours had, would you be trying so hard to equalize power? I wonder.... The fact is, everyone, and I mean EVERYONE- an awful lot of us white folk, have to EARN OUR WORTH.

[mskied]

Heres a little more commentary on things.

1. There is backlash that white people have won what they have through war. Well, the natives of this land fought over land and resources too, it just so happens that someone from another land came and did what they were already doing to each other. This doesnt justify war, but it should end that objection. We do live in an age that is more conscious of the injustice of war.

2. People of all races and cultures treat members of that race and culture differently. End of story. All peopl need to participate in this, not just white people. We will see if they do.

3. In this land of effort and reward, the way our very system of resource harvesting is managed, the truth is that people earn their privileges. If you dont want to work for it, you dont have to - we let people like that float. If you want the 5 bedroom house and the corvette, you arent going to get it by protesting that someone earned these things and it should be given to you. The same goes for other smaller things. We will always struggle with fairness in rights, and any given culture that has had its members prove the worth of that culture will naturally inherit a biased view as a whole. End point: Do something great and your people benefit. If you want to change this you have to change our democracy and capitalism, and stop playing within cultural borders, and work hard to earn something great for yourself in the meantime. Good luck chuck