Douchebags - An article everyone should read :)

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Whites aren't a monolithic grouping like that, there is no real shared "white identity" or race. That is a relatively new invention. Some rich Jewish college professor from Berkeley obviously doesn't have the same life experiences as some poor Scotch-Irish from Appalachia, of course he doesn't feel the terms "white trash" and "redneck" to be offensive because it has no context to himself. Let us be reminded many whites in this country left their native lands to get away from persecution themselves, there was a fratricidal war fought in this country over the issue of slavery. I'm sure if this discussion really happened they could of found a slur that offended Professor Cohen pretty easily. The context of words are what give them power, it doesn't exist in a vacuum.

This may very well be true, but I don't think focusing on it is terribly productive, it makes people very defensive, as you're seeing, and the term 'privilege' itself is both abused by and associated with groups that many people reflexively recoil from, causing people to further react poorly to the term. I think you're doing something that I've long tried to train myself out of, letting the truth get in the way of making a persuasive argument, where a more nuanced approach might see better results. That is assuming persuasive arguing is something you desire to do, I may be completely misreading you.

That sort of makes sense, though rich white guys hardly represent white people in general, is what I am getting at. Also I am not sure I agree that only white men get to be individuals, I feel like I am an individual I have met plenty of non-white people with their own identity who are individuals, maybe not all are normal but yest it would seem there are normal people of minorities.

And I thought usually rich white males where referred to as rich white males....so how are they label free since rich, white and male are are labels? you're right I don't really get it. Also there is just the simple fact that not all rich/upper class douchebags are white, pretty sure a black person like that for example wouldn't be after being a rich 'white' man, they'd still be a rich 'black' man...now I am well aware the wealthy in this country seems to be largely white males, but its not limited to that and neither is douchebag like behavior. Seems like the article has varying points, some of which I really don't get and some that do make sense.

You can claim this is true, but you're mistaken. If you can point to where I've cast blame, please do so. When you give up looking and admit I haven't, your apologies are accepted.



Indisputable.



You may not be benefiting at someone else's expense and no one is suggesting you are. You simply don't face the same varieties of discrimination as people of minority ethnic groups are likely to. This benefits you whether you realize and accept it or not. This isn't blaming white people for their problems, it's just saying white people may not understand these problems because they've never personally experienced it, or never to the same extent.

Police are more likely to harass black people than white people, as a result some white people will try to explain black people's experience through the lens of their own contact with police, that police will 'have a justifiable reason' and be working to the 'public good'. This hasn't always been the experience black people have had though, and the history of police mistreating minorities in the US is as old as the history of the US itself. The black guy who's been stopped and frisked every week for the past 8 months will view his experience through the perspective of someone who's being harassed repeatedly despite no wrong doing, because that's what he's experienced.



I'm not sure that's true. Their treatment is likely to be similar to how other black teenage girls are treated, unless they're recognized. If they're recognized they're likely to be treated like rich/famous people are, unless the person who recognizes them wishes to blame them for whatever issues they have with their dad. If they're followed around that doesn't necessarily mean a racist motivation, teenagers of all races get that sort of treatment.



You can't ignore inequality if you wish to achieve a higher degree of equality. Pretending that pointing out inequality is hateful does yourself a great disservice.

You really need to brush up on your reading comprehension skills...

Let me SAY IT AGAIN. One of the points of the article is that 'whites' get to opt-out of the whole race thing in a way that NO OTHER GROUP CAN. (including white Jews, apparently)
...like you did in your first sentence.

Congratulations, you just discovered YOUR white privilege.

Also, they did discover a slur that offended the professor: Douchebag.

Damn, I thought that was an easy one...

It's a stupid nonsensical point, blacks share more of common identity because because they've had more a shared experience. Most blacks in this country were brought to this country as slaves. Now white people who never before were grouped up as some monolithic ethnicity before coming to this country don't, whites are in this country come from a much more diverse spectrum of background. Cubans don't like being called Mexicans, Puerto Ricans don't like being called Mexicans, Mexicans don't like being called either. They do totally have separate distinct ethnic identities, Hispanics are more times than biracial but not all are either. The same is true for Asians. I don't see how not being offended by insults that aren't relevant to you is "opting out" of this mythical white race, there are plenty of racial slurs you could throw Professor Cohen's way that would offend him and even those one's he doesn't care so much about would hurt if given proper context.

After one reads McIntosh's powerful essay, it's impossible to deny that being born with white skin in America affords people certain unearned privileges in life that people of another skin color simple are not afforded. For example:

"I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented."
"When I am told about our national heritage or about ?civilization,? I am shown that people of my color made it what it is."
"If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven?t been singled out because of my race."
"I can if I wish arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time."

If you read through the rest of the list, you can see how white people and people of color experience the world in two very different ways. BUT LISTEN: This is not said to make white people feel guilty about their privilege. It's not your fault you were born with white skin and experience these privileges. BUT, whether you realize it or not, you DO benefit from it, and it IS your fault if you don't maintain awareness of that fact.

I do understand McIntosh's essay may rub some people the wrong way. There are several points on the list that I felt spoke more to the author's status as a Middle Class person than a White Person. For example:

"If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area, which I can afford and in which I would want to live."
"I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me."
"I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed."
"If I want to, I can be pretty sure of finding a publisher for this piece on white privilege."

And there are so many more points in the essay where the word "race" could be substituted for the word "class" which would ultimately paint a very different picture. That is why I had such a hard time identifying with this essay for so long. When I first wrote about White Privilege years ago, I demanded to know why this White Woman felt that my experiences were the same as hers when no, my family most certainly could not rent housing "in an area which we could afford and want to live."
...
I, maybe more than most people, can completely understand why broke white folks get pissed when the word "Privilege" is thrown around. As a child, I was constantly discriminated against because of my poverty and those wounds still run very deep. But luckily my college education introduced me to a more nuanced concept of Privilege; the term Intersectionality. The concept of Intersectionality recognizes that people can be privileged in some ways and definitely not privileged in others. There are many different types of privilege, not just skin color privilege, that impact the way people can move through the world or are discriminated against. These are all things you are born into, not things you earned, that afford you opportunities others may not have. For example:

Citizenship - Simply being born in this country affords you certain privileges non-citizens will never access.
Class - Being born into a financially stable family can help guarantee your health, happiness, safety, education, intelligence, and future opportunities.
Sexual Orientation - By being born straight, every state in this country affords you privileges that non-straight folks have to fight the Supreme Court for.
Sex - By being born male, you can assume that you can walk through a parking garage without worrying you'll be raped and that a defense attorney will then blame it on what you were wearing.
Ability - By being born able bodied, you probably don't have to plan your life around handicap access, braille, or other special needs.
Gender - By being born cisgendered, you aren't worried that the restroom or locker room you use will invoke public outrage.
As you can see, belonging to one or more category of Privilege, especially being a Straight White Middle Class Able-Bodied Male, can be like winning a lottery you didn't even know you were playing. But this is not to imply that any form of privilege is exactly the same as another or that people lacking in one area of privilege understand what it's like to be lacking in other areas. Race discrimination is not equal to Sex Discrimination and so forth.
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I know now that I AM Privileged in many ways. I am Privileged as a natural born white citizen. I am privileged as a cis-gendered woman. I am privileged as an able-bodied person. I am privileged that my first language is also our national language, and that I was born with an intellect and ambition that pulled me out of the poverty I was otherwise destined for. I was privileged to be able to marry my way "up" by partnering with a Privileged middle-class educated male who fully expected me to earn a college degree.

There are a million ways I experience Privilege, and some that I certainly don't. But thankfully, Intersectionality allows us to examine these varying dimensions and degrees of discrimination while raising awareness of the results of multiple systems of oppression at work.

Everyone in this thread needs a good dose of truth.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nmhAJYxFT4[/youtube]

I'm not ever going to endorse the term privilege, I find it offensive and those examples it has there are rather lame too. Are those what they like to call mircoaggressions? I think I will stick to stuff that actually matters.

Whites are the majority in this country, is there something inherently wrong with that? If I move to Nigeria, could I say they're privileged to see people who look similar to themselves?

Or what about my situation where I grew up in black neighborhoods and went to black school? Was I a victim?

The academic explanation of white privilege might raise legitimate points but more times than not the ideologues use it pejoratively. Would you deny that SJWs are openly hostile to straight white men?

Ethically, that's a problem.

The truth is important.

Everyone in this thread needs a good dose of truth.

The truth is often bitter, and it's easier for people to accept it if phrased in a way they find pleasant; there's nothing unethical about that, I'm just pointing out that being abrasive isn't an effective tool of persuasion.

Then there's the social etiquette aspect; I for example, would quickly find myself running afoul of the rules here if I spoke nothing but the unvarnished truth, to say nothing of social niceties, though I choose omission rather than misstatement to avoid being too honest.

The truth is often bitter, and it's easier for people to accept it if phrased in a way they find pleasant; there's nothing unethical about that, I'm just pointing out that being abrasive isn't an effective tool of persuasion.

Then there's the social etiquette aspect; I for example, would quickly find myself running afoul of the rules here if I spoke nothing but the unvarnished truth, to say nothing of social niceties, though I choose omission rather than misstatement to avoid being too honest.

Why would you get censored for telling the truth? Does telling the uncensored "truth" involve dropping C & F bombs, or something?

They need to be discussed, not avoided, no matter how unpleasant the conversation might be.

I think you're still misunderstanding me, I'm not saying 'don't talk about "X"', I'm saying 'use a little salesmanship'. Unless you think telling poor white people that they're privileged and have it easy compared to minorities is a winning strategy, of course.