White Privilege

[Wirey]

But in go, black goes first.

That damn game is racist! The blacks has to Go first!

 

[Nakosis]

White privilege back in 1935...

It must be remembered that the white group of laborers, while they received a low wage, were compensated in part by a sort of public and psychological wage. They were given public deference and titles of courtesy because they were white. They were admitted freely with all classes of white people to public functions, public parks, and the best schools. The police were drawn from their ranks, and the courts, dependent on their votes, treated them with such leniency as to encourage lawlessness. Their vote selected public officials, and while this had small effect upon the economic situation, it had great effect upon their personal treatment and the deference shown them. White schoolhouses were the best in the community, and conspicuously placed, and they cost anywhere from twice to ten times as much per capita as the colored schools. The newspapers specialized on news that flattered the poor whites and almost utterly ignored the Negro except in crime and ridicule.

White privilege - Wikipedia
This is no longer the case.

I can read the Wikipedia but mostly I get from this is that white folks get to set societies norms.

As Black folks become successful, they also get to set the norms. Like rap music.

So I don't think it's skin color privilege, it's success privilege. People look up to whoever is successful and try to imitate emulate whatever the successful are doing. I think there are plenty of successful blacks to emulate this days. No need for Black folks to let a white person to set their norms unless that's what they want. My son looks up to successful rap artists and sports stars who happen to be black.

Yes successful people set societies norms. Earlier in our history, this happen to be a majority of white folks. Now it's no longer the case.

 

[Nakosis]

No such thing.

End of story.

The successful have privilege. In the past maybe skin tone it was a false measure of being successful. Skin is not an actual measure of success. Anyone can be successful, from Obama to Trump. Just not atheists. Nobody trusts atheists.

So some folks still mistakenly use skin tone as a measure of success. The actual measure of success is being successful.

 

[suncowiam]

White privileged is something I do not have.

That's why I have affirmative action.

 

[Enoch07]

The successful have privilege. In the past maybe skin tone it was a false measure of being successful. Skin is not an actual measure of success. Anyone can be successful, from Obama to Trump. Just not atheists. Nobody trusts atheists.

So some folks still mistakenly use skin tone as a measure of success. The actual measure of success is being successful.

The only color that matters is the color green. Old money provides privilege. This csn be anyone if any skin color though. Will Smith's kids are privilieged, certainly more privileged than the white crack heads kids down the street. Unlike white privilege that says the white crack head kids are still more privileged than Will Smith's.

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

That's why I have affirmative action.

Boy, that'd be great to have.

 

[Epic Beard Man]

Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person...

Wonderful article and this pretty much sums it up here:


"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."

See More:Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person...

 

[Epic Beard Man]

In short, White privilege are unearned societal benefits towards people who identify demographically as white, and I can name ten examples in the following:

1) Whiteness, or Eurocentric features are the global standard of beauty (see the craze of Japanese/Korean people getting eye widening surgical procedures).

See:http://www.medicalbag.com/body-modi...-eye-surgery-to-look-american/article/472398/

2) You are not asked to speak for the people of your ethnic demographic

3) Typically have a positive relationship with the police a fair example is this video:

4) You have the privilege of attending segregated schools of affluence even if you're poor.

5) You have the privilege of learning about your race in school

6) You have the privilege of finding books that overtly represent your race.

7) You have the privilege of seeing members of your race overrepresented on television.

8) You have the privilege of having a positive stereotype of your race globally.

9) You have the privilege in soaking in social media bias towards your race see:

10) You have the privilege of escaping violent stereotypes associated with your race.

I can list a lot more but I'm in a hurry to get ready for work.

 

[Enoch07]

In short, White privilege are unearned societal benefits towards people who identify demographically as white, and I can name ten examples in the following:

1) Whiteness, or Eurocentric features are the global standard of beauty (see the craze of Japanese/Korean people)

2) You are not asked to speak for the people of your ethnic demographic

3) Typically have a positive relationship with the police.

4) You have the privilege of attending segregated schools of affluence even if you're poor.

5) You have the privilege of learning about your race in school

6) You have the privilege of finding books that overtly represent your race.

7) You have the privilege of seeing members of your race overrepresented on television.

8) You have the privilege of having a positive stereotype of your race globally.

9) You have the privilege in soaking in social media bias towards your race see:

10) You have the privilege of escaping violent stereotypes associated with your race.

I can list a lot more but I'm in a hurry to get ready for work.

1. How is it white peoples fault that other cultures think they are beautiful? I never asked or told anyome to adore me.

2. No one does. There is a lot of lefty white folk speaking for black folk though. That is way more common and problematic.

3. Yeup that happens because when a cop tells someone to do something they do it. Or else you risk getting shot. Or Michael Brown reaching for the cops gun. Perhaps not telling the cop to go f**k himself might work out better for folks. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

4. Huh? Back before the 60's yes. But that was a long time ago.

5. Everyone does, thats what world history class is for. I have never taken a white history or black history class. Although there is a black history month. Where is Jewish history month? Asian history month? Spainish history month? There is African studies courses in college as well, odd. Why is that?

6. A flat out lie. https://www.amazon.com/african-amer...page=1&rh=n:283155,k:african american culture Amazon alone list over 7,000 books.

7. Huh? I havent seen any white only cast shows since the 60's.

8. Yes because everyone has forgotten about the KKK and Nazis.

9. Haha cause white people are better at everything? I don't see that. White folk and black folk are evenly capable of the same feats. No difference other than a bit of pigment. Look up Vitiligo for proof.

10. Again. As anyone who is white and disagees with a person of color for any reason at all, is automatically called a Nazi or Klansman, I call bullcrap.

Your list is nothing but lies and misrepresentations. Black folk are no different than, white folk are no different than brown folk. We all the same. People like you keep black and brown folk down telling them they are not as good as everyone else is just as problematic as a klansman.

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person...

Well, the broke part is applicable to me.

I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.

This is just a matter of demographics. America is 77.1% "white". There's no privilege in that. What's more, this "privilege" claim is one of the more racist ones; it assumes that just because a celebrity or politician is white that I, as a white person, share anything in common with them. That their presence on TV or in papers comforts me somehow. This could not be further from the truth.

What's more, what if I turn the channel to BET or one of several Latin channels that seem to populate hundreds of channels these days? What if - and here's the more applicable one for me - someone doesn't have cable service or a newspaper subscription?

When I am told about our national heritage or about “civilization,” I am shown that people of my color made it what it is.

People of my "color" might have founded America, but they weren't "my people". My people were enslaved to build the railroads and treated like general trash.

What's more, it's basically an archeological fact that "civilization" was founded and began in the fertile crescent. "My people" are often treated as barbarians and thugs in that timeframe of the world.

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've actually been singled out by cops because of my skin color. This, however, is the presence of racist cops and not a privilege of skin color. It is not official police policy and protocol to single out black people.

I've never been audited, but that's probably because when I file my tax returns through TurboTax I do everything properly. I also make so little from single sources, don't have a criminal record, and basically can't mess up my tax return in the slightest. Questions of what race I am or what gender I am were never asked.

I can if I wish arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.

This ones just ridiculous, especially for anyone who's ever been to a college. At my college, the Asian students flock together, and the black students even had a whole student union. But I can put myself in the company of other white people - I'm so privileged. This is also, again, a simple matter of demographics, and also just as racist as the first claim. Who's to say that I want to put myself in the company of other white people just because? It assumes that social comfort is gotten solely from skin tone, rather than shared interests.

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.

The problem being when this isn't a fact.

Whiteness, or Eurocentric features are the global standard of beauty

No they're not.
Global Beauty Standards
What each country considers female beauty.

You are not asked to speak for the people of your ethnic demographic

Really? Because I'm often expected to speak in regards to groups like the Altright and neo-nazis, and called a racist if my sentments don't agree to the letter with the Left and Antifa. Whenever some nutjob goes on a spree of violence and just happens to be white, somehow I always get lumped in with other white people as "part of the problem."

Typically have a positive relationship with the police

No, not really. I don't even look at them as they drive past. Every time they're behind me it ups my anxiety. And in fact, they're more prone to be critical of me because one of my jobs is as a delivery driver. So no, I don't have a positive relationship with the police.

You have the privilege of attending segregated schools of affluence even if you're poor.

Absolutely false. Especially if poor, "affluent schools" are so far out of reach it's ridiculous to even think of. The presence of socially upheld all-black schools also somewhat skews this notion of "white privilege" for going to rich, segregated schools. Beyond the fact that poor people aren't accepted.

You have the privilege of learning about your race in school

Not really. Should there be courses on "white history" or whatever (I can't think of an apt course term because it's not something I've ever experienced,) it'd be diluted and lacking as our society treats all white people as the same, culturally. The founding father, for example, are not "my race".

You have the privilege of finding books that overtly represent your race.

Not at all. In fact, I've had a very tough time finding books that represent my people. With three bookstores in this city, I've had no luck finding books on the Scottish (specifically), Germanic culture (it always ends up being a footnote in Nordic culture), and Italian culture outside cooking books.

Right, but I'm overtly represented.

You have the privilege of seeing members of your race overrepresented on television.

Ref: first response above.

You have the privilege of having a positive stereotype of your race globally.

No I don't. Are you f*****g kidding? I mean, I'm sorry for harsh implied language there, but the global stereotype of my people - even when you lump it all together as "white" - is not positive. Irish/Scottish are seen as perpetually drunk sheep-lovers, Germans are seen as either Nazis or overly-precise, beerstein toting liederhosen, and the Italians are (again) food and mobsters. Oh, and in America it's more often than not assumed that because I'm white I'm automatically racist. It's not positive at all.

You have the privilege in soaking in social media bias towards your race

#whitepeopleproblem
#whitepeople

And then my Facebook wall literally awash with how white people are terrible and we should all feel bad for everything of all time and beyond. Yeah, positive bias alright... Get real.

You have the privilege of escaping violent stereotypes associated with your race.

It's assumed that because I'm white I'm a racist, a Nazi, sexist, etc. It's assumed that I voted for Trump, that I am for the friggin' wall. My wife and I have even been denied twice for food stamps that we could very much use because it's assumed we're doing well enough. Right, but I'm escaping negative stereotypes about my "race".

 

[Epic Beard Man]

I put my two cents not going to respond to the both of you.. I'm stating facts, you may be an exception but not the rule continue to have blinders on. @Ragin Pagan I assume you're Irish correct? Well, If such is true they are still considered "white" under the social umbrella. So as to not show any bias my sources came from other white people....(Shrugs)

 

[Epic Beard Man]

Well, the broke part is applicable to me.


This is just a matter of demographics. America is 77.1% "white". There's no privilege in that. What's more, this "privilege" claim is one of the more racist ones; it assumes that just because a celebrity or politician is white that I, as a white person, share anything in common with them. That their presence on TV or in papers comforts me somehow. This could not be further from the truth.

What's more, what if I turn the channel to BET or one of several Latin channels that seem to populate hundreds of channels these days? What if - and here's the more applicable one for me - someone doesn't have cable service or a newspaper subscription?


People of my "color" might have founded America, but they weren't "my people". My people were enslaved to build the railroads and treated like general trash.

What's more, it's basically an archeological fact that "civilization" was founded and began in the fertile crescent. "My people" are often treated as barbarians and thugs in that timeframe of the world.


I've actually been singled out by cops because of my skin color. This, however, is the presence of racist cops and not a privilege of skin color. It is not official police policy and protocol to single out black people.

I've never been audited, but that's probably because when I file my tax returns through TurboTax I do everything properly. I also make so little from single sources, don't have a criminal record, and basically can't mess up my tax return in the slightest. Questions of what race I am or what gender I am were never asked.


This ones just ridiculous, especially for anyone who's ever been to a college. At my college, the Asian students flock together, and the black students even had a whole student union. But I can put myself in the company of other white people - I'm so privileged. This is also, again, a simple matter of demographics, and also just as racist as the first claim. Who's to say that I want to put myself in the company of other white people just because? It assumes that social comfort is gotten solely from skin tone, rather than shared interests.

The problem being when this isn't a fact.


No they're not. Global Beauty Standards, What each country considers female beauty.


Really? Because I'm often expected to speak in regards to groups like the Altright and neo-nazis, and called a racist if my sentments don't agree to the letter with the Left and Antifa. Whenever some nutjob goes on a spree of violence and just happens to be white, somehow I always get lumped in with other white people as "part of the problem."


No, not really. I don't even look at them as they drive past. Every time they're behind me it ups my anxiety. And in fact, they're more prone to be critical of me because one of my jobs is as a delivery driver. So no, I don't have a positive relationship with the police.


Absolutely false. Especially if poor, "affluent schools" are so far out of reach it's ridiculous to even think of. The presence of socially upheld all-black schools also somewhat skews this notion of "white privilege" for going to rich, segregated schools. Beyond the fact that poor people aren't accepted.


Not really. Should there be courses on "white history" or whatever (I can't think of an apt course term because it's not something I've ever experienced,) it'd be diluted and lacking as our society treats all white people as the same, culturally. The founding father, for example, are not "my race".


Not at all. In fact, I've had a very tough time finding books that represent my people. With three bookstores in this city, I've had no luck finding books on the Scottish (specifically), Germanic culture (it always ends up being a footnote in Nordic culture), and Italian culture outside cooking books.

Right, but I'm overtly represented.


Ref: first response above.


No I don't. Are you f*****g kidding? I mean, I'm sorry for harsh implied language there, but the global stereotype of my people - even when you lump it all together as "white" - is not positive. Irish/Scottish are seen as perpetually drunk sheep-lovers, Germans are seen as either Nazis or overly-precise, beerstein toting liederhosen, and the Italians are (again) food and mobsters. Oh, and in America it's more often than not assumed that because I'm white I'm automatically racist. It's not positive at all.


#whitepeopleproblem
#whitepeople

And then my Facebook wall literally awash with how white people are terrible and we should all feel bad for everything of all time and beyond. Yeah, positive bias alright... Get real.


It's assumed that because I'm white I'm a racist, a Nazi, sexist, etc. It's assumed that I voted for Trump, that I am for the friggin' wall. My wife and I have even been denied twice for food stamps that we could very much use because it's assumed we're doing well enough. Right, but I'm escaping negative stereotypes about my "race".

Again I'm not responding to all this, I stated facts you just happened to disagree using anecdotes...Anyway here are other sources regarding whiteness as the standard of beauty if you cannot open your mind to this privilege then I don't know what to tell you:

When Whiteness is the Standard of Beauty - Sociological Images

The Beauty Ideal: The Effects of European Standards of Beauty on Black Women – Columbia Social Work Review

This was an essay:Standards of Beauty in the Bluest Eye Bluest Eye Essays

Eurocentric Beauty Standards: A Global Disease

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

I stated facts you just happened to disagree using anecdotes...

If you stated facts then they would be applicable to me. But they are not, and this is a fact.

Anyway here are other sources regarding whiteness as the standard of beauty

Did you even look at the links that I provided, or are you just going to churn out blog posts?

 

[sun rise]

I was only addressing the issue of men. It's perfectly OK to bash white males and blame them for everything from toilets that don't flush to exploding pressure cookers.

male bashing - Google Search

Spoiler: Some images are somewhat risqué

male bashing - Google Search

Once when mentioned to my wife that something she was not happy I was doing was common for men. WIthout missing a beat and without reference to race said "MEN!! You're ALL inferior" which I guess is stereotypical but to me was cute and funny because of how she delivered the line.

 

[Mister Emu]

White privilege seems to fall under two categories in my experience. The first is taking large scale demographic statistics and then applying it to every individual. The second is the idea of cultural or societal norms, when mass production and mass marketing target the majority of people.

Both seem to fail tests of justice or reasonableness.

 

[sun rise]

The successful have privilege. In the past maybe skin tone it was a false measure of being successful. Skin is not an actual measure of success. Anyone can be successful, from Obama to Trump. Just not atheists. Nobody trusts atheists.

So some folks still mistakenly use skin tone as a measure of success. The actual measure of success is being successful.

I trust atheists especially compared to hypocritical so-called believers.

 

[Willamena]

Explain white privilege to me.

If there are some benefits to being white, I'd like to know what they are so I can start benefiting from them.

Yes. That is white privilege. Well done.

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

Yes. That is white privilege. Well done.

So... now not understanding is white privilege too.

It's almost like you're desperate to apply this notion, at this point.

 

[Stevicus]

Explain white privilege to me.

If there are some benefits to being white, I'd like to know what they are so I can start benefiting from them.

I think it was originally brought up as a dominant aspect of US history which puts into context the current situation and some of the policies and reforms put in place to counter the phenomenon known as "white privilege." Explaining it would be problematic, since it would entail explaining how it came into being in the first place.

The reason why a lot of people roll their eyes at the notion of "white privilege" is because it takes a very real concept and tries to summarize it in a rather abstract and esoteric way that it's misunderstood. Then, when people try to explain what it means, it gets even more muddled and confused. Ultimately, I think it's just a way of making people aware, in the hope that we can someday achieve a free and equal society where all can enjoy the same rights regardless of race, creed, color, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, or sports team affiliations.

I don't think it's really a matter of whether "white privilege" exists, since the implication is that it shouldn't exist.

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

I think it's just a way of making people aware, in the hope that we can someday achieve a free and equal society where all can enjoy the same rights regardless of race, creed, color, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability,

That's super easy to do, and you can even start right now: Just stop caring.

or sports team affiliations.

Woah now, that's a step too far!