"You're White, And You Suck": (Have You Taken Your "White Privilege 101" Class Today?)
Trying to eliminate racism has given way to the institutionalized participation in it -- under the cover of multi-cultural hoohah.
John McWhorter writes at The Daily Beast about colleges and some of New York City's elite private schools giving "White Privilege lessons" to students. Seriously.
...Teaching them, for example, that when affluent white students talk about their expensive vacations this could be hurtful to students of color from humbler circumstances. ... White Privilege is suddenly a hot topic and cottage industries have sprung up around it.However, one can thoroughly understand how racism works and still ask just what this laser focus on "White Privilege" is meant to achieve.
"This is messy work, but these conversations are necessary," says Sandra Chapman, director of diversity and community at Little Red School House in New York City. OK--but why? Note that the answer cannot be, "So that whites will understand that they are the privileged ... etc." That makes as much sense as saying "Because!" So I'm going to dare to ask a simple question: What exactly are we trying to achieve with this particular lesson?
...I assume, for example, that the idea is not to teach white people that White Privilege means that black people are the only group of people in human history who cannot deal with obstacles and challenges. If the idea is that black people cannot solve their problems short of white people developing an exquisite sensitivity to how privileged they are, then we in the black community are being designated as disabled poster children.
...I went to a private school in the '70s with white kids happily talking about their vacations and lavish bar mitzvahs; some of them had VCRs before I even knew what one was. For what it's worth, I did not feel hurt that I didn't live on their scale. And in any case, what good would it have done to tell these white kids to not talk around black kids about their toys and trips? Wouldn't that have implied that kids like me were pathologically delicate, and wouldn't the next complaint have been that white kids were holding themselves back from the black kids, i.e. segregating themselves, ignorant of ... White Privilege?
I think he's right -- that black people are treated by the multi-culti activist world as if they are disabled poster children. I'm white and I find it insulting and feel bad for smart, talented black friends who have people wondering whether they deserve their position -- or got affirmative-actioned into it. I think I would be truly embarrassed to be treated this way if I were black -- to have everyone always walking on eggshells around me. Yeah, right. That's exactly the way to feel included.
via Old RPM Daddy
It is also idiotic to assume that all white people have "White Privilege." (and what is up with putting it in upper case?)
Not all whites were born with a silver spoon in their mouths; yet, so many liberals assume that to be the case.
I'd like to hear them start talking about "Black Privilege" for a change; blacks can do almost anything and get away with it. Of course, not all blacks play that game, in fact many do not. But, Blacks can make racist statements (and isn't calling it "White Privilege" sort of racist?) and get away with it.
In fact, most folks, except white males, can make all sorts of derogatory statements and get away with it - something my "white privilege" doesn't allow me to.
Many places I've worked some women make some very anti-male comments and nobody in charge says boo. Yet, if a man made similar comments he would be (and rightly so) fired.
Seriously, The last job I was at one women kept saying that "men are stupid" and nobody said anything to her. And, I'm talking about her saying it in front of and to female executives. That company even had a "Women in IT" event which exclude men! Great, excluded me from a networking event while claiming that I, the white male, have too much privilege.
charles at March 16, 2015 11:56 PM
My daughter attends a private school, so it's full of, shall we say, privileged kids. Only thing is, it's an international school so it's got kids from 58 different countries. The skin colors run the complete gamut from pasty white to dark black with everything in between.
So, is my daughter privileged because she's on the pasty white side of the scale and the darker skinned kids in the same school, with similar parental income, not privileged?
It's pretty ridiculous.
Suzanne Lucas at March 17, 2015 12:12 AM
White privilege and class privilege are two different things. The assumption is if you take two people who are otherwise equal, being white gives you an edge in daily life. Less likely to get pulled over, easier to get a cab, that sort of thing.
That said I hate these discussions. Most of the time it ends up sounding like white rich people bragging about how good they have it.
NicoleK at March 17, 2015 1:18 AM
NicoleK gets it.
Anyways these studies are pointless because you can't talk about other privileges. Like no way a regular looking short white guy is going to have the same advantages as a super hot tall black guy. And all men of all races can go fuck themselves because they will never get close to ever experiencing the supernova that is being a super hot young woman of any race at the peak of her fertility. You can't ever discuss that because it will be turned around as the sexual exploitation of women by the patriarchy. But I would really like to.
Ppen at March 17, 2015 2:01 AM
If I were in college, I wouldn't take it. I'd sue the school for trying to make me.
Patrick at March 17, 2015 2:59 AM
I'm amused. I grew up "working class", and several years on unemployment when the print shop my father worked for shut down.
I was the first member of my extended family to attend, much less graduate college. Which I paid for myself, by working summers, and signing up for ROTC.
Over the past 30 years, I've boot-strapped myself up to a pretty comfortable life. . . but none of it was via "privilege".
Unless, of course, you could discipline and hard work as "privilege". . .
Keith Glass at March 17, 2015 7:28 AM
I've got a friend who has argued in support of the existence of WP many times, and loves using the line- "the first symptom of white privilege is denying it exists."
He types this working at his Daddy's law firm in Tiburon.
I'm just curious as to what the point is. To raise awareness? What a joke. True hard-core intrinsic racism is virtually dead in this country. All these delicate flowers are doing is trying to make a new generation smell the corpse.
Logan at March 17, 2015 7:45 AM
Did anyone see the headline today that the CEO of Starbucks is going to encourage barista's to talk about race relations with their customers? I can't think of a better way to start the morning than an a smug over educated philosophy major implying that I am a racist*.
*I actually use a French Press to make my coffee every morning. Best way to make coffee IMO. Better than a Aeropress (Sorry Amy, I know you are a fan.)
Shtetl G at March 17, 2015 8:37 AM
The purpose is to boost guilt and redefine terms.
It boosts guilt just like those ASPCA commercials with the sad music. If you only go after people who are actually abusing animals, that's a small number and tough to prove. But if you get everyone who isn't abusing animals to feel guilty, that's a large number. And they will give you money or other stuff to alleviate the guilt. And they will continue to give until, someone else, someone they never met stops being bad.
But since they'll never know if that person stops you can milk it forever, as long as you keep reminding them that some where someone is being bad. And you are bad because you don't give more.
The redefining of terms comes in because what happens when the bad people stop being very bad and only are a little bad. People stop feeling guilty and stop giving. Since you don't have actual racism, treating people differently because of skin color. You have to redefine racism, so that it applies to the audience, and will no matter what they do.
So racist doesn't mean treating someone differently based on skin color. it now means treating them the same, or having things better than someone else.
So you are racist by just being white, and having privilege even if you don't see it. A never ending guilt stream.
Love the term "conversation" it has been redefined to be a one sided lecture where the other side isn't allowed to talk.
Joe J at March 17, 2015 8:43 AM
Too many times the discussions we have in this country about race are actually about socio-economic class.
=========================
Implying?
Conan the Grammarian at March 17, 2015 9:01 AM
No worries that it could be hurtful to students of pallor from humbler circumstances.
Conan the Grammarian at March 17, 2015 9:05 AM
"The purpose is to boost guilt and redefine terms."
Each special interest has their own Newspeak dictionary.
For instance - in this one, "privileges" are NOT EARNED. Everywhere else, they are.
Radwaste at March 17, 2015 9:05 AM
"True hard-core intrinsic racism is virtually dead in this country."
I would believe you if we didn't have so many recent immigrants. Their view of women isn't too favorable either.
Ppen at March 17, 2015 10:19 AM
Shtetl G, they walked into the Starbucks, they knew what they were getting into. I say, let 'em crash.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn0WdJx-Wkw
jerry at March 17, 2015 11:10 AM
When I was young I got a paid vacation to Parris Island, South Carolina. If you pass the physical and mental tests, you can too.
I earned my privilege, one push up at a time.
MarkD at March 17, 2015 12:59 PM
I live in a community devoid of white privilege. How did I manage this you ask? Well it's simply because there are virtually no black people where I live. Without a disadvantaged underclass of color, there is no advantaged white privilege class.
Matt at March 17, 2015 1:48 PM
"True hard-core intrinsic racism is virtually dead in this country."
I would believe you if we didn't have so many recent immigrants. Their view of women isn't too favorable either.
Posted by: Ppen at March 17, 2015 10:19 AM
I learn a lot here, and I am reminded of things I forgot I knew. Thank you.
Race privilege is still alive and well here in Pittsburgh, where redlining was practiced until very recently. Given that our public schools are still funded by real estate taxes, and black families were for generations denied the ability to get a mortgage in certain neighborhoods with good schools, it creates an educational disadvantage and also limits a family's ability to build the networks that create access to jobs. Institutionalized racism that requires conscious effort to counter.
Michelle at March 17, 2015 7:45 PM
Are there any black commenters on this blog?
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at March 17, 2015 9:06 PM
People assume a lot about me when they meet me. They assume I led a life of privilege. I'm asked if I was a cheerleader and about vacations.
My generation was the first to graduate high school. I thought cheerleaders were foreign creatures and we had 3 pairs of pants and one dress. We went on exactly 3 vacations - other breaks from school were spent working. Two vacations were camping (ages 6 and 9.) we went on one real driving vacation when I was 16. While I did not grow up in poverty, I did not grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth.
Counsellors told me that I didn't have to worry about paying for college. I didn't end up going for a long time because I didn't know how to pay for it.
Is this white privilege? Perhaps it did help me in certain ways, however I feel that it may have hurt me too. People have told me that they didn't like me when they met me. They felt that I grew up rich and had no problems and couldn't relate to them. They were surprised that "I was just a person like them" once they got to know me.
Jen at March 18, 2015 4:09 AM
"In January, [2013] Pittsburgh was designated one of the “happiest cities” in which to work. In April, it was reported that there were more U-Hauls coming here than leaving in 2012.
There are some rankings you never hear about, however, because they aren’t statistics we can be proud of. They show that tens of thousands of our region’s minority residents not only aren’t sharing in the region’s overall economic progress, they’re worse off than in almost any other major region in the country."
http://pittsburghfuture.blogspot.com/2013/05/african-americans-are-being-left-behind.html?m=1
Michelle at March 18, 2015 4:55 AM
> I'm asked if I was a cheerleader
> and about vacations.
What the Hell?
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at March 18, 2015 8:37 AM
I'm asked if I was a conductor on a choo-choo train, and about tangy sauces for pasta and fish.
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at March 18, 2015 8:50 AM
Well, I am interested in tangy sauces for pasta. It's a bit off topic but, any suggestions Crid?
Ben at March 18, 2015 10:40 AM
"I would believe you if we didn't have so many recent immigrants. Their view of women isn't too favorable either."
True dat. (Is a white guy saying "true dat" a sign of white privilege? Cultural appropriation? Gynophobia? Homophobia? Arachnophobia?) Racism is an aspect of tribalism, which is inherent to the primitive part of the human brain. One of the determining factors for a successful society is how well it overcomes the limitations of tribalism. Dirty little secret: Some cultures are better at it than others.
Cousin Dave at March 18, 2015 11:52 AM
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/03/white_privilege_was_invented_to_discourage_blacks_kids_from_trying_to_succeed.html
Conan the Grammarian at March 18, 2015 12:15 PM
RE: Starbucks.
Never bought one thing from them. I did stand in line a few years back to get a free ice coffee for a coworker who couldn't leave the office on the day they were giving out free ice coffee; but, other than that I've never been a customer.
And, now they have given me a reason to never be a paying customer. Preachy assholes.
Or maybe they are just hoping that they won't get looted in the next Ferguson? Ha, they are in for a rude surprise.
charles at March 18, 2015 5:45 PM
l alive and well here in Pittsburgh, where redlining was practiced until very recently. Given that our public schools are still funded by real estate taxes, and black families were for generations denied the ability to get a mortgage in certain neighborhoods with good schools, it creates an educational disadvantage and also limits a family's ability to build the networks that create access to jobs. Institutionalized racism that requires conscious effort to counter.
Posted by: Michelle at March 17, 2015 7:45 PM
This isnt something that is unique to black neighborhoods.
I know this pushes your emotional buttons Michelle, but I don't think the solution (the government forcing banks to make loans to unqualified borrowers) did anything to solve the problem.
A better non socialist solution is for a state to fund its schools differently, although most studies indicate almost no connection between levels of funding and educational achievement.
The most lavishly funded schools in the country are in Washington DC and their achievement levels are still in the tank.
You have to ask yourself if money isn't the issue.
Isab at March 19, 2015 8:33 AM
Money wasn't, isn't, the issue:
http://beltmag.com/the-legacy-of-redlining-in-rust-belt-cities/
Michelle at March 21, 2015 10:02 PM
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