The construct White privilege has effected every facet of our wider US culture, and within the heterogeneous group that is called white there is an intricate system of how White privilege is applied and experienced.
Depending on color (yes, white people judge other white people by color), gender, socioeconomic, cultural, religious, and educational classification, the white experience of White privilege varies immensely, and many of the commonly defined features of White privilege, such as the following, are often not all experienced by all white people.
⢠assuming that most of the people you study in history classes and textbooks will be of the same race, gender, or sexual orientation as you are
⢠assuming that your successes/failures will not be attributed to your race, or your gender
⢠assuming that if you work hard, you will get what you deserve
⢠success without other people being surprised; and without being held to a higher standard
⢠going out in public without fear of being harassed or about physical safety
⢠not have to think about your race, gender, sexual orientation, or disabilities, on a daily basisâŚ
This fact often makes it difficult for those on the fringe of white to identify with what is defined, by others, as white and the assumption that they are benefitting from White privilege in a more total way than they actually might be. For many there is intense discrimination within this group called white that is rarely discussed or dealt with. It might be less of a âwhite reflex of accusing those who point out racism of being racists,â and more of a person who feels a different set of effects of White privilege than you think they do trying to manage the experience of being lumped into a group that they may not relate to or self-identify with.
I agree with all of your comment â white people are not a monolith, and white privilege manifests itself differently as it interacts with other factors. One adjustment Iâd make, though, is to say that if white people donât self-identify with other white people, no matter what their own circumstances and those of other whites, theyâre usually doing what a lot of white people do â failing to realize how much greater their chances and general ease in life is simply because theyâre taken for âwhiteâ by others, and in many cases, remaining in the delusional state of most whites, by thinking that their being taken as âwhiteâ is not an especially noteworthy or significant factor in their lives.
Anyway, I have my doubts that your correctives actually apply all that much to the white male whiner above.
Acknowledgement of noteworthiness wasnât at issue. Part of my point was that within this spectrum of race there are people who are identified as white by some, typically by non-whites, but not by other whites, and/or are considered an inferior version of white, and so are denied many of the benefits from much of White privilege. Being in this space and not self-idenitiying with white while being forced into that category creates a tension, exclusion, an invisibility in the larger racial dynamics conversation that needs to be considered and appreciated.
No doubt, but why does that need to be appreciated in this thread? Did I miss where it has much of anything to do with what anyone in this thread has been talking about?
Are you talking about yourself, and how you feel while participating here?
Thatâs because many of those who make a fetish out of denouncing racism where none exists are indeed racist themselves. They are in fact often far more stuck up and fixated on race than people who would generally be acknowledged as racists.
Like the Puritan witch-hunters of yore, who saw the mark of Satan in everyone but themselves, these modern-day race cops see racism in every ordinary transaction between humans, but fail to see it in themselves. Yet they happily denounce âwhite malesâ as evil sexists and racists without the slightest irony of how sexist and racist it is to demonize someone based on their race and gender. Indeed, anyone who disagrees with them is automatically a âracist.â
They tend to see everything in terms of race and make assumptions about the opinions and behaviors of others based on their race, such as âblack people get it, white people donât.â The possibility that many black people might not appreciate being patronized as hypersensitive children in need of their protection completely escapes them, as does the possibility many white males might be as deluded and self-righteous as themselves.
Like all good racists, they need to feel morally and even genetically superior to others, which is why these so-called âliberalsâ can often be found denouncing white working class people as âinbredâ and âwhite trash.â Youâd be hard pressed to find many racists who would openly acknowledge theories of genetic racial superiority nowadaysâthe Bell Curve morons to the contrary.
But what other explanation can there be for liberals who denounce poor whites as âinbred?â Itâs as if they see dysfunctional behaviors among working class whites and canât understand how white people like themselves can be so dysfunctional, and have to reach for a genetic explanation. Deep down, you know these people consider themselves superior to blacks , too, but they would never admit it. It is no longer politically correct to demonize blacks so they have switched to a more socially acceptable target⌠the white male.
So yeah, when I hear someone ranting about âwhite malesâ and telling me what âwhite peopleâ and âblack peopleâ are supposed to think based on their respective races, I think âracistâ and âself-righteous supremacist.â Thatâs not a âwhite reflexâ (a racist concept in itself), it is observed and provable reality. You canât have a conversation about race without denunciations of âwhite male whinersâ flowing like piss out of drunken white dudebros at a Dave Chappelle performance.
Thatâs a new one. Congrats for lowering the Southern bar even lower. BTW, former Southerner here who recognizes a load of butthurt [yes] excuses when he hears it. Dear other Southerners: Racism is a problem everywhere, but it really is better outside the Southern/red states.
Once again, though very similar to Youâre Being Overemotional, this one has a slightly different nuance.
What youâre implying is that the Marginalised Person⢠is looking for offence where none exists.
Once again, youâre disowning your own responsibility, and this is absolutely the crux of any derailment â you just canât repeat or reinforce it often enough. No matter what, none of this is your fault â nothing you said that was hurtful, offensive, bigoted or discriminatory is really to blame here, because you said it in all innocence! After all, what reason have you ever had to examine your ingrained prejudices? Why should you start now?
So you want the Marginalised Person⢠to know this is how you feel and that you really believe the responsibility is all theirs â if they werenât looking so hard for offence, everything would be a lot more pleasant!
Youâve obviously never been to Hartford. The racial makeup of the city is 29.8% white, 38.7% African American or black, 0.6% Native American, 2.8% Asian, 0% Pacific Islander, 23.9 from other races, and 4.2% from two or more races. 43.4% of the population were Hispanic or Latino, chiefly of Puerto Rican origin. Non-Hispanic Whites were 15.8% of the population in 2010, down from 63.9% in 1970.
You put those words in quotes as if I said them. That is a lie; so you are a liar. I said having more racially diverse population leads to more incidents of hatred wherever you are. I never specified which direction the hatred occurs because it occurs in all directions.
I never said âblacksâ in that manner. Donât put your racist words in my mouth.
Your post is a fine example of someone in the north not realizing when they are being racist. Go ahead and say or do anything you like as long as you can feel superior. Right? Never mind that you need to invent a racist quote to sustain your delusions of superiority. I should thank you for exquisitely illustrating my point but I wonât.
I would say thatâs a matter of perspective which depends on who you ask and where they are from, which is a nice coincidence, given that the topic of this thread is all about perspective.
Iâll agree with that. I usually think of Maryland as Mid-Atlantic. But there are are many ways to divide it. The Mid-Atlantic region is quite different from the deep South. Growing up in the South it is common to hear âthe Northâ referred to. This isnât referring to the Northeast plus the Midwest. In this context there is no North except the states of the Union that did not secede. The North vs. the South was the Union vs. the C.S.A. So in this context the states that formed the C.S.A. are the South.
This map of Dixie illustrates the abundance of opinions in this regard.
They stopped giving people lids on their bottled drinks at music festivals here because of this - they realized that without a lid, when you throw a bottle, the liquid flies out and it becomes a much less useful projectile. I remember back before this solution was brought in, seeing some EPIC bottle throwing sessions at Edgefest and the like (late 90âs/early 00âs). A veritable SEA of waterbottles flying through the air, it was super cool to see from outside the crowd, but I would have been terrified to be a performer on stage (or somebody in that part of the crowd, for that matter)
Oh, that explains it. I was confused as hell why I wasnât allowed to bring a water bottle to a show last time I went. I assumed it was because they wanted to charge me $9 for a cup of water instead, but I guess itâs a safety issue.
