Does White Privilege Exist?

PP193448

PJ_Soul said:

PP193448 said:

brianlux said:

hedonist said:

brianlux said:

dignin said:

hedonist said:

I've seen plenty of rallies turn into riots here.

Those are the few that makes the news. Not the hundreds of other protests that don't turn violent.

True and the riots that do occur-- is anyone surprised? Racism and oppression continuing this many years after the Civil Rights Movement? I don't condone rioting or violence but really, it's no surprise some go into riot mode.

Surprised? Sometimes, I suppose. Always disappointed.

Either way, fucked up and - to me - inexcusable.

Care about your city and its citizens? Show it, don't destroy it.

Like I said, I don't condone rioting or violence. Understanding something is not the same as endorsing it.

Some people may not really like that kind of comment though. That's like saying I understand why Hitler killed thousands and thousands millions and millions of innocent People. I know that's extreme example, but rioting and violence are not excusable regardless. And it furthermore results in much less sympathy for the black lives matter movement...

? I understand why Hitler killed *ahem* ^^^ a lot of people. He was pretty open about why he did that. As Brian said, understanding something does not necessarily excuse it. But I guess you're more talking about empathy. Yeah, no empathy for Hitler. I do, however, have empathy for black protestors in America. I DO understand why they are so angry. I don't approve of violent protest, but I understand it AND I also "get" it. I think frustration is a very powerful thing, and I fully acknowledge that the extreme frustration is 100% justified. I wish that human beings didn't so often turn frustration into violence of course, but they do. What is making matters worse right now is that there is nobody leading this cause. There is MLK-type of leader guiding or influencing all these people across the country towards a goal. BLM badly needs such a leader. One who can bring focus to this protest and who believes in peaceful protest/civil disobedience and encourages it in a constructive way.

Yeah, empathy... That's the word I was looking for. But thanks for clarifying your empathy for BLM...

mace1229

dmaradona10 said:

eddiec said:

dmaradona10 said:

There is a picture I've seen recently of three black men. One is a lawyer, one is a cop, and one is in handcuffs. We have choices in this country with our lives. Racism on an individual level still exists on both sides. Governmental racism has not existed in this country for generations.

Yeah, and the lawyer, the cop and the guy in handcuffs all probably faced hurdles that white men don't have to deal with. Nobody is saying if black people work hard they won't succeed.
The NFL really demonstrates this issue perfectly. Although the majority of players are black there are barely any black coaches. You think it's an even playing field when trying to get a head coach job? In college football it's even worse.

What hurdles do black people face that other poor groups do not? The NFL already has requirements for interviewing diverse people for a coaching position. The NFL chooses who they feel is the right individual for the job. You expect them to just choose coaches based on race?

Why don't we apply that same diverse requirements to the NFL players. If blacks make up 20% of the population, then shouldn't only 20% of NFL be black. Lets apply it to the NBA too.

dmaradona10

No

eddiec said:

dmaradona10 said:

eddiec said:

dmaradona10 said:

There is a picture I've seen recently of three black men. One is a lawyer, one is a cop, and one is in handcuffs. We have choices in this country with our lives. Racism on an individual level still exists on both sides. Governmental racism has not existed in this country for generations.

Yeah, and the lawyer, the cop and the guy in handcuffs all probably faced hurdles that white men don't have to deal with. Nobody is saying if black people work hard they won't succeed.
The NFL really demonstrates this issue perfectly. Although the majority of players are black there are barely any black coaches. You think it's an even playing field when trying to get a head coach job? In college football it's even worse.

What hurdles do black people face that other poor groups do not? The NFL already has requirements for interviewing diverse people for a coaching position. The NFL chooses who they feel is the right individual for the job. You expect them to just choose coaches based on race?

But by that logic one would have to assume that black coaches can't do the same job as white coaches, hence the disparity.

The disparity is that people think black people can't do the job? That's just ridiculous. The NFL obviously chooses the best person for the job and who will have the best chance of having their team win more games then anyone else. If they think a black coach will be better at the job, then they choose that person.

rgambs

Yes

The NFL is not a good analogy, symbol, representation, or metaphor for anything other than the NFL.
This avenue of discussion seems pointless.

eddiec

Yes

dmaradona10 said:

eddiec said:

dmaradona10 said:

eddiec said:

dmaradona10 said:

There is a picture I've seen recently of three black men. One is a lawyer, one is a cop, and one is in handcuffs. We have choices in this country with our lives. Racism on an individual level still exists on both sides. Governmental racism has not existed in this country for generations.

Yeah, and the lawyer, the cop and the guy in handcuffs all probably faced hurdles that white men don't have to deal with. Nobody is saying if black people work hard they won't succeed.
The NFL really demonstrates this issue perfectly. Although the majority of players are black there are barely any black coaches. You think it's an even playing field when trying to get a head coach job? In college football it's even worse.

What hurdles do black people face that other poor groups do not? The NFL already has requirements for interviewing diverse people for a coaching position. The NFL chooses who they feel is the right individual for the job. You expect them to just choose coaches based on race?

But by that logic one would have to assume that black coaches can't do the same job as white coaches, hence the disparity.

The disparity is that people think black people can't do the job? That's just ridiculous. The NFL obviously chooses the best person for the job and who will have the best chance of having their team win more games then anyone else. If they think a black coach will be better at the job, then they choose that person.

When a white guy gets a job, people say he was the better candidate.
When a black guy gets it, white guys say it was because of affirmative action.

polaris_x

Yes

Empty Glass said:

If I may summarize...

If an African-American works hard he faced hurdles the whites never have
If an African-American breaks the law is in handcuffs, it's the white privilege that kept him down by making him jump hurdles.

If a white dude succeeds, we'll...how could the white dude fail?
If a white dude breaks the law and is in handcuffs he didn't use his privilege correctly.


Personally, I feel the term would be offensive to any African-American who works hard and becomes successful.

this is perverted ...

i correlate this discussion to global warming ... where people argue it can't be true because it's a cold day in august ...

Go Beavers

Yes

Empathy and understanding are not finite resources. They also aren't excuses, but are necessary to create change and improve our condition.

HughFreakingDillon

Yes

dmaradona10 said:

eddiec said:

dmaradona10 said:

eddiec said:

dmaradona10 said:

There is a picture I've seen recently of three black men. One is a lawyer, one is a cop, and one is in handcuffs. We have choices in this country with our lives. Racism on an individual level still exists on both sides. Governmental racism has not existed in this country for generations.

Yeah, and the lawyer, the cop and the guy in handcuffs all probably faced hurdles that white men don't have to deal with. Nobody is saying if black people work hard they won't succeed.
The NFL really demonstrates this issue perfectly. Although the majority of players are black there are barely any black coaches. You think it's an even playing field when trying to get a head coach job? In college football it's even worse.

What hurdles do black people face that other poor groups do not? The NFL already has requirements for interviewing diverse people for a coaching position. The NFL chooses who they feel is the right individual for the job. You expect them to just choose coaches based on race?

But by that logic one would have to assume that black coaches can't do the same job as white coaches, hence the disparity.

The disparity is that people think black people can't do the job? That's just ridiculous. The NFL obviously chooses the best person for the job and who will have the best chance of having their team win more games then anyone else. If they think a black coach will be better at the job, then they choose that person.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/15/sports/ncaafootball/black-college-football-coaches-see-few-opportunities.html?_r=0

from the article:

But the biggest hurdle might be that, as in many industries, those making hires in college football often draw from their existing peer groups, which tend to be relatively homogeneous.

Spunkie

I'm white. I can buy food from my ethnic background at the store. Band-Aids match my skin. These are 2 small privileges pointed out in a gender and social justice course at UBC from an essay titled, "White, male privilege".

brianlux

Yes

tish said:

I'm white. I can buy food from my ethnic background at the store. Band-Aids match my skin. These are 2 small privileges pointed out in a gender and social justice course at UBC from an essay titled, "White, male privilege".

Little things some of us overlook- interesting. Any others you learned about?

JWPearl

No

In australia there is no white privilege but black privilege instead, well the native blacks here anyway, and its because they get treated with mercy because of mal treatment of their ancestors the governments are forever apologizing about it as well..
they many free benefits like dental care, hospitalization, housing, education and if not free at least cheaper that everybody else
how do i know all this is because my dads girlfriend is part aboriginal so they tell me all this stuff and i think its unfair to the poor in general
they should be treated the same as everybody else and then there wouldnt be so many of them drinking, stealing, taking drugs, sniffing glue and raping people.. the decent ones who do work and live hard have the pressure of being used by their own relatives etc its really messy, anyhow they are nice when they are old school and have not mingled with western civilization and introduced to alcohol which screwed alot of them up but giving privileges is not what they need, they need education and discipline and better health regime..

JWPearl

No

not here

unsung

No

tish said:

I'm white. I can buy food from my ethnic background at the store. Band-Aids match my skin. These are 2 small privileges pointed out in a gender and social justice course at UBC from an essay titled, "White, male privilege".

How enlightening. How long is the course that it has to cover the two genders?

brianlux

Yes

JWPearl said:

In australia there is no white privilege but black privilege instead, well the native blacks here anyway, and its because they get treated with mercy because of mal treatment of their ancestors the governments are forever apologizing about it as well..
they many free benefits like dental care, hospitalization, housing, education and if not free at least cheaper that everybody else
how do i know all this is because my dads girlfriend is part aboriginal so they tell me all this stuff and i think its unfair to the poor in general
they should be treated the same as everybody else and then there wouldnt be so many of them drinking, stealing, taking drugs, sniffing glue and raping people.. the decent ones who do work and live hard have the pressure of being used by their own relatives etc its really messy, anyhow they are nice when they are old school and have not mingled with western civilization and introduced to alcohol which screwed alot of them up but giving privileges is not what they need, they need education and discipline and better health regime..

I would love to hear from other Australians on this. Hadn't though about the topic related to Aboriginals.

I have no doubt all is well and hunky dory with them as it is with our Native Americans.

PJ_Soul

Yes

brianlux said:

tish said:

I'm white. I can buy food from my ethnic background at the store. Band-Aids match my skin. These are 2 small privileges pointed out in a gender and social justice course at UBC from an essay titled, "White, male privilege".

Little things some of us overlook- interesting. Any others you learned about?

I assume one of the biggest and most relevant things is the lack of representation in media and the quality (or lack thereof) of what representation there is.
My goodness, there is still a BIG issue with skin tone for black people. Because the media has clearly labelled lighter skin more attractive and by FAR more commonly represented if there are any black people being represented at all, the darker black skin is the "worse" it is deemed to be by many, including amongst black people. Since light skin is presented as the ideal, darker skinned kids even sometimes get subjected to ostrasization by their peers (according to things I've seen and read).

brianlux

Yes

PJ_Soul said:

brianlux said:

tish said:

I'm white. I can buy food from my ethnic background at the store. Band-Aids match my skin. These are 2 small privileges pointed out in a gender and social justice course at UBC from an essay titled, "White, male privilege".

Little things some of us overlook- interesting. Any others you learned about?

I assume one of the biggest and most relevant things is the lack of representation in media and the quality (or lack thereof) of what representation there is.
My goodness, there is still a BIG issue with skin tone for black people. Because the media has clearly labelled lighter skin more attractive and by FAR more commonly represented if there are any black people being represented at all, the darker black skin is the "worse" it is deemed to be by many, including amongst black people. Since light skin is presented as the ideal, darker skinned kids even sometimes get subjected to ostrasization by their peers (according to things I've seen and read).

These kids would find that ridiculous and I would agree!

PJ_Soul

Yes

Yeah, it's crazy, but the white controlled media made it happen.

mace1229

tish said:

I'm white. I can buy food from my ethnic background at the store. Band-Aids match my skin. These are 2 small privileges pointed out in a gender and social justice course at UBC from an essay titled, "White, male privilege".

Really? That's what white privilege is? They overcame slavery and segregation, but those Band-Aids is just a hurdle too big for them?
The vast majority of food in the grocery store is "American." They are just as American as I am or anyone else on this forum, many of their family history traces back farther than mine in this country. But I don't think that is what you are trying to imply. Okay, so there isn't a big "African" section in the grocery store. Whens the last time you saw a big "Irish" or "German" section next to the Asian food? I really don't see how the grocery store is holding anyone back.
But what about that damn mother nature always giving us whites a sunburn and no one else! Or would it just be racist that I never see blacks being used in sunscreen ads?

Empty Glass

No

PJ_Soul said:

Yeah, it's crazy, but the white controlled media made it happen.

I imagine they don't have any programming on BET

bootlegger10

tish said:

I'm white. I can buy food from my ethnic background at the store. Band-Aids match my skin. These are 2 small privileges pointed out in a gender and social justice course at UBC from an essay titled, "White, male privilege".

You do understand that the black population in the US is 13% right?

If 87% of the population liked red pens, I would stock a lot of red pens in my store.