An exploration of "white privilege".

a reply to: MrSensible

I'm a white guy who is currently building and installing a very expensive art piece for a very well off black family. I feel very privileged.

a reply to: MrSensible

*I have never been denied a job and wondered if it was because of the color of my skin.
*No one has ever called me a racial slur.
*I have never been questioned by a police officer, even though I did nothing wrong.

I have been denied a job and did not have to wonder if it was because I was white. I was told by the interviewer that they had to hire a black person because someone in the company had complained that there were not enough black people employed there.

I have been called honky, cracker, gringo, and a number of other names. I returned the favor. :-)

I have been questioned by police having done absolutely nothing wrong.

This isn't about statistics on minorities or white people or whatever you may be tempted to make it about.

Yes, it is. If you are going to consider the way people are treated you must include the way they behave as a contributing factor. When a CTA bus is involved in a traffic accident in Chicago security cameras always show a bunch of black people, and yes the occasional white person, jump on the bus, plop down in a seat, and start screaming, "My neck, my neck! I cant feel my legs!" You cant display untrustworthy behavior then expect to be trusted.

I know a bit about loss prevention. There are two groups to watch out for. One is young to middle age minority women, the other is little old ladies. Yup, grandma. The reason they get watched so close is that they commit the majority of the shop lifting.

And on a personal note. I have invited black people in to my home two times in my life. The two times I invited black people in to my home as friends I caught both of them stealing from me. It wasn't a matter of necessity or survival that made them do it. I was nothing more than opportunity. They didn't need a reason to steal from me, just a chance to do it.

Using my own statistics, 100%, I would be insane to not be suspicious of black people. No, it doesn't mean every black person is a thief. But it does mean I have reason to be suspicious and cautious. I still like to think most people are good. But I live near Chicago. There are entire neighborhoods where I cant go without a real and genuine risk of getting shot because I am white. That is my privilege.

Everytime I hear this white privilege stuff I always think of the SNL Eddie Murphy skit where he was a white guy for a day...

originally posted by: MrSensible
originally posted by: redhorse

I have a difficult time believing that your white "mid-low class" experience is so different from my poor working class (A.K.A. Poor White Trash) experience, but well maybe so. Carry on with your virtue signaling though.

Did it occur to you that, while you may be white, you may also suffer from a different bias based on your economic class and general demeanor?

My upbringing is white working class. I am educated (bachelors) and I am currently lower middle class. In the past though, my apparent economic class was a factor, which bolsters my point that much of the institutionalized bias that you mention has as much to do with poverty as race. However, shifting the blame onto poor folks for acting like poor folks is a form of victim blaming; you are blaming poor people and their "demeanor" for the bias that they experience, which is a very classist, narrow-minded, bigoted and profoundly hypocritical thing to do.

originally posted by: MrSensible
I am a white man in America. For a long time, I didn't understand what people meant by "White Privilege" and I really thought it was just something that was made up to make me feel bad for being white, or as a way for people to excuse their own personal failures. I grew up mid-low class, and never felt particularly privileged. This stemmed somewhat from my own personal bias, believing that "white privilege" had something to do with how much money I have.

But the term "white privilege" is a horrible misnomer. This name makes it sound as though white people are at fault for... being white. Or that they have something that they're hoarding and not sharing with the minorities. But it's as simple as this:

*I have never, for even one day in my life, felt that I was being persecuted because of the color of my skin.
*I have never been denied a job and wondered if it was because of the color of my skin.
*No one has ever called me a racial slur.
*I have never been pulled over by a police officer and thought, "#, is this guy going to shoot me?"
*I have never been questioned by a police officer, even though I did nothing wrong.
*When playing with toy guns as a child, no police officer ever shot me or anyone I know.
*When I go shopping, security officers do not automatically begin to follow me, even when I haven't done anything wrong.

This is white privilege. I did nothing special to earn the above things, they were bestowed on me at birth simply by being white. This isn't about statistics on minorities or white people or whatever you may be tempted to make it about. The above list of things should apply to ALL people in America, regardless of race, sex, or creed. Should it be a "privilege" for all these things to be true? Should I feel lucky? In my opinion, HELL NO. This is just the way it should be.

The thing is, I've experienced your first three bullet points, as a white male..

a reply to: odzeandennz

I actually agree. I've had several black roommates and friends over the years. We've gone shopping and I've seen clerks pay special attention to us because of my friend's skin color.

I don't think that's debatable. Black people (and other minority groups, ie Muslim) are singled out for extra suspicion.

Honestly, I would hate it. I feel like that play a significant impact on worldview and behavior, simply by the way other people perceive you.

That said, there happen to be statistical reasons why that's necessary right now. It has nothing to do with the majority of folk that act decent and work as hard of not harder than I do (I think a lot of them are much hardier and resilient than I am).

Nevertheless, I don't feel that simply crying racism or privilege solves the issue. I have no idea what would solve the issue, to be fair, but that isn't really my job. I dislike the way my friends (and other good people) are treated with suspicion. I equally dislike that I'm somehow supposed to be the bad guy in this.

Hopefully that wasn't a belligerent post, I meant it with good intentions

a reply to: MrSensible

We raped and pillaged our way to the top, there's no denying that.

However I'm jealous of Jaden Smith. Doesn't that show progress?

originally posted by: watchitburn
a reply to: continuousThunder

Cracker
Honkey
Fishbelly
White devil

All racial slurs against white people.

Maybe you need to get out of your bubble some.

Honkey McHonkerson
"Chad"

I`m white and some of the things on your list have happened to me.

It`s not because of the color of their skin it`s because the bad reputation their culture has earned.

It`s much the same as why people approach pit bulls differently than they do poodles.

a reply to: MrSensible

I'm so happy that minorities have a strong white man like you to help them.

Surely they couldn't do it themselves.

The very act of your noble crusade exposes a more insidious racism than any Nazi.
At least they were honest.

originally posted by: brutus61

originally posted by: continuousThunder
this is such an utterly important message that NEEDS to be understood a lot better in the coming days
and gosh i hope you are better able to deal with trolls than i am because this thread is going to be FLAMED.

white people are not automatically 'better off'. bad things still happen to white people. but the institutional bias is in their favour. the bit that really drove it home to me is that there is no such thing as a racial slur against whites, why is this not talked about more?

a billion stars if i could.

[i am, just for the record, so pale i'm practically transparent]

"there is no such thing as a racial slur against whites"

Honkey cracker Those two I have been called personally and I am sure there are many many more.

I live in a diverse urban neighborhood. My husband can't mow the lawn without someone yelling 'cracker' at him.

I have been called a "cracker-*ss b-tch" just standing in line at the neighborhood grocery store and looking in the general area of someone who didn't like me checking out the snacks they were standing near. My young child was with me.

I suspect the OP leads a strictly segregated life.

originally posted by: MotherMayEye
I have been called a "cracker-*ss b-tch"

Are you a "cracker-*ss b-tch"?

originally posted by: Krahzeef_Ukhar

originally posted by: MotherMayEye
I have been called a "cracker-*ss b-tch"

Are you a "cracker-*ss b-tch"?

Apparently some people think I am.

a reply to: MotherMayEye

Then you are.
Be a proud cracker ass bitch.

a reply to: Krahzeef_Ukhar

Proud? Honestly, I could not care less what names childish people call me.

Jesus blessed me with his future.

I treat people on how they present themselves as do most people, If someone wants to dress like an idiot, I'll treat them as such. They chose to represent themselves in that way.
Something to take into consideration when talking about discrimination.
Take a bunch of different guys and give them clean cuts and the same generic white people clothes(fitting polo and fitting jeans, no hats or bling except a watch), they'll get similar reactions. Take into consideration tattoos as well.

Here are my examples of being white not counting basic ones.

I've been slurred once for bumping shoulders, and then threatened to get the **** beat out of me by him and his brothers(random black people in the area). I was afraid, I knew not one of my twenty white "brothers" in the area would help if it escalated.

I also heard some affirmative action stuff at university. Met some minority at a party who got into the same state university with a 2.0, a 2.0. That is garbage.

a reply to: MotherMayEye

Yeah, Pride isn't the term to use in a race conversation. Poor choice of words on my part.

But if anyone calls you a cracker... You probably are one.

a reply to: continuousThunder

You're wrong. It comes down to being a productive member of society. White people just like black people who act like a thug or gangster will not get treated kindly by employers or police. Both races alike. Come to an interview barley talking english. Pants down around your ankles. Who are you going to hire? I live in a community where there are a lot of gangster wannabes of both race. They don't want jobs or privilege. They want welfare.

It's how you act imo. I have black friends and we've had this conversation. They found it hard to argue with.

originally posted by: jellyrev
I treat people on how they present themselves as do most people, If someone wants to dress like an idiot, I'll treat them as such.

This is a discussion on race, I'm a little confused.
Which race dresses like an idiot?