Privilege

[Younigue]

What we are all not taking into account is the privilege we all have: Existence privilege. Try to imagine all the things and occurrences that could exist, but don't. Very auspicious that things should be as they are.

I don't think that's being overlooked.

 

[OWR88]

My brain works better than OP.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Some sorts of "privilege" relevant to the moment might be that of being born on a wealthy square of the chess-board. Certainly, I -- too -- might have wished that someone would drop a $100 million-dollar business in my lap at the ripe old age of 24. If I had "got into trouble" for "behavioral problems," I might have found myself in a detention room at the Twin Pines Youth Ranch, or at the Chino Gladiator Academy. Others are "privileged" enough to spend their high-school years in a pricey military academy, from which they learned absolutely no discipline.

You don't need to be an ideologue to embrace Class Struggle. It just "is." To say that it "isn't" is to be blind. If Karl Marx believed that class struggle was an aspect of reality, please note that James Madison had similar ideas.

Privilege means being a major stockholder among several generations of them in an oil company, or any industry for whose product there is no practical substitute.

Privilege means getting convicted of killing someone while driving DUI, getting a slap on the wrist and an early release. Your mother might help you escape to Mexico.

But a lot of privilege is imagined. White privilege is just an assumption that the world will treat you better than those of a different complexion, based on a history of experience in which the world did indeed treat you better.

"Oh, sorry, officer! I was just holding up my cellphone and wallet! I'm unarmed!"

"So sorry to disturb you Mister White. We were looking for someone who was breaking car windows."

"I was just visiting my grandmother."

"Give your grandmother our regards, and let us know if you see anything suspicious -- here's my card."

 

[mikeymikec]

Can you give me a stat on this? Looking at a youtube video as significant evidence is stupid.

You honestly expect there to be an official, evidence-based stat when the problem being described would be something wrong with the system and b) that many of those who are victims of it (and many of those they know) would likely consider it to be an ordinary aspect of their lives.

Furthermore, who would you expect to be impartially delivering this evidence-based stat? How would they compile such evidence?

 

[Starbuck1975]

It was a privilege to serve my country

 

[ch33zw1z]

It was a privilege to serve my country

So you did it for free?

 

[ch33zw1z]

Privilege is simply when you're afforded or provided something based on certain criteria that would exclude others.

So yea, it can be many different things...

 

[Starbuck1975]

So you did it for free?

Nothing is free, although if you balance that equation, my income was below the poverty line.

This is why I find the privilege conversation so mind numbing. Privilege is all relative.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Yea, it is all relative for sure.

 

[Commodus]

A good analogy I've heard that describes privilege: it's waltzing up to the starting line for a race without realizing that your competitor had to run three miles just to get to that starting line. You think everything is equal, but people from other demographics have to fight much harder just to get to the level you take for granted.

You can't usually eliminate privilege, but you can acknowledge that you have it and show respect for groups that don't have your luxuries.

 

[Atreus21]

It's useful and easy, like all prejudice. You're guilty because of your skin color, not because you've done nothing wrong. It's an easy way out of an argument rather than debating on the merits, in that it sounds more intellectual than "Shut up."

Curiously, there's only one way to seriously atone for it: vote Democrat.

It's just another iteration of the bourgeoisie and proletariat dichotomy.

 

[zinfamous]

Dude, my ancestors came over on the Mayflower. I have every imaginable privilege that can exist for any individual modern human in the world today. Fuck all of you and get out of my way.

 

[Commodus]

It's useful and easy, like all prejudice. You're guilty because of your skin color, not because you've done nothing wrong. It's an easy way out of an argument rather than debating on the merits, in that it sounds more intellectual than "Shut up."

Curiously, there's only one way to seriously atone for it: vote Democrat.

It's just another iteration of the bourgeoisie and proletariat dichotomy.

You don't actually understand the concept of privilege, then.

It doesn't mean you're automatically guilty or excluded from the discussion. It means you come to the table with advantages other groups don't have, and which you've likely taken for granted. And frequently, refusing to acknowledge that privilege can lead to making bad assumptions ("everybody has it as good as I do") that skew your decisions.

A classic example: traffic stops. White people don't get pulled over because they're driving a car that's "too nice," or because they don't look like they belong in the neighborhood. Their greatest fear is usually a speeding ticket; black people have to worry about whether or not they'll even survive the stop (just ask Philando Castile). Pretending that this discrepancy in treatment doesn't exist is effectively endorsing discriminatory police practices.

 

[Mai72]

The privilege of being alive in an amazing country that is America.

 

[HomerJS]

white privilege
http://abcnews.go.com/US/affluenza-teen-ethan-couch-expected-released-jail/story?id=54130494

 

[sandorski]

The concept is sound and accurately portrays reality, but I think some have been over exuberant in invoking it. It's a common phenomena, over exuberance, when dealing with any injustice. In time it will take a more sober and useful form.

 

[imported_tajmahal]

Again the faulty mixing between rights and privilege.

 

[NesuD]

I just take issue with it being called a privilege to try and guilt those accused of having it when in fact it is actually a bias against those who do not. "White privilege" exempts you for example from getting pulled over for obstructed view for having that Christmas tree air freshener hanging from your mirror? Yes I actually personally know a cop who has admitted doing this. That not privilege! That is bias! That is somewhat of a simplification but it is on point. Calling a bias against a group of people a "privilege" of those not subject to the bias is just trying to guilt innocent people as a means of control.

 

[IronWing]

I just take issue with it being called a privilege to try and guilt those accused of having it when in fact it is actually a bias against those who do not. "White privilege" exempts you for example from getting pulled over for obstructed view for having that Christmas tree air freshener hanging from your mirror? Yes I actually personally know a cop who has admitted doing this. That not privilege! That is bias! That is somewhat of a simplification but it is on point. Calling a bias against a group of people a "privilege" of those not subject to the bias is just trying to guilt innocent people as a means of control.

Fair enough.

 

[Doc Savage Fan]

I find that living is a pretty awesome privilege...and everything else a bonus. Count your blessings.

 

[jackstar7]

I just take issue with it being called a privilege to try and guilt those accused of having it when in fact it is actually a bias against those who do not. "White privilege" exempts you for example from getting pulled over for obstructed view for having that Christmas tree air freshener hanging from your mirror? Yes I actually personally know a cop who has admitted doing this. That not privilege! That is bias! That is somewhat of a simplification but it is on point. Calling a bias against a group of people a "privilege" of those not subject to the bias is just trying to guilt innocent people as a means of control.

It's a way of drawing attention in the hopes of bringing about greater justice. Allowing people to be passive about it makes them complicit.

 

[interchange]

I used to not understand privilege and feel very defensive about the term. Why would I be privileged? How is it not that others are simply disadvantaged?

But I've learned more since then. Privilege isn't the relative advantage someone holds due to race, sex, etc. It's freedom from having to recognize and plan your life around that potential disadvantage. Race is such a powerful dynamic (even among people of the same race) where people of color simply have no choice but to anticipate how race intersects with everyone they interact with. To not anticipate that dynamic is to leave oneself unprepared for racism when it presents itself. And yet to anticipate that dynamic and suspect racism in every interaction undermines the ease in which a person can relate to someone where race doesn't have to play a role in their interaction. It's a trap that most white people are privileged not to have to consider in most of their interactions.

I grew up in a post-civil rights movement America where egalitarian ideals were heavily promoted and a notion of "color blindness" was promoted. In reality what happened was, despite trying hard to meet those ideals, I was given no vocabulary and freedom to talk about the obvious colored-white dynamics or conflicts within myself with safety. And so I did what most people in my position do. Signal and advocate for equality yet live my life in relative isolation. I'm glad my career has taken me to places to challenge myself. I probably wouldn't have done so if not for that.

 

[bshole]

What privilege do each of you enjoy?

So far I have:

- White privilege
- Male privilege
- CIS privilege
- Heterosexual privilege
- Upper class privilege

Seriously, is "privilege" a thing? If it is, what, if anything, should be done about it? If a person has "privilege" what duties or burdens does that entail? Should we work towards eliminating "privilege" or is "privilege" a natural and unavoidable result of a diverse population with diverse opportunities, random decision making, and blind luck?

The biggest privilege is the cognitive privilege. If you score in the top 10% on your SATs, you are almost guaranteed to be in upper middle class. Most people on this forum have that privilege and it trumps all other privileges. It explains why I am upper middle class and my brothers are lower middle class/poor.

 

[Commodus]

I used to not understand privilege and feel very defensive about the term. Why would I be privileged? How is it not that others are simply disadvantaged?

But I've learned more since then. Privilege isn't the relative advantage someone holds due to race, sex, etc. It's freedom from having to recognize and plan your life around that potential disadvantage. Race is such a powerful dynamic (even among people of the same race) where people of color simply have no choice but to anticipate how race intersects with everyone they interact with. To not anticipate that dynamic is to leave oneself unprepared for racism when it presents itself. And yet to anticipate that dynamic and suspect racism in every interaction undermines the ease in which a person can relate to someone where race doesn't have to play a role in their interaction. It's a trap that most white people are privileged not to have to consider in most of their interactions.

I grew up in a post-civil rights movement America where egalitarian ideals were heavily promoted and a notion of "color blindness" was promoted. In reality what happened was, despite trying hard to meet those ideals, I was given no vocabulary and freedom to talk about the obvious colored-white dynamics or conflicts within myself with safety. And so I did what most people in my position do. Signal and advocate for equality yet live my life in relative isolation. I'm glad my career has taken me to places to challenge myself. I probably wouldn't have done so if not for that.

That's a good way of putting it. I've heard more than a few people in the black community talking about having to teach their community how to interact with police... not because they don't know the basics, but because there's a very real fear that the cops will jail or kill them for the slightest deviance from a narrow set of "acceptable" behaviors. They have to assume the potential for excessive use of force because they will be killed for holding a cellphone, brushing an officer's arm away, or reaching for their driver's license. Privilege is not having to constantly worry about that.

 

[sandorski]

That's a good way of putting it. I've heard more than a few people in the black community talking about having to teach their community how to interact with police... not because they don't know the basics, but because there's a very real fear that the cops will jail or kill them for the slightest deviance from a narrow set of "acceptable" behaviors. They have to assume the potential for excessive use of force because they will be killed for holding a cellphone, brushing an officer's arm away, or reaching for their driver's license. Privilege is not having to constantly worry about that.

They should probably learn CPR while they're at it.