Being a white guy is awesome. Let's tell stories about awesome things that happened purely because of our skin color!

[Jaecp]

So I've noticed in the last few years a lot of talk about "reverse racism" and the like and it seemed to me to be pretty odd because not only have I not seen anything that looks like some growing tide against white males, but that my life still benefits fantastically from assumptions other people make about me because of the color of my skin and my gender. Especially if I'm in a suit.

This last summer in San Jose I was an English teacher for an incredibly expensive SAT prep academy. My degree is in Psychology. I, somehow, got paid 2 dollars more an hour than one of my female, Asian coworkers who taught Math. Her degree was in Math. Not only was Amy more qualified than I was, but she was also a much stronger culture fit in terms of teaching style.

At two separate Bernie Sander's rally's where I volunteered at people assumed I was an employee of the campaign because I was a white guy in a suit. Politics is full of them. At the second rally, volunteer team leads even had a special button that said they were a team leader. I did not have this button. Still, over the course of the day, volunteers would come to me to get directed, ask questions, and the like. Even if I was literally standing next to multiple people who had a higher rank than I.

A fun one! In China I once got stuck for 30 minutes in front of a statue of Mao because a veritable horde of college students wanted to take photo's with me. Being white is pretty great!

I have plenty more examples of where both my gender or my skin color was super helpful, but I'll leave it at three brief examples. Share yours!

Anyway,

If you've got a story about how being white and/or male was helpful, even if you don't know for sure, feel free to share it. Please do even! (Just remember to "Cash in Your Privilege" when you have an opportunity!)

Feel free to challenge anything I've said either.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

I got pulled over for speeding and the cop just gave me a warning and didn't shoot me even once.

 

[Jaecp]

I got pulled over for speeding and the cop just gave me a warning and didn't shoot me even once.

I'm sure you've got a real one in there somewhere

 

[Metaphor]

This last summer in San Jose I was an English teacher for an incredibly expensive SAT prep academy. My degree is in Psychology. I, somehow, got paid 2 dollars more an hour than one of my female, Asian coworkers who taught Math. Her degree was in Math. Not only was Amy more qualified than I was, but she was also a much stronger culture fit in terms of teaching style.

I'm curious; what does it mean to be 'qualified' to teach at a SAT prep academy?

How was your salary decided? Was it a take it or leave it offer?

What was the wage differential between the tutors? What determined some tutors getting more than others? Did it depend on what areas you taught?

 

[whichphilosophy]

So I've noticed in the last few years a lot of talk about "reverse racism" and the like and it seemed to me to be pretty odd because not only have I not seen anything that looks like some growing tide against white males, but that my life still benefits fantastically from assumptions other people make about me because of the color of my skin and my gender. Especially if I'm in a suit.

This last summer in San Jose I was an English teacher for an incredibly expensive SAT prep academy. My degree is in Psychology. I, somehow, got paid 2 dollars more an hour than one of my female, Asian coworkers who taught Math. Her degree was in Math. Not only was Amy more qualified than I was, but she was also a much stronger culture fit in terms of teaching style.

At two separate Bernie Sander's rally's where I volunteered at people assumed I was an employee of the campaign because I was a white guy in a suit. Politics is full of them. At the second rally, volunteer team leads even had a special button that said they were a team leader. I did not have this button. Still, over the course of the day, volunteers would come to me to get directed, ask questions, and the like. Even if I was literally standing next to multiple people who had a higher rank than I.

A fun one! In China I once got stuck for 30 minutes in front of a statue of Mao because a veritable horde of college students wanted to take photo's with me. Being white is pretty great!

I have plenty more examples of where both my gender or my skin color was super helpful, but I'll leave it at three brief examples. Share yours!

Anyway,

If you've got a story about how being white and/or male was helpful, even if you don't know for sure, feel free to share it. Please do even! (Just remember to "Cash in Your Privilege" when you have an opportunity!)

Feel free to challenge anything I've said either.

Teachers at private institutions can get paid more than others depending on when they were taken on and perhaps the interviewer was impressed. Maybe Psychology is valued higher than maths.
I lived in China for some years but it's not just white people who the welcome. My Nigerian friend who is an Engineering consultant can gather a crowd of people when starting a conversation in a café or that famous American restaurant KFC.

 

[Nice Squirrel]

• I have gotten a job based upon my name alone and am always considered for management positions
• CEOs ask me advice about aspects of investments thinking I have a lick of knowledge of such things.
• I am assumed to know how to tear a car apart and put it back together (When wearing overalls.)
• I can hail a cab in St. Paul. (Impossible for most.)
• I make $20k more than my coworkers who do the same job and are better at it.
• No one has tried to start a conversation with me when reading "Black Panther" comic books about race, (like my coworker that loaned them to me).
• Police have not questioned me for being in the wrong neighborhood.
• Strangers have me watch their electronic devices when they need to leave a public area (over the black person sitting at a table next to them).
• While seen as a ladies man, I am not considered a temporary "jungle love" partner, but 1) a potential match or 2) a professional-type rake
• I just was accepted to a competitive grad school program without having to explain my race on my diversity statement.
• Nobody just walks up off the street and tries to "test out their Japanese" to me like my forth-generation Korean-American co-worker who only speaks English with a Midwest accent.
• Everybody assumes I speak English fluently.
• Apparently I also was born in the British Isles (Ireland and or Scotland) and play rugby.

 

[Jaecp]

So I've noticed in the last few years a lot of talk about "reverse racism" and the like and it seemed to me to be pretty odd because not only have I not seen anything that looks like some growing tide against white males, but that my life still benefits fantastically from assumptions other people make about me because of the color of my skin and my gender. Especially if I'm in a suit.

This last summer in San Jose I was an English teacher for an incredibly expensive SAT prep academy. My degree is in Psychology. I, somehow, got paid 2 dollars more an hour than one of my female, Asian coworkers who taught Math. Her degree was in Math. Not only was Amy more qualified than I was, but she was also a much stronger culture fit in terms of teaching style.

At two separate Bernie Sander's rally's where I volunteered at people assumed I was an employee of the campaign because I was a white guy in a suit. Politics is full of them. At the second rally, volunteer team leads even had a special button that said they were a team leader. I did not have this button. Still, over the course of the day, volunteers would come to me to get directed, ask questions, and the like. Even if I was literally standing next to multiple people who had a higher rank than I.

A fun one! In China I once got stuck for 30 minutes in front of a statue of Mao because a veritable horde of college students wanted to take photo's with me. Being white is pretty great!

I have plenty more examples of where both my gender or my skin color was super helpful, but I'll leave it at three brief examples. Share yours!

Anyway,

If you've got a story about how being white and/or male was helpful, even if you don't know for sure, feel free to share it. Please do even! (Just remember to "Cash in Your Privilege" when you have an opportunity!)

Feel free to challenge anything I've said either.

Teachers at private institutions can get paid more than others depending on when they were taken on and perhaps the interviewer was impressed. Maybe Psychology is valued higher than maths.
I lived in China for some years but it's not just white people who the welcome. My Nigerian friend who is an Engineering consultant can gather a crowd of people when starting a conversation in a café or that famous American restaurant KFC.

Both myself and Amy were brought on by the same person, I've known them for years. We were taken on at the exact same time, considering that SAT bootcamps have hiring surges in the summer and my degree was irrelevant to the job and it did not play a factor. The important part here isn't Psychology vs Math, but that Amy has a degree in the field she was teaching and I didn't. The admin staff paid her 21 dollars an hour. I was offered 23 and I didn't negotiate.

Not just white in China, no, but it was a fun one to mention

 

[Jaecp]

This last summer in San Jose I was an English teacher for an incredibly expensive SAT prep academy. My degree is in Psychology. I, somehow, got paid 2 dollars more an hour than one of my female, Asian coworkers who taught Math. Her degree was in Math. Not only was Amy more qualified than I was, but she was also a much stronger culture fit in terms of teaching style.

I'm curious; what does it mean to be 'qualified' to teach at a SAT prep academy?

How was your salary decided? Was it a take it or leave it offer?

What was the wage differential between the tutors? What determined some tutors getting more than others? Did it depend on what areas you taught?

She had a degree in the field she was teaching. I didn't. That's the important part. In every criteria, she beat me.

I was offered a certain amount, did not negotiate but could have if I had chosen to

We weren't tutors, we each had classes of 15-30 students. The area taught didn't matter, especially since STEM stuff like Math tends to command a higher salary than the Humanities, which is what I was teaching. But no, there was no bounty for teaching a different subject. There's only 3 on the SAT, after all.

As for what determined it? Who knows, but somehow the asian women with a more fitting degree teaching the harder subject got paid less than me. I didn't know anyone elses salary. I only know Amy's because I mentioned it offhand to the person who told me to apply for the job and she was livid that I was getting paid more than her sister in law for the reasons I've given

 

[Keith&Co.]

I got pulled over for speeding and the cop just gave me a warning and didn't shoot me even once.

I'm sure you've got a real one in there somewhere

Why isn't that real?

My wife got pulled over because some cop drove like an ass and she nearly got a ticket. I got pulled over for driving like an ass and didn't even get breathalyzed.

 

[Jaecp]

I'm sure you've got a real one in there somewhere

Why isn't that real?

My wife got pulled over because some cop drove like an ass and she nearly got a ticket. I got pulled over for driving like an ass and didn't even get breathalyzed.

I mean it's "real" but it's flip, you know? Most traffic stops don't end in death, even for non-white people. Your example is much much better!

 

[iolo]

Out here in the remains of civilization, it doesn't come up much!

 

[Keith&Co.]

When I was getting inducted into the military service, there's a point where they ask if you have any prior drug use.
The kid in front of me was black. He was one of the 10 black people I ever saw in Idaho before my wedding. He said 'no.'
The recruiter grilled him. "We'll find out," he insisted. "If you have any convictions, even sealed, we'll know. If you get a security clearance, they'll talk to your friends and teachers and probably find your dealer. If you pop positive on a drug test... You know some of those chemicals can stay in your body for years, right?"
Kid kept to his story, no drugs, never.

Finally he was allowed to go to the next desk. I sat down. "Ever done drugs, son?"
"No, sir."
"I'm not a sir, I work for a living," he said with a smile. THen, "Okay, take this form to the next desk."

 

[Keith&Co.]

I mean it's "real" but it's flip, you know?

Flip? It's TOM!
And he's perfectly serious. I mean, think about it.

He's never once been pulled over and thought to himself, how do I make sure this doesn't end up in a shooting? We have a whole different set of assumptions when we see those flashing lights behind us.

Like that Richard Pryor joke. He went on vacation in Africa and it was great. Because "When I heard police sirens, I relaxed. I knew they weren't coming for me."

 

[Jaecp]

I mean it's "real" but it's flip, you know?

Flip? It's TOM!
And he's perfectly serious. I mean, think about it.

He's never once been pulled over and thought to himself, how do I make sure this doesn't end up in a shooting? We have a whole different set of assumptions when we see those flashing lights behind us.

Like that Richard Pryor joke. He went on vacation in Africa and it was great. Because "When I heard police sirens, I relaxed. I knew they weren't coming for me."

Oh, no, absolutely, absolutely,

As his was the first reply and all my examples were positive things that happened to me as opposed to avoiding negatives it just felt a little flip

 

[Derec]

Well there is this Eddie Murphy documentary ...

 

[Tom Sawyer]

I got pulled over for speeding and the cop just gave me a warning and didn't shoot me even once.

I'm sure you've got a real one in there somewhere

Oh ya, always the standards. Easier to get a job, not looked at sideways when I go into a place, it's assumed that I'm nice and harmless, etc. There is a victim mentality in our society and I can understand the annoyance at not being victimized at all, since it means that I'm responsible for my own actions and can't legitimately put the blame for my mistakes and problems on the system being stacked against me, but other than that the advantages of being a white man outweigh the disadvantages by a long shot.

 

[ZiprHead]

I got pulled over for speeding and the cop just gave me a warning and didn't shoot me even once.

I'm sure your relatives wish you had been shot so they could collect a huge settlement from the city. I've heard that's how it works.

 

[KeepTalking]

When I was in High School I got caught selling joint to a black kid. The assistant principal assumed it was the black kid selling the joint to me, so I didn't get expelled, suspended, or anything. He just tried to get me to roll over on the black kid, which I refused to do, so neither one of us got in any trouble from the school, other than a warning. My mother went to church with the vice principal's secretary, though, so she ended up finding out, and I was grounded, like forever.

When the police came to arrest me at my home one time, they were kind enough to let me leave the house with them before they handcuffed me, so that my kids wouldn't see me getting arrested. Of course, my wife had to bring the kids with her to the city jail when she bailed me out an hour or two later, so it was kind of a wash.

One time, when I was given an all expense paid two week vacation to the Brazos County jail, the other four white guys in my cell block and I all banded together for protection, while the two dozen or so black guys fragmented into groups, and antagonized each other. We didn't really need it though, as we were never really threatened. One of the other white guys almost got into a fight with a black guy, but the black guy alerted the guards before it got too far because he only had a couple days left and didn't want to end up doing more time for fighting. We got our TV privileges revoked for an entire day for the near miss, and that black guy was mercilessly taunted by his peers for backing down from a fight for the rest of time he had left in jail.

Is that what you were looking for?

 

[Derec]

Is that what you were looking for?

So what were your adult arrests for?

 

[Derec]

I got pulled over for speeding and the cop just gave me a warning and didn't shoot me even once.

I'm sure your relatives wish you had been shot so they could collect a huge settlement from the city. I've heard that's how it works.

Only if you are black. I have never heard of a case where a white guy goes crazy, attacks a police cruiser with a knife, gets shot and his family is then millionaires, even if the kid is "ward of the state" (I mean shouldn't the state be collecting the settlement then?).