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

[fromderinside]

I have never heard of a case where a white guy .....

Well there you go. Your problem appears to be solvable. Just quit listening to your white racist friends and do little reading.

Handcuffed ultra-orthodox Jew 'who hurt six in knife rampage' rants in court, as it's revealed he vowed to stop 'abomination' gay pride parade shortly before his release from prison http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...elease-vowed-stop-gay-parade-abomination.html

Oh snap. He's jewish and he hates gays. No award coming there.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

When I'm not in my office, people assume I'm in a business meeting.

 

[Keith&Co.]

I think my favorite, though, was not that I was treated 'special' because of my race. But assumptions were made.

A new instructor in the C-3 office was going on and on about how he didn't 'mind' black people but the simple fact was that they were different. Several instructors who had met my wife bit their lips and came and got me. True to form, eventually he used the phrase, "...but would you want your sister to marry one?"

I had to point out that my brother in law was black.

He stared at me for a second. Finally asked, "And how does that make you feel?"
"Well, kinda guilty. I introduced him to my sister. And they both really enjoyed going out and drinking. There were a couple of times we didn't know where they ended up sleeping that night. Some days, they didn't even quite remember where they'd ended up."
"So... You're saying they have a destructive relationship?"
"I don't know. Maybe. The whole family was worried about the two of them. They were too well matched as drinkers, partiers. They kinda reached critical mass. But in the end his job took him to a different city."
"Did they get divorced?" he asked.
"What? No. They never got married."
"Then... Then... Well, how is he your brother-in-law?"
"They met at my wedding. Hit it off real well. He got stationed in Atlanta for a while, and she lived there..."
"But," he protested, "If he didn't marry your sister, how is he your BIL?"
"I married HIS sister."


I would cheerfully give away half of my liver to have a picture of his face at that moment.

That individual quite literally did not talk to me again for 2 years. He would stand and wait in the passageway if he couldn't get past me, rather than go so far as to ask 'Excuse me.'

 

[dismal]

Being a white guy is awesome.

It's true being me is pretty awesome, but I'm not sure how much of it is from being white.

I'm constantly running into white people who don't seem all that awesome, really.

 

[Nice Squirrel]

Being a white guy is awesome.

It's true being me is pretty awesome, but I'm not sure how much of it is from being white.

I'm constantly running into white people who don't seem all that awesome, really.

But they don't need to take such efforts to be awesome that non-white people have to.

 

[laughing dog]

When my black friends and I would go into some stores, I was not followed around by store personnel but my friends were.

Recently, at a hotel, I lost my free drink ticket. When I asked for one, I got one no questions asked. When one of my female colleagues asked for a free ticket to replace the one she had lost, it took her 15 minutes to get one.

That is just 2 right off the top of my head.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

I don't sign the back of my credit cards (actually bank cards). A decade ago a cashier after apologizing profusely that it was policy asked to see a photo ID with my signature and continued to apologize afterward, too, about the policy. No one since has asked to see such a thing.

When I go to a store, no one watches over me like I might steal something.

Generally speaking, I am assumed to be of negligible risk by security people or others in places of business who are taking security precautions.

I don't think it's only my apparent race that plays into this but also my gender and the way I dress, have my haircut, etc. I easily fit into some kind of stereotype based on looks.

 

[KeepTalking]

Is that what you were looking for?

So what were your adult arrests for?

Original charge was possession of controlled substance. The arrest related in the second white privilege paragraph above was for bouncing a $50 check at Sears. The battery in my truck died, and I needed a new battery, the check hit the bank a day before payday, and rather than Sears calling me up to inform me that I owed them $50, they called the police. Since I was on probation for the previous offense, I got hit with a probation violation for the arrest, and was given two weeks and a day in the Brazos County Jail. The extra day was because I reported to the county jail Friday afternoon while they were processing all of the weekenders (mostly DUIs who were serving their time on weekends, and working during the week), so they didn't process me until after midnight while I sat in a holding cell for 12 hours.

 

[PyramidHead]

I got arrested once for breaking into an abandoned theme park that had been bought up by a condo developer. The whole place was in shambles except for one more modern-looking building. My brother poked his head in the door and set off a motion sensor, and the cops came. Even though we technically 'crossed the threshold' and flouted the clearly posted PRIVATE PROPERTY NO TRESPASSING sign at the gate, we didn't actually break or vandalize anything so they let us go after an hour in lockup. Thinking back on that day, I wonder if my fate would have been different if my brother and I were black kids.

Also, I never have to take any measures whatsoever to protect myself from the possibility of sexual assault. That's a real nice perk.

 

[SimpleDon]

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.

First a small point, reverse racism would be ignoring race. This is not what you described, which is just racism. If you need to describe racism that advantages white males versus racism that disadvantages others than white males then you could consider the term "inverse racism" or "inverse discrimination" but finally, even they are not strictly correct. You did convey the idea, however, so let's move on.

The only thing that is better to be in our society than a white male in a suit, is to be a rich, white male in a suit.

From my experience in the private sector I would say that the most important qualifications to be a CEO or other "C" suite officer of a major corporation they would be to be 6'-2" to 6'-4" in height, with prematurely grey to white hair, who was raised rich going to all of the right schools.

There are national differences, though. In Germany when I was there, you had to be able to talk about cars, Formula 1 and tennis. In the US it was golf and American football. I understand that now Germans have discovered golf too, possibly because it is ridiculously expensive in Germany.

 

[ronburgundy]

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.

You taught completely separate subjects that very likely have different numbers of applicants willing and minimally able to teach those subjects. That impacts offered pay. The odds are at least 50/50 that English was harder to find instructors for than math, and likely higher than that given you were in Silicon Valley.

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.
.

What % of other male "attendees" were wearing a suit at this Sander's rally? How do you distinguish between the effect of the suit by itself and the effect of your race?.
Note, I said males wearing a "suit" because what counts as a female "suit" is much fuzzier. The boundaries of professional attire is far narrower for men, and these days few men wear them outside of either very formal social occasions or when performing official professional duties. What women wear during such occasions is far more variable and far less easily distinguishable from what many women wear outside of those occasions.
IOW, from a simple objective probability standpoint, you suit was a reasonable signal that you were in fact serving a higher level professional role at the event.

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!

That doesn't sound "great" at all, but even it was related to you being white, it was being white in a context without many white people. IOW, it was being a racial minority. Not really the same as the point you are making. Also, maybe they just mistook you for a famous white person. After all, Asians can be very racist

This is the problem with anecdotes of racial injustice or privilege. They presume a particular cause in contexts where other causes are not merely possible, but extremely likely.
The fact that none of your examples are likely to be instances of white privilege doesn't mean that on average whites don't get more advantageous presumptions triggered by their race. Just that the evidence for that has to come from systematic data.

 

[Malintent]

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?).

Well, I do have a story that goes that way...

There was a guy in my college that walked with a bad limp, and a cane. I don't think he was 'faking it'. He was studying to be a professional coach... yup, you can get a degree in 'gym', go figure. I got to know this guy well enough (through suitemates that has some classes with him) and his story went like this:

He was a 'professional' car thief for many years. He was involved in a high speed car chase in a vehicle he had just stolen, when he attempted to flee from the vehicle. The cop that was chasing him accidently hit him with his car, running over his leg. He sued the state, and won several hundreds of thousands of dollars.

At least he chose to use the money to leave the life of crime and attend school. Man, I wish I could remember his name and look him up.. that was over 20 years ago.

Oh, he was white.

 

[laughing dog]

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?).

Since when is lack of knowledge evidence of anything but ignorance?

 

[ZiprHead]

Oh, he was white.

I don't believe you. That never happens if you're white.

 

[fromderinside]

Being a white guy is awesome.

It's true being me is pretty awesome, but I'm not sure how much of it is from being white.

I'm constantly running into white people who don't seem all that awesome, really.

I know what you're saying.

My step brother is a bit less than awesome and his partner in an outright racist. Unfortunately for her she married into a family with three transracial marriages.

Boy is it fun to watch them them freeze up when we all get together. For the record its Black (Houston) white, Asian (Myramar) white, Mexican (seventy five percent Aztec descendant) and white. To top it off another went out and brought an Italian over and yet another married into a Jewish immigrant family from Belarus. All the whites are Dane-Swede and Italian descendants.

We have great times. White sheets, UN, stifled slurs, and the fundies among us praising the lard and singing about how they owe their wealth to following Jesus.

Never a Thanksgiving where there isn't a Turkey leg throw.

My favorite, though, is to watch our granddaughter Jasmine, a Buddhist, go on about love and Jesus with them putting in all those nice little eastern antecedents to His teachings.

Its like frying eggs on a hot sidewalk. Just put them together crack them and shit get fried.

 

[Toni]

You taught completely separate subjects that very likely have different numbers of applicants willing and minimally able to teach those subjects. That impacts offered pay. The odds are at least 50/50 that English was harder to find instructors for than math, and likely higher than that given you were in Silicon Valley.

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.
.

What % of other male "attendees" were wearing a suit at this Sander's rally? How do you distinguish between the effect of the suit by itself and the effect of your race?.
Note, I said males wearing a "suit" because what counts as a female "suit" is much fuzzier. The boundaries of professional attire is far narrower for men, and these days few men wear them outside of either very formal social occasions or when performing official professional duties. What women wear during such occasions is far more variable and far less easily distinguishable from what many women wear outside of those occasions.
IOW, from a simple objective probability standpoint, you suit was a reasonable signal that you were in fact serving a higher level professional role at the event.

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!

That doesn't sound "great" at all, but even it was related to you being white, it was being white in a context without many white people. IOW, it was being a racial minority. Not really the same as the point you are making. Also, maybe they just mistook you for a famous white person. After all, Asians can be very racist

This is the problem with anecdotes of racial injustice or privilege. They presume a particular cause in contexts where other causes are not merely possible, but extremely likely.
The fact that none of your examples are likely to be instances of white privilege doesn't mean that on average whites don't get more advantageous presumptions triggered by their race. Just that the evidence for that has to come from systematic data.

Psychology is not a subject area covered by the SAT.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAT_Subject_Tests

I've lived a lot of places but nowhere it was difficult to find an English major. Math majors? Not so much. Since math was the subject his Asian friend majored in, it seems like she'd be more valued.

Also, mathematics is a major area covered by the SAT I as well as SAT II. Psychology is not covered at all. You would think there would be close to ZERO market for psychology majors teaching SAT courses. Certainly not that psychology majors would be paid more than math majors.

 

[fromderinside]

Uh, the GRE, the graduate version of, SAT has a Psychology discipline test. ...at least it did 55 years ago.

 

[ZiprHead]

Skokie pays out $875,000 in police excessive force case from 2013

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/skokie/news/ct-skr-hart-settlement-tl-1224-20151218-story.html

A white woman.

http://www.kptv.com/story/26658769/jury-awards-man-562k-in-portland-police-excessive-force-lawsuit

A white guy.

 

[Jaecp]

You taught completely separate subjects that very likely have different numbers of applicants willing and minimally able to teach those subjects. That impacts offered pay. The odds are at least 50/50 that English was harder to find instructors for than math, and likely higher than that given you were in Silicon Valley.

Amy's students were my students. You don't pick and choose which classes to take at an SAT boot camp. The application process wasn't open and I didn't have anyone else competing for my slot.

What % of other male "attendees" were wearing a suit at this Sander's rally? How do you distinguish between the effect of the suit by itself and the effect of your race?.
Note, I said males wearing a "suit" because what counts as a female "suit" is much fuzzier. The boundaries of professional attire is far narrower for men, and these days few men wear them outside of either very formal social occasions or when performing official professional duties. What women wear during such occasions is far more variable and far less easily distinguishable from what many women wear outside of those occasions.
IOW, from a simple objective probability standpoint, you suit was a reasonable signal that you were in fact serving a higher level professional role at the event.

~10% of the male population was wearing formal wear and yes, harder to say for women.

Did I forget to mention that employees on the campaign made the same mistake?

Oh, and that was all intentional. The way I dressed and groomed myself was to give the impression of legitimacy, a legitimacy that I could only do so because of the stereotypes that our society has that you just laid out!

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!

That doesn't sound "great" at all, but even it was related to you being white, it was being white in a context without many white people. IOW, it was being a racial minority. Not really the same as the point you are making. Also, maybe they just mistook you for a famous white person. After all, Asians can be very racist

This is the problem with anecdotes of racial injustice or privilege. They presume a particular cause in contexts where other causes are not merely possible, but extremely likely.
The fact that none of your examples are likely to be instances of white privilege doesn't mean that on average whites don't get more advantageous presumptions triggered by their race. Just that the evidence for that has to come from systematic data.

It would have sounded more fun, but I intentionally made all my stories short to the point of not being fun I just wanted to include it for laughs.

And there was definately racism in China too. Holy shit the anti-Japan sentiments are pretty strong still. I once saw a bar with no less than a dozen signs in various languages saying they wouldn't serve anyone Japanese. Not sure how someone from Japan would get to the Hunan province, but nobody ever explains how Sharia law is coming to Texas so I chocked it up to the same silly sentiment.

 

[Keith&Co.]

but nobody ever explains how Sharia law is coming to Texas so I chocked it up to the same silly sentiment.

Well, that makes sense.
I'm reading Kim Barker's book about being a journalist in Afghanistan. She felt at home.

Bearded guys driving around in pickup trucks loaded with guns? Just like Montana, but with different drugs.