Study Shows White Privilege Among Poor.

[Loren Pechtel]

Ug, Double negatives are difficult to follow! Are you saying that people are discriminating when they don't locate a company with jobs in a booming area vs an area that is in decline and that has lots of "minorities"? If so, that is a big reach. Please rephrase so that I can follow you......

Yup--fail to get an equal outcome and you must have been discriminating. No further evidence is needed.

That is, so long as blacks are the victims. I don't see any cries about discrimination in the NBA.

 

[Bacillus anthracis]

There's a homeless guy who's frequently near the offramp I use to get home. He's white.

It's fucking hot out here right now and the other day it looked like he fell asleep in the sun or something. His face was beet-red and he looked to be in an awful lot of pain.

What a lucky, privileged bastard.

 

[Bronzeage]

There's a homeless guy who's frequently near the offramp I use to get home. He's white.

It's fucking hot out here right now and the other day it looked like he fell asleep in the sun or something. His face was beet-red and he looked to be in an awful lot of pain.

What a lucky, privileged bastard.

It's a shame he wasted it.

It would be nice if white male privilege worked that way. Unfortunately for me and all the other white males, WMP doesn't mean you get a check in the mail on the first of the month. WMP is a real thing, but it's a delicate thing and sometimes, it's a perishable thing. It can expire or go bad in the fridge. There is nothing that says other problems can't overwhelm it and to the casual observer, it will look like there never was any.

 

[Nexus]

It's a shame he wasted it.

It would be nice if white male privilege worked that way. Unfortunately for me and all the other white males, WMP doesn't mean you get a check in the mail on the first of the month. WMP is a real thing, but it's a delicate thing and sometimes, it's a perishable thing. It can expire or go bad in the fridge. There is nothing that says other problems can't overwhelm it and to the casual observer, it will look like there never was any.

Your description sounds like people that believe in God's plan and other assorted things from imagination.

 

[Bronzeage]

It's a shame he wasted it.

It would be nice if white male privilege worked that way. Unfortunately for me and all the other white males, WMP doesn't mean you get a check in the mail on the first of the month. WMP is a real thing, but it's a delicate thing and sometimes, it's a perishable thing. It can expire or go bad in the fridge. There is nothing that says other problems can't overwhelm it and to the casual observer, it will look like there never was any.

Your description sounds like people that believe in God's plan and other assorted things from imagination.

Why do you think that? I don't believe you understood what I said.

 

[Nexus]

You made an assertion something exists yet if reality shows it not to be the case for example homeless whites you make further qualifiers as to why they don't benefit from it rather than consider maybe they never had the privilege in the first place. This is similar to people saying faith in God will help things and when it doesn't they use qualifiers like "well its wasn't strong enough" or "its all part of God's plan".

 

[Bronzeage]

You made an assertion something exists yet if reality shows it not to be the case for example homeless whites you make further qualifiers as to why they don't benefit from it rather than consider maybe they never had the privilege in the first place. This is similar to people saying faith in God will help things and when it doesn't they use qualifiers like "well its wasn't strong enough" or "its all part of God's plan".

It doesn't seem to be the least bit similar and your example of the homeless white man is irrelevant to the discussion. Are you trying to define white privilege as some kind of support system which prevents white men from failing, and then present one failure to prove it wrong?

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

When did the term "White Privilege" enter the lexicon? I really don't remember hearing about it in the past. Seem to be a new "thing". Google agrees with me:

http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=white privelage

It's been around at least 57 years. I have always been aware of it and tried to put it to good use.

For many years I have heard it summarized as "Free,white and 21".

 

[Nice Squirrel]

Did I say to kill them? People need to move to where the jobs are.

I know you didn't mean it, but this is often the sentiment that begins such things. People in Detroit will either move or find a new path. Oftentimes a revival is richer, and more meaningful.

 

[Jolly_Penguin]

You made an assertion something exists yet if reality shows it not to be the case for example homeless whites you make further qualifiers as to why they don't benefit from it rather than consider maybe they never had the privilege in the first place. This is similar to people saying faith in God will help things and when it doesn't they use qualifiers like "well its wasn't strong enough" or "its all part of God's plan".

It doesn't seem to be the least bit similar and your example of the homeless white man is irrelevant to the discussion. Are you trying to define white privilege as some kind of support system which prevents white men from failing, and then present one failure to prove it wrong?

Or maybe not all white men have benefited from this white privilege you speak of. It may be nice to imagine that the homeless guy was born to rich parents, squandered his fortune, was favoured over a bunch of black people and given lots of job opportunities, squandered them, etc. But maybe he's simply never been that lucky. And maybe by saying he "wasted" his white privilege is you making assumptions (based on his race) and kicking dirt in the guy's face.

I can see this sort of logic dovetailing perfectly into conservative dogma about the poor deserving to be poor because they don't work hard enough. The white poor would get a double whammy on that once you attribute "white privilege" to them.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

What? How does not all white people having benefitted from white privilege mean that white privilege is nonexistent? It means that they have a better chance, so a larger number of them do better. If it's 30% of them who get a given opportunity as compared to 10% blacks, that's still a massive privilege and it still means that 70% of white people don't benefit.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

It doesn't seem to be the least bit similar and your example of the homeless white man is irrelevant to the discussion. Are you trying to define white privilege as some kind of support system which prevents white men from failing, and then present one failure to prove it wrong?

Or maybe not all white men have benefited from this white privilege you speak of. It may be nice to imagine that the homeless guy was born to rich parents, squandered his fortune, was favoured over a bunch of black people and given lots of job opportunities, squandered them, etc. But maybe he's simply never been that lucky. And maybe by saying he "wasted" his white privilege is you making assumptions (based on his race) and kicking dirt in the guy's face.

I can see this sort of logic dovetailing perfectly into conservative dogma about the poor deserving to be poor because they don't work hard enough. The white poor would get a double whammy on that once you attribute "white privilege" to them.

And even if he didn't, what about his parents.

Most people get little more than attitudes from their parents. It's these attitudes that are the critical factor, not financial assets.

- - - Updated - - -

What? How does not all white people having benefitted from white privilege mean that white privilege is nonexistent? It means that they have a better chance, so a larger number of them do better. If it's 30% of them who get a given opportunity as compared to 10% blacks, that's still a massive privilege and it still means that 70% of white people don't benefit.

Less than 10% got anything appreciable financially from their parents.

Furthermore, that's usually later in life, after they have already established themselves.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Less than 10% got anything appreciable financially from their parents.

Furthermore, that's usually later in life, after they have already established themselves.

Not relevant to anything, but thanks for the interesting trivia.

 

[Bronzeage]

It doesn't seem to be the least bit similar and your example of the homeless white man is irrelevant to the discussion. Are you trying to define white privilege as some kind of support system which prevents white men from failing, and then present one failure to prove it wrong?

Or maybe not all white men have benefited from this white privilege you speak of. It may be nice to imagine that the homeless guy was born to rich parents, squandered his fortune, was favoured over a bunch of black people and given lots of job opportunities, squandered them, etc. But maybe he's simply never been that lucky. And maybe by saying he "wasted" his white privilege is you making assumptions (based on his race) and kicking dirt in the guy's face.

I can see this sort of logic dovetailing perfectly into conservative dogma about the poor deserving to be poor because they don't work hard enough. The white poor would get a double whammy on that once you attribute "white privilege" to them.

Poor white poor guys. What are we going to do with them?

In my life, nearly every job I applied for included me sitting across the desk from a white man. White privilege is a head start in the game. What a white does with this head start is up to him. It's entirely possible to start far back in the pack, but it's still a head start over other nonwhite people born in the same place and time. Anyone who doesn't see this is just not paying attention.

Does anyone seriously think white men dominate so much of society and business because we are so fucking smart? Even I am not egotistical to believe that.

 

[Underseer]

When did the term "White Privilege" enter the lexicon? I really don't remember hearing about it in the past. Seem to be a new "thing". Google agrees with me:

http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=white privelage

The term has been around a long time. You're only just noticing it because up until recently, you've been living in the right wing propaganda bubble. May I ask what made you decide to come out of it?

 

[Underseer]

Or maybe not all white men have benefited from this white privilege you speak of. It may be nice to imagine that the homeless guy was born to rich parents, squandered his fortune, was favoured over a bunch of black people and given lots of job opportunities, squandered them, etc. But maybe he's simply never been that lucky. And maybe by saying he "wasted" his white privilege is you making assumptions (based on his race) and kicking dirt in the guy's face.

I can see this sort of logic dovetailing perfectly into conservative dogma about the poor deserving to be poor because they don't work hard enough. The white poor would get a double whammy on that once you attribute "white privilege" to them.

Poor white poor guys. What are we going to do with them?

In my life, nearly every job I applied for included me sitting across the desk from a white man. White privilege is a head start in the game. What a white does with this head start is up to him. It's entirely possible to start far back in the pack, but it's still a head start over other nonwhite people born in the same place and time. Anyone who doesn't see this is just not paying attention.

Does anyone seriously think white men dominate so much of society and business because we are so fucking smart? Even I am not egotistical to believe that.

Yes, they believe that. Of course they believe that. I find it hard to believe you've never exchanged words with a conservative before. Yes, they believe having less skin pigment makes them intellectually and morally superior. Yes, they believe that the only reason people with more skin pigment get jobs at all is because of the "head start" the international "PC Police" conspiracy gives them in taking jobs away from more deserving superior white people, and that's why white people are the ones who are really being oppressed and persecuted.

I find it very hard to believe that you have never encountered these sentiments before.

 

[fromderinside]

Are you saying that people are discriminating when they don't locate a company with jobs in a booming area vs an area that is in decline and that has lots of "minorities"? If so, that is a big reach. Please rephrase so that I can follow you......

Actually I am saying both.

1. there is discrimination because there are no jobs in the area
2. there is discrimination because no one comes into the area to offer jobs to ones obviously qualified to perform them: male, strong, coordinated, can dance. (oops)

 

[fromderinside]

Let me set up the dominos for you Loren Pechtel.

Inner city discrimination is clearly intentional.

Blacks or hispanics move in and whites move out out of irrational economic and personal fear and loathing.

Consequently:

1. The inner city primarily consists of slum lord properties.
2. Primarily those who can't afford anything better live there, or are restricted to there because they can't gain access elsewhere.
3. Few taxes are collected from slum dwellers. Few services are provided to slum dwellers.
4. Few retailers locate where little is to be made.

The above is are major reasons why school busing started in areas where there was defacto segregation.

It is no stretch to say one is discriminating because the area in which they live has few jobs of the sort suited to those there because is there since there is intentionally and structurally little activity of that sort there

When one sees a disparity in jobs in a work segment for which the population is well suited is there discrimination? Oh Yeaaah!

If you simply fail to undo an existing situation you are not discriminating.

As my amplified setup illustrates the existing situation exists because of intentional discrimination.

Sine we can prove the existing situation was intentionally set we can say you are discriminating.

 

[Bronzeage]

Poor white poor guys. What are we going to do with them?

In my life, nearly every job I applied for included me sitting across the desk from a white man. White privilege is a head start in the game. What a white does with this head start is up to him. It's entirely possible to start far back in the pack, but it's still a head start over other nonwhite people born in the same place and time. Anyone who doesn't see this is just not paying attention.

Does anyone seriously think white men dominate so much of society and business because we are so fucking smart? Even I am not egotistical to believe that.

Yes, they believe that. Of course they believe that. I find it hard to believe you've never exchanged words with a conservative before. Yes, they believe having less skin pigment makes them intellectually and morally superior. Yes, they believe that the only reason people with more skin pigment get jobs at all is because of the "head start" the international "PC Police" conspiracy gives them in taking jobs away from more deserving superior white people, and that's why white people are the ones who are really being oppressed and persecuted.

I find it very hard to believe that you have never encountered these sentiments before.

Only from other white guys. One of the problems is the Principle of the Conservation of Privilege(PCP). The PCP dictates that for every gain in advantage by a non-white person, a white person loses an equal amount. There are many white men who feel their privilege has been taken away and given to someone who has a genetically predetermined darker pigmentation.

 

[Toni]

It doesn't seem to be the least bit similar and your example of the homeless white man is irrelevant to the discussion. Are you trying to define white privilege as some kind of support system which prevents white men from failing, and then present one failure to prove it wrong?

Or maybe not all white men have benefited from this white privilege you speak of. It may be nice to imagine that the homeless guy was born to rich parents, squandered his fortune, was favoured over a bunch of black people and given lots of job opportunities, squandered them, etc. But maybe he's simply never been that lucky. And maybe by saying he "wasted" his white privilege is you making assumptions (based on his race) and kicking dirt in the guy's face.

I can see this sort of logic dovetailing perfectly into conservative dogma about the poor deserving to be poor because they don't work hard enough. The white poor would get a double whammy on that once you attribute "white privilege" to them.

Actually, I am related to a (formerly) homeless guy who was born to not wealthy but definitely well educated upper middle class loving family and who had access to everything that went with it. For some significant number of years, he chose to toss that away instead of accepting the treatment offered for his significant substance abuse issues. He's functioning now, working, not homeless. I don't trust that he's clean/sober but he's at least semi-stable now.

So yeah, that happens. In this particular case, he wasn't a vet, but there is a much higher than expected rate of homelessness for vets, as well as for those who suffer from various mental illnesses, irrespective of race.

I believe that ALL white people have benefited from white privilege, at least in the U.S. This is not the same thing as never facing significant, even heartbreaking and crushing obstacles. That happens to people of all races. More often the darker your skin, yes. But it happens to white folks too.

The fact is that even if you were born dirt poor to uneducated parents, if you are white and manage to get some education and a decent job and put on a nice suit, no one looks at you and assumes you didn't earn your place. In fact, no one assumes you were not born to at least middle class. The same is not true for blacks in the U.S. Even black university professors can be arrested in their own homes because some neighbor didn't think a black man could possibly live in that neighborhood.