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It's probably time to give it a rest here. The reason is because most of these polls and posts here are voted and commented on by non-black people so they have not experienced the challenges that black people face therefore on the outside looking in and not experiencing the silent racism that black people experience everyday.
As a black women who has 2 degrees, a Army veteran and live in a upper middle class area but coming from a poorer area, I can say the answer to the poll is NO, it is not an excuse but a factor in the progression of black people to raise to the level of success as white people. It is well documented from established and credible sources such as the US government, Supreme Court, USA today, Washington Post and even state sources that black people have faced challenges in all areas including real estate, bank and housing practices, employment and wage gaps, college entrance and on and on. So for whites to deny it is the same as males denying the same that has exists with the gender gaps.
It exists and one of the problems is continuing to believe or reject that it doesn't. I don't understand why some people are only out for their own success and progress because I believe when people do better everyone benefits. It reduces crime, builds the economy, and even helps the moral in this country.
It's probably time to give it a rest here. The reason is because most of these polls and posts here are voted and commented on by non-black people so they have not experienced the challenges that black people face therefore on the outside looking in and not experiencing the silent racism that black people experience everyday.
As a black women who has 2 degrees, a Army veteran and live in a upper middle class area but coming from a poorer area, I can say the answer to the poll is NO, it is not an excuse but a factor in the progression of black people to raise to the level of success as white people. It is well documented from established and credible sources such as the US government, Supreme Court, USA today, Washington Post and even state sources that black people have faced challenges in all areas including real estate, bank and housing practices, employment and wage gaps, college entrance and on and on. So for whites to deny it is the same as males denying the same that has exists with the gender gaps.
It exists and one of the problems is continuing to believe or reject that it doesn't. I don't understand why some people are only out for their own success and progress because I believe when people do better everyone benefits. It reduces crime, builds the economy, and even helps the moral in this country.
I agree with the bolded.
Like
JFK once said
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.
Yes. To piggy back, to make an investment in the poor, theoretically, offers a major return on investment in the form of less transfer payment (welfare), less government expenditure on courts and prisons (paying for extra police, court cost and housing inmates), it creates more people working and hence paying taxes, plus more people spending creating increased revenue for businesses, which in turn creates more job opportunities from the increased demand...etc.
Here is the problem, though. The larger society believes that the poor are poor of their own making and that they lack something required to be successful. Hence, the larger society believes that no amount of investment will ever produce a positive return on investment and that such spending only artificially props up people who could not compete without being given a permanent hand. It's clear society does not invest because it sees the poor as not worthy of the investment.
That is quite an ignorant employer if they are decided who is qualified for a job based on if they think the person's name sounds dumb of not....
A person's name should not be a deciding factor on if someone is qualified for a job.
That's not ignorant, that's real life.
What's ignorant is pretending to believe that humans don't have billions of years of defense mechanisms that have shaped human behavior. It's a survival mechanism to avoid a certain tribe based on the liklihood of violence. Stereotyping, whether conscious or not, is a natural part of human behavior.
And it's not unreasonable to assume someone with one of those ridiculous names came from uneducated parents/lower socio-economic level. Apples don't fall far from the tree. If parents don't have the foresight not to handicap their child with a dumb name in the job market, what makes you think they raised their child to be someone who works hard and diligently? Sure, there are exceptions, but stereotypes exist for a reason, and that's OKAY.
White privilege is the right to be judged individually, and not by the actions of your ethnic group. The key thing is not white vs black. The key is that when whites do things, people see it as just that white guy who did a bad thing. They almost never lump whites into one monolithic group. As a result, since individualism is almost a given in the white community, anything that seems more of a collectivist in nature is usually shunned. Such a white natioanlism. Why would whites need white leaders, when most are almost never bounded or judged by the actions of their ethnic group.
The bottomline is that if you're a minority you're almost never judged individually. you're almost always judged by how society perceives your group, Let's say a black kid from the ghetto gets a PhD in Nuclear Physics. People are just excited about that, because failure is expected from blacks. But in contrast if a white guy from a trailer park did the same thing, no one would care, because well that's expected. Almost every ethnic group beside white is held to a perceived stereotype that almost serve is a guidline in how you interact with them. Where as when you're white it's always a clean slate.
The benefit of white privilege is that you just have to prove yourself individually. Other races have about 3 or 4 other levels to overcome such as needing to somewhat ungroup themselves from the perceived stereotypes of their group. And then trying to do things at an above average level so people don't constantly think their success is a fluke.
White privilege is the right to be judged individually, and not by the actions of your ethnic group. The key thing is not white vs black. The key is that when whites do things, people see it as just that white guy who did a bad thing. They almost never lump whites into one monolithic group. As a result, since individualism is almost a given in the white community, anything that seems more of a collectivist in nature is usually shunned. Such a white natioanlism. Why would whites need white leaders, when most are almost never bounded or judged by the actions of their ethnic group.
The bottomline is that if you're a minority you're almost never judged individually. you're almost always judged by how society perceives your group, Let's say a black kid from the ghetto gets a PhD in Nuclear Physics. People are just excited about that, because failure is expected from blacks. But in contrast if a white guy from a trailer park did the same thing, no one would care, because well that's expected. Almost every ethnic group beside white is held to a perceived stereotype that almost serve is a guidline in how you interact with them. Where as when you're white it's always a clean slate.
The benefit of white privilege is that you just have to prove yourself individually. Other races have about 3 or 4 other levels to overcome such as needing to somewhat ungroup themselves from the perceived stereotypes of their group. And then trying to do things at an above average level so people don't constantly think their success is a fluke.
Nope, if you want to be judged individually be an individual. Don't speak Ebonics, wear your pants around your ankles or tattoo your face and neck. Doing that is following the herd and not being an individual.
Nope, if you want to be judged individually be an individual. Don't speak Ebonics, wear your pants around your ankles or tattoo your face and neck. Doing that is following the herd and not being an individual.
What is your excuse for discriminatory whites when none of the above is done and the person is in fact an individual?
Nope, if you want to be judged individually be an individual. Don't speak Ebonics, wear your pants around your ankles or tattoo your face and neck. Doing that is following the herd and not being an individual.
We're talking a default condition for people. It's completely in the media as well.
Think about it, if you have a movie where black people are acting normal. What is it called? It's called a black film, it's marketed as such, and it's assumed that mostly black people will see it. But rarely do you see such a movie being promoted as "just a movie".
White is the absence if ethnic recongnition. When I look a Rambo, a show with a white protagonist. Is that considered an ethnic film? Of course not. It's "just a film".
These are all things that program people as a whole to start grouping everyone based on ethnic group. so you think of things like that's a "hispanic show" or that's an "asian show". But you never really say that's a "white show". It's just a "show".
We can then see this outside of the media. I think subconsciously people are going to look at you and your stereotype first. Obviously this can be overcome in your case only. But if I'm a black guy with a degree in Nuclear Physics, does the perception that "all blacks could be great at nuclear physics" ever enter your mind? Or do you say "he's pretty smart for a black guy". The second is probably more true, even if you probably don't think it's appropriate to admit.
Other than wanting to dodge the topic, what makes you think I claimed that or anything like that?
The question is, why should a white male who grew up in a trailer park (clearly at a social and economic disadvantage) have to get in line behind the Obama girls (both eligible for Affirmative Action preferential treatment because of their race and sex)?
The topic is being addressed head on and you just did it again.
You just claimed that the white male in the trailer park has to get behind the Obama girls. What makes you think he should be in front of them? What makes you think he has better grades or test scores than them? What make you think he wrote a better essay? Being eligible for Affirmative Action doesn't make it necessary in every case.
So again, what makes you think he should be in front of them in the first place?
In my opinion, racial bias isn't epidemic in law enforcement any more than it is epidemic in academia or the arts. I believe, however, law enforcement overwhelmingly attract people who want to do good for a living. That is why demonizing police officers, in my opinion, is just an evil thing to do. Police officers do not sign up to help white people, or black people, they sign up because they want to help all people.
This said, the hard truth is that many work in law enforcement develop different flavors of cynicism that they work very hard to resist because they can be lazy mental shortcuts. (which is not an excuse, but certainly is understandable.)
I know MANY LAPD police officers (many came from military background). I think criminal suspects routinely lie to them about their guilt, and nearly everybody they charge end up being guilty. This makes it so easy for police officers to assume that everybody is lying and that no suspect, regardless of their race, could be innocent.
Another hard truth is that police officers on patrol in big cities often work in environments where a hugely disproportionate percentage of street crime is committed by young males, unfortunately, people of color. After years of this hard police work, they often can't help but be influenced by the cynicism they feel.
All these are human flaws, systemic problem, not necessarily a white racism problem. Are there racist white cops out there? Maybe, but does everybody deserves racist white cop title simply because they used a little bit of racial profiling? I don't think so.
White privilege is not necessarily a fair term in my humble opinion. It can really be just majority privilege and every society has such privilege. We are all flawed human beings living in a flawed human world. Why not just treat each other with a little bit of decency and give each other benefit of the doubt?
And for the poster who said that white people are not subject to profiling, not true. I've always wanted to be a FBI profiler. Profilers use racial profiling. A number one suspect of a serial killer will almost always be a white guy, loner type. If there is a sniper type of serial killing in your community, they will go after those with military training first. So veterans will be the suspect, it is a type of profiling.
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