White privilege (employment, generations, illegal, healthcare)

[Unstable]

I've recently discovered the writings of Tim Wise, I think this excerpt from a recent blog post is brilliant:

The point is, privilege is as much a psychological matter as a material one. Whites have the luxury of not having to worry that our race is going to mark us negatively when looking for work, going to school, shopping, looking for a place to live, or driving for that matter: things that folks of color can't take for granted.

Let me share an analogy to make the point.

Taking things out of the racial context for a minute: imagine persons who are able bodied, as opposed to those with disabilities. If I were to say that.......

Mod cut-copyright Please click on link for rest of quote


Source: Explaining White Privilege to the Deniers and the Haters | Red Room

[Lucario]

Tim Wise is right on point.......

[macmeal]

Trying to get a 'grip' on this...really. So whites...(ALL whites)..are, by definition and by their classification as a 'group', and by their common ancestry..are "privileged". Blacks, on the other hand, by the same parameters..by their 'definition' as blacks; by their classification as being part of the black 'group', and by virtue of their common ancestry....are "discriminated against" (the 'flipside' of privilege)..OK, I THINK I've 'got it'.

Without getting into the many OTHER groups...(those neither black NOR white; those, like my own family, who claim membership in TWO or more groups...those non-whites doing "better" than OTHER non-whites, or those non-white ethnic groups doing BETTER than certain WHITE ethnics)....without getting into all THAT.... precisely WHAT is the import of Mr. Wise's article on the INDIVIDUAL? What does Mr. Wise suggest that an INDIVIDUAL...of any race, any ethnicity, (or several).."DO", about all this? How can we, as individuals, affect the performance, or the relative 'standings' of "groups"? And if you're looking for "equality", how are you defining it? Equality in INCOME? Equality in NUMBERS? Equality in EFFORT? Equality in 'study habits'? Equality in PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILTY? Equality in prison population? Equality in numbers of members of one's group in college? Equality in teenage pregnancies? Equality in sports? Equality in numbers of nuclear physicists? Brain surgeons? Taxi drivers? Golfers? Politicians? Actors?

If you're part of an 'underrepresented group', and a huge percentage of your 'group' is living illegally in the United States, and are not citizens, is it then OK to use THEIR problems as evidence that your entire "group", as a whole, is being discriminated against? Or is this discussion just limited to US citizens?

What sort of society are we aiming for here? What is the relative importance of 'groups' over the importance of 'individuals'? If you claim to share in the credit for the 'best' that your group has accomplished, should you also agree to take the blame for the WORST your group has done?

It's a fascinatiing subject, and I'd LOVE to get more input...seriously. Fire away,anybody. I'm listening. (I'm white, BTW)

[Bostonian123]

ok...since the "white race" will not be the majority in America in a few decades, does that mean whites will get priority in hiring and school applications?

[PeachyMJ]

Worked for the federal gov't and many times was the "minority" person in the establishment.

[lamexican]

Thanks for the article. I completely agree with what Ive read. I was on a thread the other day having a discussion about the divsions that exist in our country. I was trying to make that exact point but was unable to be articulate enough.

[camping!]

Interesting points....but I am afraid it is going to turn whites off to pursuing this line of thought. Oh, not because white people (and really, that does encompass a lot of different types of people - unlike what some would believe, color is not a unifier. Well, only in prison ) aren't willing to explore this, but because the article is vertibly oozing with white recrimination without an ounce of resolution. I mean, what can be done about this? Or are whites as a group forever to be guilted about a priviledge that most never see?
I guess what I am trying to say is if this is a problem how do we solve it?

[MrSykes]

Originally Posted by Bostonian123

ok...since the "white race" will not be the majority in America in a few decades, does that mean whites will get priority in hiring and school applications?

Not until after at least 400 years of mass enslavement followed by another 100 or so years of systematic discrimination in employment, schools, healthcare, hell let's make it EVERY sector of society.

I'm looking at around year 2400, maybe 2500.

[mike0421]

I don't know if I agree. I am an ethnic minority in my area of the country, and have yet to encounter any discrimination. I might be ignorant of acts of discrimination being perpetrated on me, but I don't really ponder the idea that much. I just go on living. I can't change what is in someone's heart.

[thriftylefty]

Originally Posted by Bostonian123

ok...since the "white race" will not be the majority in America in a few decades, does that mean whites will get priority in hiring and school applications?

The advantages whites get are not based on population numbers, consider the south where in many places blacks have historicaly out numbered whites who are still advantaged. or look at South Africa where 5% of the population RULED the entire country. The word "minority" is a misnomer because it makes us think that you can just vote racism away one day. The concentration of wealth and power in America has almost been unchanged for generations.