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I am a white male of Middle Eastern ancestry and I do not consider myself oppressed. I am concerned about upholding freedom of speech and I am concerned about new hyper racialized culture we are currently living in.
Replace "white male" with "Tutsi" or "Jew" in the sentence above from Natalie and see how it works out. As a precursor to the genocide in Rwanda, the Tutsi was constantly demonized as a privileged, undeserving person to rile up the masses. Its an age old tactic to create ethnic tensions.
What? My god...it's not about demonizing. White people should not feel guilt!
It's about getting people to recognize realities that exist (And have always existed).
I recommend you re-watch the video, ideally in its entirety.
I see a point you are making in that some people could hijack this line of thinking to use it to their evil advantage...but that's not what is being presented here. This is a discussion about the realities of different biases we have built into our societal structures.
Last edited by HockeyMac18; 09-26-2017 at 11:24 AM..
My thoughts on the "privilege" matter run as follows:
A) I do believe that there exist differences in perception/first impression between various races in enough of a segment of the population to produce some degree of "privilege" for certain demographics. This is not something that can be effectively codified but rather a change in the potential attitude of the people I am dealing with on a day to day basis, especially people who do not know me. To put it another way, assume that 5% to 10% of a population are truly bigoted against one segment or other, the mere presence of this subset leads to the potential for those segments they dislike to have worse interactions in some of their day to day life than someone who is of a different subset that is disliked by a smaller percentage of the population.
B) I do not and will not feel guilty about these potential benefits that can help smooth over certain social situations because I am not responsible for creating them in the collective conscious.
C) I will take advantage of any "privilege" I have if the situation calls for it, be it "privilege" I control such as my knowledge and education or "privilege" I do not control such as race, this is called looking out for number one. I take every advantage I can get...
Example: If I am pulled over by the police, I will lean hard into the stereotype of a 50's sitcom version of a white person, I look the part - why would I not? It has proven to be an effective strategy in the past. I don't feel guilty about that either, but I do recognize it may not be as effective of an option for others of different races.
Last edited by zzzSnorlax; 09-26-2017 at 11:35 AM..
Since many do not understand oppression,I made a list. Thisis not a complete list, by any means.
Historical Oppressionin America
Slavery based on race (oppressing freedom)
Slave Codes (from curfew, travel restrictions, behaviorrestrictions that benefit whites)
Withholding education for centuries (most destructiveimpact) (oppressing upward mobility)
Willfully separating thousands of families with thecompulsive sale of mothers, fathers, siblingsmost destructiveimpact) (oppressing family ties
Raping and impregnating slaves for profit
One drop rule
Socially engineering docile self-hating traits in people byforce and gross manipulation (impact still felt today)
Emancipation with no real plan (oppressing prosperity)
Freedman’s Bureau manned by decent well-meaning people aswell as racists (can you believe this?) )oppressing positive outcomes)
No voting rights (no way to impact their lot other than torely on good W people)
Marginalized and prevented from joining unions (oppressingsustainable employment, wealth building and generational wealth)
Sharecropping deceits (oppressing wealth building andgenerational wealth)
Jailed and lynched for looking at white people “wrong” orbrushing them on the sidewalk
Segregated public services, with blacks’ service andaccommodations always inferior (oppressing access)
Told they should look, talk and behave like whites(assimilate) to succeed (oppressing culture, language, dignity)
Jim Crown laws
Marginalized from where they lived, to the type of healthcarereceived, employment, and education.
Modern Day Oppressionin America:
Impact of historical oppression lingers
Mass incarceration (blacks arrested and sent to jail at muchhigher rate than whites for committing the SAME CRIMES)
Police brutality (Some officers afraid of their own shadowsbeating and killing black men without repercussions
School funding flawed and negatively impacting minority neighborhoods
Redlining
No significant accrual of inheritance to pass down at the ratewhites have had, due to Oppression.
Told they Protest in the wrong ways (go figure…)
Stereotyping all blacks as slum dwelling, uneducated, andcriminal (leading to the cycle of oppression).
Blacks worked for centuries, for free, and it has only beenless than 200 years since Emancipation and certain people believe descendantsof slaves should have all caught up by now, that blacks suffer no impact fromthe past, that intentional efforts (such as AfrimA) to include blacks in highereducation, and the workforce are NOT NEEDED OR WARRANTED. They want blacks tobelieve there are no racists still around with the ability to marginalizeminorities, refusing to hire qualified blacks, preventing blacks from enteringall spaces available to all citizens. Blacks are to believe all Americanteacher put forth the same efforts to black and white children all over the US.
Are black to believe there are noracist teachers, police, doctors, lawyers, landlords, politicians, nurses,judges, etc?
I’m thankful for the white males and others who have studiedsome Sociology and AA studies, and have the ability to look at historicalimplications, and are able to see that most blacks do not blame All white malesfor all of America’s mistakes.
What blacks are saying is, every one of you know racistbigots (many turn a blind eye) and oppressive in their activities to preservetheir own people’s positive outcomes (not hiring, preventing them from buyinghomes in certain neighborhoods, etc.)
Yes, blacks know the American system was originally createdonly for white people to succeed and you have the privileges and sure do notwant them taken away.
What? My god...it's not about demonizing. White people should not feel guilt!
It's about getting people to recognize realities that exist (And have always existed).
I recommend you re-watch the video, ideally in its entirety.
I see a point you are making in that some people could hijack this line of thinking to use it to their evil advantage...but that's not what is being presented here. This is a discussion about the realities of different biases we have built into our societal structures.
Whenever one ethnic group is portrayed as privileged and undeserving at fault for the ills of another ethnic group, what do you think the consequences are? Whether you like it or not, it does rile people up against the ethnic group portrayed as privileged.
Notice how people who use this type of rhetoric dont use nuances. If some black person is subject to prejudice in a situation its proof of "white privilege" and "white supremacy", an oppressive system by whites to keep black people down. If a Korean American enjoys the same "privilege" in that situation its just ignored completely. This absurd rhetoric is not about recognizing any reality but simply creates divisive racial tensions. Nothing good comes out of this rhetoric.
Damn right, and it's going to stay that way. Cultural Socialists, Jihadists, Third-wave Feminism, and any type of autocratic rule will be annihilated. We're not sending the Middle East back to the Bronze Age for the fun of it. You bring regressive ideology and government that denies individual freedom, you deserve what's coming to you.
I mean, we sent mankind to the moon...
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