Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Privilege itself is not a myth, people being given an easier path to desirable outcomes, based on perceived positive traits immaterial to the situation, and they are oblivious people without those traits have a more difficult path, is very, very real. Insisting it is limited to only specific traits, such as race or gender, and that it only goes one way, on the other hand, is disingenuous.
I’m going to be honest here.... my younger son received tons of scholarship offers and had colleges pursuing him non-stop while his best friend had none
- despite the other kid having better grades
- despite their test scores being essentially the same (son scored slightly higher on the ACT, friend scored slightly higher on SAT)
- despite both being military brats and my husband out ranking his father
- despite the other kid working and my child not
The real difference? Race. The truth is, at this time in our country probably the people most recipient of privilege are intelligent, hard working black young people. That is why every time you read about a kid getting accepted by 6 or more Ivy League schools they have one thing in common, their black skin. When my husband and I went to school the opposite was true, the white kids got the privilege. I didn’t think it was right then, I don’t think it’s right now just because the races have been switched.
However, there are other situations where white privilege exists, and when it comes the law enforcement, security guards, or anything related to assuming potential guilt or innocence of ordinary folks going about their business, it’s real. Ask any black man, including my husband, driving his own Lexus.
__________________
When I post in bold red that is moderator action and, per the TOS, can only be discussed through Direct Message.
Do you happen to live in the DC area? Because I do, and this was my experience as well. But it wasn’t so much women as it was blacks and, surprisingly, gays. Around 25% of the management-level jobs (director and up) were held by gays and about half by blacks, (I remember one co-worker joking that if you were black AND gay, you’d be made one of the VPs in no time flat.)
The end result of promoting people based on skin color and sexual orientation was two-fold: 1) we had a lot of incompetent people in management jobs, and 2) we had fast turnover among straight whites,
P.S. The president of the company was an extreme progressive. He had a big celebration party when Obama won (2008) and we were practicality forced to attend. My own boss (who was black and gay) told his entire department that if we didn’t go it would have a strong negative impact on our careers there.
Oh please. Black people in the DC area tend to be highly educated. If that’s something that a person cannot deal with, the area is not a place for them. In DC, you aren’t going to get coddled and promoted for being a straight white woman. You have to compete with highly educated black people, gays and others. No one in DC is special for being anything. You simply have to be the best.
Last edited by ReineDeCoeur; 08-26-2020 at 07:15 AM..
I know the picture you are talking about, and I completely agree. Although, a lot depends on where each of them grew up. If all three lived in the hood, two of them had to work extremely hard , over and above , someone living in a suburb or rural area. Escaping the hood isn't easy.
Privilege itself is not a myth, people being given an easier path to desirable outcomes, based on perceived positive traits immaterial to the situation, and they are oblivious people without those traits have a more difficult path, is very, very real. Insisting it is limited to only specific traits, such as race or gender, and that it only goes one way, on the other hand, is disingenuous.
I’m going to be honest here.... my younger son received tons of scholarship offers and had colleges pursuing him non-stop while his best friend had none
- despite the other kid having better grades
- despite their test scores being essentially the same (son scored slightly higher on the ACT, friend scored slightly higher on SAT)
- despite both being military brats and my husband out ranking his father
- despite the other kid working and my child not
The real difference? Race. The truth is, at this time in our country probably the people most recipient of privilege are intelligent, hard working black young people. That is why every time you read about a kid getting accepted by 6 or more Ivy League schools they have one thing in common, their black skin. When my husband and I went to school the opposite was true, the white kids got the privilege. I didn’t think it was right then, I don’t think it’s right now just because the races have been switched.
However, there are other situations where white privilege exists, and when it comes the law enforcement, security guards, or anything related to assuming potential guilt or innocence of ordinary folks going about their business, it’s real. Ask any black man, including my husband, driving his own Lexus.
Exactly right.
There are many, many types of privilege. Wealth, status, race, sex, physical attractiveness, even height.
Anyone can succeed but it helps if you have a parent or positive influencer in your life. Everyone I know who is successful had parents that we're involved in their upbringing. From the immigrants from Haiti and Trinidad to the inner cities there are all examples of parents who did the right thing. I knew this one kid in high school who was a total F up. His mother was absent and would have all different men and his dad died of aids caused by drug use. This kid got himself in all sorts of trouble. Then he went to live with his aunt and things changed for him. Now he is the director of IT for a large company and lives in a really nice house. Good for him. I wonder where he would have ended up if it wasn't for his aunt.
I can't speak to the entire country, but where I work (75,000 employees) people of color, particularly women, are fast tracked to the top. They're way over represented in executive positions relative to the work force in general. Some are spectacularly good at their jobs and absolutely deserve it. Others, not so much. An interesting side effect is that some POC/women who truly earned their positions are miffed (rightfully so) that unqualified POC/women are being promoted because it diminishes their accomplishments.
This is happening across the country. My friend's husband was looking for a job during the hot economy for a year and was told repeatedly they had to hire a black woman over him if they could. My husband's company hires unqualified POC to the point where they have to hire two people....the POC and the one who actually does the job.
I'm white and work hard for what I have. I don't apologize for being white. Just because one is African American doesn't mean one can't succeed. Blacks playing the woe is me race card is getting old. And like Biden basically said, you're stupid and ain't REALLY black if you don't vote for him. He's racist and wants to keep you where he thinks you belong (down on the plantation). President Trump has done more for blacks in 3 years than Biden has done in 45 years as part of the Washington Swamp/Establishment! Obama made matters worse for blacks by doing NOTHING for them during his 8 YEARS of all talk and no action!! Obama's record speaks for itself. Trump/AMERICA 2020
I didn’t have any reps left but your post is perfect. Exactly the way I feel.
You know what the biggest factors are? A two parent family and valuing hard work and education.
Not valuing "hooking up drug culture and gang culture and having a 74% unwed mother birth rate.
Yep. All of those at the top are notorious for strong, family values. And the parents do. not. let. the kids fail. They are on their behinds every day about their education. My white parents were the same, and while I think some of it is over the top, you don't get educated kids who become productive and successful members of society by insisting that they can't make it because of whitey, or because of males, or because they grew up poor, etc.
In fact, being poor, one would think they would be on their kid's backsides even moreso than others, so that their kids don't fail like the parents did.
What's the point in having a kid if you're just going to stand back and let them fail in life?
That is easier than addressing the real problem because if you do you are called Racist. The Black Community needs to start owning their circumstances and stop demonizing Whitey.
I challenge Blacks to start holding themselves accountable.
You have really hit the nail squarely on the head here. As a country, we have had mechanisms in place for DECADES giving a leg up (if you will) to the Black Community and other marginalized populations (minority and women owned businesses, etc). They have had DECADES to lift themselves out of whatever dysfunctional life style they have been mired in and they have chosen NOT to (for the most part - I personally know many successful African American people/families). Why? So, all these decades later, many people are SICK of hearing the complaints and demands.
Last edited by Oldhag1; 08-26-2020 at 09:23 AM..
Reason: Fixed formatting
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
