Thread by @FuturistDog

I heard someone discussing "white privilege" in a corporate setting. They said it isn't the same as "racism" and that it means that people gain some slight benefit from their skin color.

I really don't like this, and I'll explain why...

His argument was that people shouldn't apologize for their privilege, but they should DO something with it.

Well, what is that? What should people do with it?

No answer in the session. Do you know why? Because it would reinforce the idea that white privilege == racism.

However, the idea that white people somehow gain benefit from having white skin means that people that aren't white DO NOT gain benefit from their own skin.

But in what setting? The implication is that it's in society as a whole, or in a general sense.

It must be in a general sense because in smaller settings "white privilege" doesn't apply. Go to a black neighborhood, or a majority Asian community as a white person. That white skin no longer gives you any privilege.

So it must be in the general sense.

But if it is in the general sense, it must also mean in a Western, US-EU sense. This is because if you go to Africa, the Middle East, or Asia as a white person... you are no longer the majority. You are treated as an oddity or worse.

So it must be in a Western sense.

Let's step back. The idea of white privilege was sprung out of "Unpacking the Invisible Nap Sack": racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/…

Unfortunately, this hasn't aged well. Most of this no longer applies.

In fact, a lot of what still DOES apply is basic rules of the majority. White people made up 90% of the demographic make up of the United States until 1950. So of course other racial groups were in the minority.

Is that an advantage for the majority, to simply be the majority?

That turns "white privilege" into a simple tautology:
"white people make up the majority so they are the majority" isn't an argument.

Even now 70% of the United States is white. Does that mean the 30% has no rights? Of course not. Does it mean the 30% is treated as a minority?

Sometimes. Historically, especially.

But what about now? Are black people treated worse because they are black than white people are treated?

This is up for debate. Proportionally, black people are killed at a higher rate by police. Adjust for crime rate demographics though...

...and that disappears. So what's the issue then? Why are black crime rates so high? Black poverty?

It isn't IQ. The average doesn't impact such things, and black women are the highest educated group in the country.

It is disproportionally impacting black men, though.

Some have argued it's the erosion of the family, that black men in general lose their fathers and continue that cycle.

I don't know the answer. But stepping back, I don't think it's white people's fault.

That said, white privilege was supposed to be the ability to NOT be held back by their skin color. Is that such a thing?

I'm not so sure. It's certainly more real in some parts of the country versus others, and reversed in others entirely. So I'm not sure.

But the term certainly has issues. For one, it only applies in one area of the world, in one demographic.

Oh he also said "it isn't enough to not be racist, you must be anti-racist."

If someone wants to think racist, I'm not going to police their brain and tell them not to.

I won't share a laugh on their joke, and I might even tell them not to make those jokes in my presence, but I'm not going to be "anti-racist", because that assumes racism is hiding behind every blade of grass and I just don't believe it.

All that said, white people: don't feel bad about being white.

Black people: don't feel bad about being black.

Everyone just be happy with who you are and focus on your individual achievements. Even if you're in a minority group, you can do it.