• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

White People: how much self hate do you suffer?

Status
Not open for further replies.
It might be better to rephrase the statement to say "You have better chances of surviving in the US if you are a white."

My cousin died from one of the rarest forms of cancer by age 16 and he was white.
I know a lesbian that's white and I'm pretty sure she isn't privileged because she's white.
I went to checkyourprivelege.com and scored -140 and I'm white.

Privilege in the United States and every other country on earth is not based on skin color. I know my enemy, and I sure wish the rest of the people of this world did too.

Yeah... I don't think you understand what white privilege means.
I'll just quote mckmas8808:
No. Racist people are real.
Black Americans less likely to get hired than a white American? Black Americans more likely to get arrested for the same crime as a white American? Yea. It's racism, I know it exists.
But that does not mean I have an easy time doing everything, it doesn't mean I am higher up on some socio-economic scale, and it doesn't mean I am 'privileged' simply because I am white. I don't live in America. I've worked at jobs where I was the only white guy. 'White privilege' does not apply to every white guy, which is why I say it is bullshit. You don't get some easy mode button just for being born white, which is what proponents of the idea make it sound like.
If you are the minority somewhere you will have a harder than average experience doing things. It's not a white vs black thing.

I don't think you understand what white privilege means then. I'm sorry if I can't help you understand what it means. I'll leave these explanations of white privilege here.

“Privilege exists when one group has something of value that is denied to others simply because of the groups they belong to, rather than because of anything they’ve done or failed to do. Access to privilege doesn’t determine one’s outcomes, but it is definitely an asset that makes it more likely that whatever talent, ability, and aspirations a person with privilege has will result in something positive for them.” ~Peggy McIntosh

White skin privilege is not something that white people necessarily do, create or enjoy on purpose. Unlike the more overt individual and institutional manifestations of racism described above, white skin privilege is a transparent preference for whiteness that saturates our society. White skin privilege serves several functions. First, it provides white people with “perks” that we do not earn and that people of color do not enjoy. Second, it creates real advantages for us.

White Privilege: The Perks
White people receive all kinds of perks as a function of their skin privilege. Consider the following:
• When I stay in a hotel, the complimentary shampoo generally works with the texture of my hair.
• When I run to the store to buy pantyhose at the last minute, the ‘nude’ color generally appears nude on my legs.
• I can purchase travel size bottles of my hair care products at most grocery or drug stores.

White Privilege: The Advantages
Certainly, white privilege is not limited to perks like band aids and hair care products. The second function of white skin privilege is that it creates significant advantages for white people. There are scores of things that I, as a white person, generally do not encounter, have to deal with or even recognize. For example:
• My skin color does not work against me in terms of how people perceive my financial responsibility, style of dress, public speaking skills, or job performance.
• People do not assume that I got where I am professionally because of my race (or because of affirmative action programs).
• Store security personnel or law enforcement officers do not harass me, pull me over or follow me because of my race.


I'm not saying that you are trying to use it to your advantage. I'm not blaming you of anything. And white privilege doesn't mean that you won't be poor. It just means that society has set things up for you to be easier for you to exist and navigate in the world without a second thought.

White privilege means that if you make a comedy movie with an all white cast, it's just called a comedy or rom com. But if I make a similar movie with an all black cast it's deemed a "black film" or "black comedy". It's just expected that white people will star in movies, whereas if a black person stars in a movie sometimes people question if the producer or director adding the black person for affirmative action purposes or just as a token minority.
 
defecation of African Americans sells, looks at Chappelle Show (although people didn't understood his message) and sadly McGruder who clearly hates black culture and is not afraid to show his dislike.

And the worst thing about it is black folks will be the main ones to eat it up. That is TRUE self hate. Knowing you can say whatever you want about a group, and then dress it up with some half assed after school special "message" towards the group to call it satire. Oh, high fat food is bad for you? Oh, we shouldn't blindly support a pedophile singer(which black folks already didn't). Oh, slavery is really bad?(an actual message from the last season). Oh, white youth are the main people buying the shit hiphop culture sells? Fuck that shit. Some 20 second write off doesn't change a damn thing, especially when you look at the coonery and buffoonery you see about to come from the same asshole that created the boondocks next week. Black Jesus. A living embodiment of every black stereotype fresh for the amusement of the no doubt mostly nonblack audience. It's all good though cause I'm sure Aaron Mcgruder will add 2 minutes about a message of "niggas needing to come together" and all will be forgiven since there was "a message"

White folks can sleep well at night knowing no attack will ever be thrown at them as blatant as this.
 
I'm a Jew... Can I hate myself?

I mean, everyone hates Jews.
image.php
 
I hear things like that and wonder why other white people get personally upset instead of realizing "wow this kind of sucks, and this isn't even close to the serious racism others have to deal with every moment of their life."

C'mon, dude. Why? It's fucking obvious. Why should I sacrifice when the solution is fair treatment? Or, why can't all races be treated at the same standards I enjoy?
 
Try being light-skinned and 'mixed'.

Rejected by black people for being too white.

Rejected by white people for not being white.

Don't feel like you belong anywhere. ;_;

Light skin men get clowned somewhat(I feel your pain on that front as a "red boy") but no way in hell are black folks in America widely rejecting you on that.
 
I'm a little like that, but I'm dark enough to be call nigga a lot. Get over here and get a big indentity crisis hug from me bro.

thanks bro

Light skin men get clowned somewhat(I feel your pain on that front as a "red boy") but no way in hell are black folks in America widely rejecting you on that.

I don't live in America, and yeah granted it's not that bad outwardly. More like an identity crisis thing for me, feeling like a black sheep.
 
C'mon, dude. Why? It's fucking obvious. Why should I sacrifice when the solution is fair treatment? Or, why can't all races be treated at the same standards I enjoy?
haha, really?

I wish the second part could be true, but we can't just wish things into existence. This will still be going on long after we're dead. We just have to be good people.
 
C'mon, dude. Why? It's fucking obvious. Why should I sacrifice when the solution is fair treatment? Or, why can't all races be treated at the same standards I enjoy?

Agreed. Most "solutions" I hear of require one party to get up from the table to allow another a seat, rather than both of them having a seat at the same table. That is a violent action, which receives a violent reaction. Rinse and repeat.
 
Would you care to share an example argument and your stance in said argument that caused people to react so negatively towards you on the basis of you being white? I only ask because I'm curious.
Its really odd being in discussions with extremely liberal people. If I dont have the specific vocabulary my comment is written off, and its not in a negative tone, its just ignored. If you dont have something that makes you a minority in some way (gender, race, sexuality, religionm etc.) you do get this sense that you are being left out of discussions of equality, or that you are part of the problem.

Only example I can think of off the top of my head was a facebook friend post an article titled Why I can’t stand white belly dancers I commented that the tone of the article was way off base and almost hateful to 'white women', lumping anyone and everyone who was white and belly dancing as some sort of horrible cultural appropriator. I then pointed out that belly dancing (Raqs Sharqi) itself was an appropriated dance in Egypt by the upper class from traveling gypsies in the 1800s. I got called out on all sorts of things including my gender and race. Got really weird when people start to refer to me as "yt" (whitey). It was really weird and not something I had experienced before, never been called out on something like that before then so blatantly. Wouldnt even have normally commented on an article, but I also hadnt read an article that consistently said "white people" with such contempt. I get real uncomfortable when people start any sentence with "[insert skin color here] people" so seein it in a Salon article by a professor was very strange.



Try being light-skinned and 'mixed'.

Rejected by black people for being too white.

Rejected by white people for not being white.

Don't feel like you belong anywhere. ;_;

Oh man I have a few friends who are mixed and they tell me the craziest stories about hate from both whites and blacks.


EDIT: I do agree most people I have met who complain about 'the plight of white people' are usually ignorant jerks
 
C'mon, dude. Why? It's fucking obvious. Why should I sacrifice when the solution is fair treatment? Or, why can't all races be treated at the same standards I enjoy?

because you have benefited in various ways from unfair treatment. The very process of making treatment "fair" then removes some of those benefits.

if all job discrimination suddenly vanishes then it becomes harder for a white guy to find a job because now his black peers are on an even playing field
 
Try being light-skinned and 'mixed'.

Rejected by black people for being too white.

Rejected by white people for not being white.

Don't feel like you belong anywhere. ;_;

fuck.....

I mean, I've had several light skinned AA friends and yea they are poked fun of a lot but they are not downright shunned, but I'm not in your position so I can't really say.
 
Oh my bad I didn't know you were in South Korea :D

Yeah I'm from the UK but moved here to work last year, most Koreans can't tell the difference so I'm just classed at white here lol. They aren't exactly culturally sensitive about that kind of thing.
 
Again, I have only ever been personally called out for being white/male etc. by extremely liberal activist types and not something I normally experience from anyone else.
 
Yeah I'm from the UK but moved here to work last year, most Koreans can't tell the difference so I'm just classed at white here lol. They aren't exactly culturally sensitive about that kind of thing.

Lol I see.

Enjoy that white privilege in Korea lol.
 
Try being light-skinned and 'mixed'.

Rejected by black people for being too white.

Rejected by white people for not being white.

Don't feel like you belong anywhere. ;_;

I know exactly what this feels like. I am mixed with a white father, and a black mother and I have members on both sides of my family that don't like me for that reason. thankfully i don't have to deal with those people to often.

Weirdest experience I had with this was being in a situation where I had both whites, and blacks throw racial slurs for mixed people at me at once. I wasn't mad, but it was interesting.
 
And the worst thing about it is black folks will be the main ones to eat it up. That is TRUE self hate. Knowing you can say whatever you want about a group, and then dress it up with some half assed after school special "message" towards the group to call it satire. Oh, high fat food is bad for you? Oh, we shouldn't blindly support a pedophile singer(which black folks already didn't). Oh, slavery is really bad?(an actual message from the last season). Oh, white youth are the main people buying the shit hiphop culture sells? Fuck that shit. Some 20 second write off doesn't change a damn thing, especially when you look at the coonery and buffoonery you see about to come from the same asshole that created the boondocks next week. Black Jesus. A living embodiment of every black stereotype fresh for the amusement of the no doubt mostly nonblack audience. It's all good though cause I'm sure Aaron Mcgruder will add 2 minutes about a message of "niggas needing to come together" and all will be forgiven since there was "a message"

White folks can sleep well at night knowing no attack will ever be thrown at them as blatant as this.

I don't need Aaron's work to have a message to be funny. It's funny because it's funny. It's funny because it makes use of stereotypes and character types which, while NOT being representative of all black people (as anyone with sense, and anyone who's not already racist would know), but they're understood well enough to resonate with black audiences.

And the thing I don't get is that this isn't just a black thing. All comedy makes heavy use of stereotypes and comedic archetypes. This is comedy 101. Yet you don't hear anybody else giving so much of a shit about what white people are going to think about it. THAT is cultural white-washing. The same attitude that leads to black girls needing to keep their hair permed and black men having to keep their heads damn-near bald. The same reason why any sort of dreds, twists or kink is disallowed in "professional" settings even though they're styles for how our hair naturally grows. The same reason black mothers are discouraged from giving their kids names that sound the slightest bit ethnic. The same reason "black" accents and colloquialisms are classified as "crude", but East Coast accents and colloquialisms "show charming local color."

Because we're so damn busy giving a fuck about what the poor white people are going to think. This whole "we can't do this or wear that or find this funny because white people will get the wrong idea" shit disgusts me. Fuck what the poor white people are going to think. And if you didn't get that THAT was ultimately the point of The Boondocks, then you simply weren't paying enough attention to even criticize it.
 
thanks bro



I don't live in America, and yeah granted it's not that bad outwardly. More like an identity crisis thing for me, feeling like a black sheep.

Yep exact same thing. I live in Puerto Rico. I was born in the Dominican Republic but never fit in, moved to Puerto Rico but I'm too Dominican, when I visit my country of Origin I'm too Puerto Rican. I became an US citizen and I feel pretty much american but neither Puerticans or Americans accept me as such. Is frustating.
 
My father use to tell a story about a time he was on R&R during Vietnam, and he was accosted by a group of black men who started harassing him and calling him a "cracker," until a group of black soldiers (also on R&R) came to his defense. My father was in uniform at the time and, when he thanked the soldiers, they commented on the fact that they were all fighting a war together on the same side now.

I think my father liked to tell this story, to point out how silly racial divisions seem, when you're fighting a war. I mean, racism is ridiculous under any circumstances, but its especially obvious in that context. And also, he had immense respect for the black soldiers who were fighting with him (considering our country obviously hadn't been so great to them...)

Anywho, I think it's important for white people to call out other white people on racism, when they see it, but I also think its important for black people to do the same. It's true that racism against whites really doesn't have much power behind it, but it's still a negative and divisive force that should be spoken out against.
 
I find that earlier quote of what white privilege is pretty funny. Here's how I read it:

White Privilege: The Perks
White people receive all kinds of perks as a function of their "skin privilege". Consider the following:
• When I stay in a hotel, the complimentary shampoo generally works with the texture of my hair.

I think the complimentary shampoo does a generally poor job too. I've also only stayed in a hotel about a half dozen times so I guess I haven't been enjoying this privlege enough.

• When I run to the store to buy pantyhose at the last minute, the ‘nude’ color generally appears nude on my legs.

This is not only just for women, but it's not something I can really get up in arms over. I'm sorry that sometimes things that are "skin colored" are more often closer to a "white" skin tone, but that really isn't some great privilege in my life.

• I can purchase travel size bottles of my hair care products at most grocery or drug stores.

Every grocery/drug store in my area I've ever been to stocks a huge variety of hair products for people with curly or thicker hair. On the flip side, as a white person with very sensitive skin, I have to look out for skin products specifically for white people with pale/sensitive skin. I also look bright red for days if I go out in the sun for a few hours. But I wouldn't ever make an issue out of the fact people of color don't have to embarrass themselves with a spray-tan, or spend lots of time/money on actual tanning.

White Privilege: The Advantages
Certainly, white privilege is not limited to perks like band aids and hair care products. The second function of white skin privilege is that it creates significant advantages for white people. There are scores of things that I, as a white person, generally do not encounter, have to deal with or even recognize. For example:
• My skin color does not work against me in terms of how people perceive my financial responsibility, style of dress, public speaking skills, or job performance.

This is very vague and outside of maybe polls with limited scopes I'm fairly sure this would mostly rely on anecdotal evidence for support. Personally I can guarantee you people judge my style of dress based off my skin color, and I've heard lots of negative talk about how white people deal with their money.

• People do not assume that I got where I am professionally because of my race (or because of affirmative action programs).

Ignoring how ironic it is to put something about assumptions in a paragraph full of assumptions, this is again anecdotal and could be rebutted by my own personal anecdotes.

• Store security personnel or law enforcement officers do not harass me, pull me over or follow me because of my race.

Now this one is a legitimate issue, but it's also one that's not going to go away until many more serious race relations issues are worked out. Really though, I get followed around as a white person too - just maybe not as frequently.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I don't believe that people experience perks at points in their lives based off of their skin color, but I just think that quote did a really poor job of making it sound like a serious issue, and also used very weak arguments that can be turned right around.
 
I don't need Aaron's work to have a message to be funny. It's funny because it's funny. It's funny because it makes use of stereotypes and character types which, while NOT being representative of all black people (as anyone with sense, and anyone who's not already racist would know), but they're understood well enough to resonate with black audiences.

And the thing I don't get is that this isn't just a black thing. All comedy makes heavy use of stereotypes and comedic archetypes. This is comedy 101. Yet you don't hear anybody else giving so much of a shit about what white people are going to think about it. THAT is cultural white-washing. The same attitude that leads to black girls needing to keep their hair permed and black men having to keep their heads damn-near bald. The same reason why any sort of dreds, twists or kink is disallowed in "professional" settings even though they're styles for how our hair naturally grows. The same reason black mothers are discouraged from giving their kids names that sound the slightest bit ethnic. The same reason "black" accents and colloquialisms are classified as "crude", but East Coast accents and colloquialisms "show charming local color."

Because we're so damn busy giving a fuck about what the poor white people are going to think. This whole "we can't do this or wear that or find this funny because white people will get the wrong idea" shit disgusts me. Fuck what the poor white people are going to think. And if you didn't get that THAT was ultimately the point of The Boondocks, then you simply weren't paying enough attention to even criticize it.

It's funny because he's saying what white racists say and no group respects black people enough to call him on it. Simple as. It's shit, and black Jesus will be more of the same.

It's the 21st century and we should be past this as a people.
 
Boondocks is terrible pseudo satire created to allow whites and other groups to safely laugh at racial stereotypes of blacks they actually believe without feeling racist. Uncle ruckus in particular is really disgusting.

McGruder can hate BET for not picking up his show, but has gone on to create crap that would be right at home in the trash bin BET gets its programming from. Black Jesus looks even worse too.

PJs was trash too.

Man, this post is so real I almost fell out of my chair. Damn dude, so on fucking point.
 
It's funny because he's saying what white racists say and no group respects black people enough to call him on it. Simple as. It's shit, and black Jesus will be more of the same.

It's the 21st century and we should be past this as a people.

That doesn't make sense.

Using Uncle Ruckus since you brought him up earlier, how is he just a reflection of "what white racists say?" The whole point of that character is that he's an Uncle Tom who kisses white ass at every opportunity, and yet nobody ever shows him more than complete contempt (black OR white) because, just like in real life, white racists don't actually respect or like Uncle Toms, regardless of how much ass they kiss.

And what about Tom? He's the very definition of a respectability nigga. If The Boondocks were just about pandering to white folks, as you say, then shouldn't he be the "hero" of the show? No, in fact he pretty much exists to get shit on.
 
but

you ARE privileged for being white

I think he's focused more on the second part, "White people pointing out white privilege to white people".

Basically, he's not really into those who're self-pitying/degrading due to being part of the dominate race.

Exactly this.

I don't need to be told that I'm privileged for my skin colour, I was brought up to realise this, among with many other privileges I have and I'm thankful for it. I'm white, male, straight, cis, from the UK. Yeah, I have a lot of privilege when it comes to many other people in the world. That does not mean I own all of the privilege ever.

Privilege is relative, as are problems. Yes, some problems are more trivial than others, but they're still problems relative to the person. The trend right now is to dismiss basically all problems I experience with 'you're white' or 'you're a guy', when the problem has no relevance on the privilege whatsoever. It's still a problem, I want it resolved and I don't need to be reminded every single time I have a problem relative to me that I'm privileged, especially by white people that have apparently the same privilege as I do. It's just hypocritical and dumb, because I'm sure you have problems too.

I was unemployed for two years, and statistically my privilege should be working out for me, but it obviously wasn't. Then when I did eventually find employment, is it because of my privilege? Maybe it's a single factor of many, but is it a large factor? I really hope not, because that would be trivializing my success of getting a job on many of my merits that I've worked hard for, after struggling with the problem of being unemployed for so long. I currently live in South Korea. Does my white privilege work the same way there as it does back home? It's really not as simple as just being white, is it.

The trivializing of problems is way beyond, and the trend in social media right now to constantly bombard me with reminders of my privilege daily is unnecessary and tiresome. I've actually been contemplating making a thread about this, and I think I will do soon, but because of the magnitude of thoughts I have on this I really need the time to sit down and plan it out which I haven't had recently.

If you want to be really proactive in eradicating this privilege by educating the ignorant, then be my guest, but for fuck sake that ignoramus is not me.
 
That doesn't make sense.

Using Uncle Ruckus since you brought him up earlier, how is he just a reflection of "what white racists say?" The whole point of that character is that he's an Uncle Tom who kisses white ass at every opportunity, and yet nobody ever shows him more than complete contempt (black OR white) because, just like in real life, white racists don't actually respect or like Uncle Toms, regardless of how much ass they kiss.

And what about Tom? He's the very definition of a respectability nigga. If The Boondocks were just about pandering to white folks, as you say, then shouldn't he be the "hero" of the show? No, in fact he pretty much exists to get shit on.

Ruckus is a mouthpiece to say what people think. Think about it, even in this racist country, could a white person get away with writing a character like him on tv?Just straight up mouthpiece to some of the most vile things you could say about black people? It's not acceptable.the character is treated with the same contempt as "Huey" the person you claim to be the main character.

Tom is a clown. A "successful" black man who is such a clown he has married a white woman who, to no doubt settle the racist fans of the boondocks, is shown to be nothing more than a vapid loose whore. So much so that he has to go to a pimp, and later an abuser music star, to even deal with her. Because a successful black guy couldn't get normal attractive white women right? She must be a loose whore like his wife. Looks like pandering to me.

What doesn't make sense is that McGruder attacks BET for creating shit programming, yet dragged stinkmeiner out of the grave how many times? 3? 4? And then created a mouthpiece to some of the most disgusting anti black propaganda seen on tv. He even looks to be trying to outdo himself with black Jesus. We all know he's a white mans boy, but he looks even like a bigger hypocrite now.
 
Unless I'm missing something, how was Tom wife as lose whore? She loved Usher but she was just a fan of him, you found that out at the end of the episode.
 
Ruckus is a mouthpiece to say what people think. Think about it, even in this racist country, could a white person get away with writing a character like him on tv?Just straight up mouthpiece to some of the most vile things you could say about black people? It's not acceptable.the character is treated with the same contempt as "Huey" the person you claim to be the main character.

But that's the POINT of Ruckus. He says this vile, racist shit...and yet NOBODY takes him seriously or respects him for it. He's a joke. A literal troll. Just because he's saying things that have a real history in "ridiculous shit that racist white people believe about black people" shouldn't remove the context or the point of Uncle Ruckus' character within the show. Uncle Ruckus, this disgusting, ugly troll of a person that everyone thinks is a sad joke is being used as a mouthpiece for all this vile racist shit...ding ding ding? That's the joke.

Tom is a clown. A "successful" black man who is such a clown he has married a white woman who, to no doubt settle the racist fans of the boondocks, is shown to be nothing more than a vapid loose whore. So much so that he has to go to a pimp, and later an abuser music star, to even deal with her. Because a successful black guy couldn't get normal attractive white women right? She must be a loose whore like his wife. Looks like pandering to me.

No, the ultimate point in Tom is to show that, no matter how much you live your life according to what white people "respect", at the end of the day, that doesn't guarantee shit. You still a nigga.
 
But that's the POINT of Ruckus. He says this vile, racist shit...and yet NOBODY takes him seriously or respects him for it. He's a joke. A literal troll. Just because he's saying things that have a real history in "ridiculous shit that racist white people believe about black people" shouldn't remove the context or the point of Uncle Ruckus' character within the show. Uncle Ruckus, this disgusting, ugly troll of a person that everyone thinks is a sad joke is being used as a mouthpiece for all this vile racist shit...ding ding ding? That's the joke.

He's viewed as sad as everybody else though. Hell they made the rest actual slaves last season. It's an awful show man. You gotta see that as a brown person in America. We can't accept shit like that. We gotta be beyond something.

No, the ultimate point in Tom is to show that, no matter how much you live your life according to what white people "respect", at the end of the day, that doesn't guarantee shit. You still a nigga.

That sounds terrible written out.
 
It is very true that white privilege is a powerful thing - for now.

It is also true that it's unfair to be dismissed or disliked for being white.

But, fellow white people, everybody has to deal with prejudiced statements from others that are unfair or hurtful; the difference is, if you're white, it's usually not coming from an institution that is locking you out of participation, and you have all the advantages and privileges white people enjoy to comfort you.

I'm sensitive, because despite being white, I have been through a lot of shit in my life. And I'm liberal, so I take great pains to avoid ever saying a cross word about any group of people -- generalizing is always wrong. So it makes me upset when people say something like "I can't stand white people," because I take it harder than a lot of white guys might since I don't have this deep reserve of privileged comfort and confidence to draw from, and because it feels like the effort I make to avoid being prejudiced at all costs is not being reciprocated. By 2043 whites won't even be a majority of the US. Wonder how attitudes about saying "I hate white people" openly might change.

But then you gotta stop and think -- that's what I put with as a white person, yes. But what if I were black? I would be distrusted, followed by cops, devalued, and harassed, probably living in a different economic class, and the history of my family would (as an American) include grandparents who couldn't vote and, likely, slavery. And that's why there's not much sympathy for white people. It's not that it doesn't suck when people have that attitude - it's that everyone else has it much worse.

Ideally no one would see color and everyone would just be a person that you got to know, and you never jumped to any conclusions about them, subconsciously or consciously, ever. But that will probably not happen in our lifetimes.
 
I would echo Carlin's sentiments on pride regarding genetic happenstance - "fuck pride." And the other side of that coin is that I don't hate myself for genetic happenstance, either.

On the subject of privilege: I am a white person who grew up with significant disadvantages that the friends I made in college and law school didn't have. My high school was so small and my area so poor that AP classes weren't even offered. I felt like an idiot when I got to college and students had already taken Calculus, which I didn't even know could be offered to high school students. Nobody in my family had a college degree, and it was immediately apparent that I was one of the poorest people I knew when I got to the big State University. I felt like a total rube because I had never been out of the country or even in a plane. The list goes on, but one obvious common theme is that I had no control over this stuff growing up.

So, I understand where some white people are coming from. Whiteness as a proxy for privilege can be an extremely poor fit, and I have called several supposed liberals on their racism for assuming I had some advantages (education, money, nepotism) because of my skin color.

But, with all that said, privilege is still an important concept to me that I try to be cognizant of. There are systemic advantages to being the majority race, being straight, being able bodied, and so on, and my personal background doesn't invalidate systemic advantages just because I didn't enjoy some of them. I don't care to point out those advantages as others have done so already, but I want to offer my humble advice to white people that might bristle at the privilege term and advocate that you see and take the middle ground - There are people out there that will use privilege not as a tool of understanding but as ammunition against you despite whatever your personal situation is. But don't get caught up in defending yourself in an imaginary race war. Don't let the unreasonable voices guide how you think about the concept of privilege. Instead, listen to the more numerous and reasonable voices that talk about privilege as a useful concept that illuminates systemic advantages that most people don't see or even think about.
 
Over where I live it's not something negative but just annoying.

My parents are swiss and I'm sort of...generic swiss looking (if that is a thing).
The problem with being blond and "european looking" over here is that everyone asumes that you are filthy rich and everything comes easy to you, which isn't true at all.

Everyone tends to asume that my parents are rich and pay for everything I want when in fact the only reason why I have more money than my fellow students (at my university) is that unlike them I'm not lazy and decided to sacrifice some of my free time in order to get a part-time job
 
It always bugs me when people dismiss issues one person or group of people have just because others have a more severe similar issue. It gives me this image of a man weeping over losing his arm and the guy next to him says "Quit your bitching. Can't you see I lost BOTH of my arms?! You have nothing to complain about!"
 
Try being light-skinned and 'mixed'.

Rejected by black people for being too white.

Rejected by white people for not being white.

Don't feel like you belong anywhere. ;_;

100% this.

Mixed race people - or just those who aren't an easily distinguishable race - get the short end of both sticks. It's a shame it isn't discussed more.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom