Real World Event Discussions

Privilege in the United States

POSTED BY: RiveR6213
UPDATED: Saturday, July 26, 2025 06:23
VIEWED: 20076
PAGE 8 of 20

SIGNYM

Tuesday, June 5, 2007 10:10 PM

Typical whitey. So git in the corner Finn, siddown and shaddup.

---------------------------------
Always look upstream.

REAVERMAN

Wednesday, June 6, 2007 4:16 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by RiveR6213:

Actually "Whitey" is the blame for a lot of current conditions of other races in the United States and I don't care how you try to play it. In many ways defensive Whites are attempting, or have been attempting to make the other races the blame for the game board that we whites put together, so we can feel okay with our whiteness, and privilege by placing the blame on the victims of our greed and high-handedness of the past and present. I don't buy it. Whitey should be blamed because it's our game by our rules.

-River

Wait, I thought you said you didn't buy into the whole "racial guilt" thing. Yet here you are telling all of us (those of us that are white, that is) that we are to blame for the social problems and injustices. How many people here were adults that could have effected the situation when racism was law? How many of us had even been born? And those of us that are old enough, how many are in any position to change things? If one entire race can be guilty of a collective crime, who's to say that racial steriotypes aren't true?

When you make generalizations like that, it is no different than saying that "all black men are sexual animals that want nothing more than to rape white women". It's just not true. I wasn't even alive yet when the major injustices occured, so am I to blame for setting "the game board"?

I do believe that white privelege exists, to an extent. A lot of it is more because of public perception, than a grand scheme to keep minorities down. People see on shows like "Cops", that most of the druggies and other criminals that are arrested are black or hispanic. Therefore, people are more inclined to trust those NOT seen as criminals, and so asians, or whites are seen (probably subconsciously by most) as better, and smarter.

Now, it's common knowledge that the ratio of free blacks to imprisoned blacks is ridiculously low, while the ratio of free whites to imprisoned whites is relatively high. But that is less because of racism than the fact that most blacks live below the poverty line. Yes, whites of the past created that problem, and not much has been done since to fix it. But, also, not much has been done to hinder the financial growth of the impoverished minorities. I have a Mexican uncle (a first generation immigrant) who worked hard to get U.S. citizenship, then went from being cheap labor, merely one of millions of others, to being a multi-millionaire carpet-business owner. How did he do it? Not through racial advantage.

By the same token, there are intelligent, hard working whites who competently work their asses off five to six days a week for years, and never make more than 30,000 dollars a year (My father is one of them). How are they benefiting from the racial advantage?

Another part of the problem is the perception of the problem itself. Because people always hear about racism, and how it is supposedly affecting them, what little real racial advantage there is is exaggerated until it's become some globe-spanning conspiracy of Whites.

I saw a story in the news a couple years ago, in which a black man in San Diego, California, was blaming the fact that most San Diegan blacks don't know how to swim on laws repealed forty years before that prohibited blacks from using public pools. He was saying that whites were collectively to blame for the fact that in FORTY YEARS, blacks didn't bother to learn how to swim. And of course, the white news crew looked, and acted ashamed, and actually apologized to the idiot, because if they didn't agree with what ever the man said (because of the color of his skin), they would have 1)been labelled racists, and 2)lost their jobs. So where's the racial advantage in that situation? Where is the grand racist infrastructure keeping the black man down? I don't see it. If anything, now, there's a grand racist conspiracy to keep the white man from exercising his/her right to free speech, and to make the white man feel inferior because of the actions of those long gone.

I ackno

RIVER6213

Wednesday, June 6, 2007 5:18 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Reaverman:
Quote:
Originally posted by RiveR6213:

Actually "Whitey" is the blame for a lot of current conditions of other races in the United States and I don't care how you try to play it. In many ways defensive Whites are attempting, or have been attempting to make the other races the blame for the game board that we whites put together, so we can feel okay with our whiteness, and privilege by placing the blame on the victims of our greed and high-handedness of the past and present. I don't buy it. Whitey should be blamed because it's our game by our rules.

-River

Wait, I thought you said you didn't buy into the whole "racial guilt" thing. Yet here you are telling all of us (those of us that are white, that is) that we are to blame for the social problems and injustices. How many people here were adults that could have effected the situation when racism was law? How many of us had even been born? And those of us that are old enough, how many are in any position to change things? If one entire race can be guilty of a collective crime, who's to say that racial steriotypes aren't true?

When you make generalizations like that, it is no different than saying that "all black men are sexual animals that want nothing more than to rape white women". It's just not true. I wasn't even alive yet when the major injustices occured, so am I to blame for setting "the game board"?

I do believe that white privelege exists, to an extent. A lot of it is more because of public perception, than a grand scheme to keep minorities down. People see on shows like "Cops", that most of the druggies and other criminals that are arrested are black or hispanic. Therefore, people are more inclined to trust those NOT seen as criminals, and so asians, or whites are seen (probably subconsciously by most) as better, and smarter.

Now, it's common knowledge that the ratio of free blacks to imprisoned blacks is ridiculously low, while the ratio of free whites to imprisoned whites is relatively high. But that is less because of racism than the fact that most blacks live below the poverty line. Yes, whites of the past created that problem, and not much has been done since to fix it. But, also, not much has been done to hinder the financial growth of the impoverished minorities. I have a Mexican uncle (a first generation immigrant) who worked hard to get U.S. citizenship, then went from being cheap labor, merely one of millions of others, to being a multi-millionaire carpet-business owner. How did he do it? Not through racial advantage.

By the same token, there are intelligent, hard working whites who competently work their asses off five to six days a week for years, and never make more than 30,000 dollars a year (My father is one of them). How are they benefiting from the racial advantage?

Another part of the problem is the perception of the problem itself. Because people always hear about racism, and how it is supposedly affecting them, what little real racial advantage there is is exaggerated until it's become some globe-spanning conspiracy of Whites.

I saw a story in the news a couple years ago, in which a black man in San Diego, California, was blaming the fact that most San Diegan blacks don't know how to swim on laws repealed forty years before that prohibited blacks from using public pools. He was saying that whites were collectively to blame for the fact that in FORTY YEARS, blacks didn't bother to learn how to swim. And of course, the white news crew looked, and acted ashamed, and actually apologized to the idiot, because if they didn't agree with what ever the man said (because of the color of his skin), they would have 1)been labelled racists, and 2)lost their jobs. So where's the racial advantage in that situation? Where is the grand racist infrastructure keeping the black man down? I don't see it. If anything, now, there's a grand racist conspiracy to keep the white man from exercising his/her right to free speech, and to make the white man feel inferior because of

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REAVERMAN

Wednesday, June 6, 2007 6:29 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by RiveR6213:

Every White man I've ever met has been a scheming, crooked, low morals, take-advantage-of-everything-in sight, righteous jerks. I don't believe I've ever met an honest, hard working white man in my whole life, and I've been around the block. White men walk about acting like everyone owes them something;White men caused most of the primary problems in the United States before you were born, and after you were born and they are still at it. I'm almost certain that you in your own thoughtless way have contributed in some fashion without even being aware of it. Almost all the top slots of government and business are controlled by guess who? White men which means they are making policy, and that policy trickles down to us lesser, undeserving people, and has national and international impact. Who controls all avenues of the media? White men. White men are able to paint the face of what is called America and half those images are lies. Who controls the most awesome military in the world? White men. They have the weapons to subjugate anyone who dares to speak out against them.

The main reason that most people in positions of power are white males is because the majority of them are wealthy, and are members of families that have been wealthy since the times when being a white male really did give you glaringly obvious benefits. They are "Old Money". And what makes the world go 'round? Money. What gets people into positions of power? Money.

Granted, the reason for the lack of wealthy minorities was white men, but almost all of the old restrictions have been dropped. They (minorities and women) just haven't had time to uproot the entrenched aristocracy. When they finally do, though, not much will change. Then you'll just have men and women of every race acting like they own everything, and lording over the rest of us.

Quote:
White men are whining that they are being oppressed and that their right to have free speech is being infringed upon. When White men HAD total free speech, and control look how they abused it...they locked off all avenues of opportunity for everyone else that wasn't them, and wast white, and tried to keep the power all to themselves until the country nearly exploded in the process.

I don't care if a lot of the men in power (politicians and corporate CEOs) have their free speech rights taken away. You are right in that neither of those groups have done humanity any good. What angers me and most middle-to-lower-class whites is that the actions of a few are resulting in us having to censor ourselves, and us having to live in fear of saying the wrong thing.

And I, for one do not want control. Just free speech. Plus, would history have been very different if it had been Black men running things? No. Or Hispanic men running things? No. Or women running things? No. The events would have been different, but the overall pattern of opression would have remained the same. Hunger for power over others is a flaw present in all of humanity, black, white, male, female. It is a problem with the human race, not just the white one.

Quote:
White men do not know how to share power...LoL! White men don't know how to share anything.

Women should have never had to fight to vote. Woman should have never had to feel like our roles had been devalued by white male culture to the point where we had to stand up and take control of our lives and futures because White men had tried to deny those futures and possible futures. "This far but no further" your gender told us. Blacks should have never had to have a civil rights movement let alone a thousand organizations that have been put into place to ensure that White males do not take advantage of them, which White men STILL try to do everyday even in this day and time. There should have never had been a reason for the Blacks to "March on Washington" Except for Vietnam, the Civil Rights Movement should have never taken place. There SHOULD have been no reason for it but it did happen beca

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RIVER6213

Wednesday, June 6, 2007 7:05 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Reaverman:
Quote:
Originally posted by RiveR6213:

Every White man I've ever met has been a scheming, crooked, low morals, take-advantage-of-everything-in sight, righteous jerks. I don't believe I've ever met an honest, hard working white man in my whole life, and I've been around the block. White men walk about acting like everyone owes them something;White men caused most of the primary problems in the United States before you were born, and after you were born and they are still at it. I'm almost certain that you in your own thoughtless way have contributed in some fashion without even being aware of it. Almost all the top slots of government and business are controlled by guess who? White men which means they are making policy, and that policy trickles down to us lesser, undeserving people, and has national and international impact. Who controls all avenues of the media? White men. White men are able to paint the face of what is called America and half those images are lies. Who controls the most awesome military in the world? White men. They have the weapons to subjugate anyone who dares to speak out against them.

The main reason that most people in positions of power are white males is because the majority of them are wealthy, and are members of families that have been wealthy since the times when being a white male really did give you glaringly obvious benefits. They are "Old Money". And what makes the world go 'round? Money. What gets people into positions of power? Money.

Granted, the reason for the lack of wealthy minorities was white men, but almost all of the old restrictions have been dropped. They (minorities and women) just haven't had time to uproot the entrenched aristocracy. When they finally do, though, not much will change. Then you'll just have men and women of every race acting like they own everything, and lording over the rest of us.

Quote:
White men are whining that they are being oppressed and that their right to have free speech is being infringed upon. When White men HAD total free speech, and control look how they abused it...they locked off all avenues of opportunity for everyone else that wasn't them, and wast white, and tried to keep the power all to themselves until the country nearly exploded in the process.

I don't care if a lot of the men in power (politicians and corporate CEOs) have their free speech rights taken away. You are right in that neither of those groups have done humanity any good. What angers me and most middle-to-lower-class whites is that the actions of a few are resulting in us having to censor ourselves, and us having to live in fear of saying the wrong thing.

And I, for one do not want control. Just free speech. Plus, would history have been very different if it had been Black men running things? No. Or Hispanic men running things? No. Or women running things? No. The events would have been different, but the overall pattern of opression would have remained the same. Hunger for power over others is a flaw present in all of humanity, black, white, male, female. It is a problem with the human race, not just the white one.

Quote:
White men do not know how to share power...LoL! White men don't know how to share anything.

Women should have never had to fight to vote. Woman should have never had to feel like our roles had been devalued by white male culture to the point where we had to stand up and take control of our lives and futures because White men had tried to deny those futures and possible futures. "This far but no further" your gender told us. Blacks should have never had to have a civil rights movement let alone a thousand organizations that have been put into place to ensure that White males do not take advantage of them, which White men STILL try to do everyday even in this day and time. There should have never had been a reason for the Blacks to "March on Washington" Except for Vietnam, the Civil Rights Movement should have never taken place. There SHOULD have b

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RUE

Wednesday, June 6, 2007 2:42 PM

"Some of you will feel betrayed, and feel like someone is blaming you for something, which actually I am."

I'm a second generation USer. My family on both sides goes back to Poland for several hundred years. Nobody in my lineage had anything to do with slave-owning and oppression of Blacks. I was born into a system of white privilege that I didn't create, as I was born outside of the system of male privilege, that I also didn't create.

I don't deny that it's there. So I try to not personally perpetuate it, but as far as I can tell there is very little I can do to change it.

RUE

Wednesday, June 6, 2007 2:44 PM

You say whitey, I say gringo.

Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
Typical whitey. So git in the corner Finn, siddown and shaddup.

---------------------------------
Always look upstream.

RUE

Wednesday, June 6, 2007 2:46 PM

Finn,

Imagine that you came from the same circumstances but your skin was something other that white or yellow (the other white).

It would have been far harder for you to do what you did. That's all I am saying.

FINN MAC CUMHAL

Wednesday, June 6, 2007 2:59 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by RiveR6213:
And yes this post is full of generalizations, but I stand correct. I don't believe out of the 300 million people in the United States that there is not ONE honest, non White privilege thinking, old boy networked white man to be found. Simply put, White men are never to be trusted because they ruined the United States. I bet hell is totally full of White men.

Well, at least the question of whether you’re a racist has been answered. And if there was any debate on your chauvinist tendencies, that’s pretty much answered too. Although, I have to hand one thing to you, you’re honest, in a dumb kind of a way. I bet there are a good number of left-wing/feminist types on this board who are just as racist and chauvinist, but they don’t have the coglioni to admit it.

Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum.

Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system.

-- Cicero

KANEMAN

Wednesday, June 6, 2007 3:09 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Finn mac Cumhal:
Quote:
Originally posted by RiveR6213:
And yes this post is full of generalizations, but I stand correct. I don't believe out of the 300 million people in the United States that there is not ONE honest, non White privilege thinking, old boy networked white man to be found. Simply put, White men are never to be trusted because they ruined the United States. I bet hell is totally full of White men.
Well, at least the question of whether you’re a racist has been answered. And if there was any debate on your chauvinist tendencies, that’s pretty much answered too. Although, I have to hand one thing to you, you’re honest, in a dumb kind of a way. I bet there are a good number of left-wing/feminist types on this board who are just as racist and chauvinist, but they don’t have the coglioni to admit it.

Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum.

Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system.

-- Cicero

What he said......Well, at least he didn't call you a drunk psychotic fucking retard....I would have. Oops! I just did.....