Privilege in the United States

POSTED BY: RiveR6213
UPDATED: Saturday, July 26, 2025 06:23
VIEWED: 20076
PAGE 14 of 20

PREV PAGE 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 NEXT PAGE

RIVER6213

Friday, June 8, 2007 3:10 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Hero:
Quote:
Originally posted by piratejenny:
I'm sure your white male privilage helped you just as much as any affirmative action program helped some woman or some minority who needed it.

Your right. By forcing me to work and pay for the same education handed to them by virtue of their race or gender

SO all people of color who have "made it" through school or hard work their opportunities were "handed too them" based on their color? You cannot honestly tell me for certain that you believe this? So anyone that is not White got a free ride? That's a pretty interesting way of seeing it.

I've spent my whole life going up against, and competing against White males, and I can tell you for certain that most of those white males had plenty of things "handed" too them without them actually working hard for it. Too many white males I know got their positions not because they were particularly skilled, or even intelligent. They got their positions because they were white males. I'm actually surprised that you wrote that line. Usually you are a thorny one but you usually make sense, but this time you you actually said something very silly.

So people of color get a free ride through Affirmative Action, and white people get a free ride through White privilege, and no one in the USA actually works hard and earn what they have or accomplished? Hell of a world this is...

-River

RIVER6213

Friday, June 8, 2007 3:16 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Finn mac Cumhal:
Quote:
Originally posted by RiveR6213:
No need to get defensive and slip into name calling. That is what you said. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what that line of yours means. Anyone who is non white did not deserve what they have accomplished because whatever they accomplished was handed too them because of the color of their skin. You on the other hand earned what you have in life through hard work and no one handed you anything. Color of skin = Things being handed to them.

Diversity programs and affirmative action programs still exist and I’ve still not benefited from them.

Neither have I, but we've both benefited from White Privilege, our very own built-in Affirmative Action.

-River

HERO

Friday, June 8, 2007 3:53 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by RiveR6213:
SO all people of color who have "made it" through school or hard work their opportunities were "handed too them" based on their color? You cannot honestly tell me for certain that you believe this? So anyone that is not White got a free ride? That's a pretty interesting way of seeing it.

I can't speak for all people of color. In my experiance a person with my academic and economic background who is also a minority would have warranted preferrential hiring, admissions, and financial aid. That aint fair. I made it and many of them didn't, not because I'm white but because I had to work my ass off. I suggest/speculate that the reason I had to work my ass off was because everything was not handed to me like I witnessed in so many of the minorities at my same or below my academic and economic level. The were not working their collective asses off so that, upon reaching the real world, they started with their prefferences, but could not compete against a highly motivated and productive me. I speculate that in this fashion Affirmative Action served the duel role of being both unjust to non-minorities and then failing in its principal mission.

In other words, I did more with less and still came out ahead.

Quote:

...most of those white males had plenty of things "handed" too them without them actually working hard for it. Too many white males I know got their positions not because they were particularly skilled, or even intelligent. They got their positions because they were white males.

I wonder if you are not mistaking economic privilage for some sort of racial distinction. Its an easy mistake to make because historically the economically powerful where also largely white males.

You may want to consider the perspective of a poor white son of a coal miner like myself to that of a rich son or daughter of a millionaire industrialist (race neutral). I think you'll find the issue is not race but economic. In that regard the system doubly fails me by making Affirmative Action available for minorities and Economic Privilage available for the rich.

H

SIGNYM

Friday, June 8, 2007 5:07 PM

There is without a doubt general privilege for rich white males. It's been demonstrated by too many "tester" surveys and by too many "blinded v unblinded" reviews that it just can't be discounted. For example, women fare just as well as men in blinded scientific grant reviews, but have to be THREE times better than men in unblinded reviews. Similarly, apartments, loans, cars, and houses are suddenly less available for people of color (the more color the less available) even with the same credit history and credit rating. I again point out to the TV Nation test where a well-known, well-dressed black actor could not catch a cab before a scruffy white ex-felon standing right next to him.

The visible exceptions of Affirmative Action (which may affect jobs with government, universities and some very large corporations; and public university admissions... but Affirmative Action is going by the wayside these days since quotas have been found illegal) do not negate the invisible stiff headwind that women, the poor, and people of color have to push through on their way to success. Like every other pervasive factor, it's stochastic. Some people will advance despite the negative pressure and some people will fail even with all the advantages of wealth, power, gender, and color. So it's easy to point to individuals and come up with anecdotal stories, but by and large populations as a whole will reflect the pressure placed on them.

White America did play a major part in making a mess of black community and culture. Even today blacks of the same merit are not fully accepted (rewarded) for their hard work. So if you have a society that on the one hand makes fewer resources available to some people, and at the same time fails to fully reward those who advance despite disadvantage then we're imposing a double whammy.

So it's up to white America to put enough pressure and resources on the back end (starting with health care and education) and fully reward people at the front end based soley on merit. But you better be prepared not to think "F*cking n*gger" every time you see a black person doing something stupid, just as I'm prepared not to think "F*cking redneck" every time I hear a southerner say something stupid.

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

RIVER6213

Friday, June 8, 2007 5:12 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Hero:
Quote:
Originally posted by RiveR6213:
SO all people of color who have "made it" through school or hard work their opportunities were "handed too them" based on their color? You cannot honestly tell me for certain that you believe this? So anyone that is not White got a free ride? That's a pretty interesting way of seeing it.

I can't speak for all people of color. In my experiance a person with my academic and economic background who is also a minority would have warranted preferrential hiring, admissions, and financial aid. That aint fair. I made it and many of them didn't, not because I'm white but because I had to work my ass off. I suggest/speculate that the reason I had to work my ass off was because everything was not handed to me like I witnessed in so many of the minorities at my same or below my academic and economic level. The were not working their collective asses off so that, upon reaching the real world, they started with their prefferences, but could not compete against a highly motivated and productive me. I speculate that in this fashion Affirmative Action served the duel role of being both unjust to non-minorities and then failing in its principal mission.

In other words, I did more with less and still came out ahead.

Quote:

...most of those white males had plenty of things "handed" too them without them actually working hard for it. Too many white males I know got their positions not because they were particularly skilled, or even intelligent. They got their positions because they were white males.

I wonder if you are not mistaking economic privilage for some sort of racial distinction. Its an easy mistake to make because historically the economically powerful where also largely white males.

You may want to consider the perspective of a poor white son of a coal miner like myself to that of a rich son or daughter of a millionaire industrialist (race neutral). I think you'll find the issue is not race but economic. In that regard the system doubly fails me by making Affirmative Action available for minorities and Economic Privilage available for the rich.

Nope. I know my own experiences, and I know what I was up against. Too many of those white guys were without a doubt unqualified for the positions that they went for, but they got the positions not for any skill that they had, they got it because they were white plain and simple, so there is no mistaking on my part. Also, you still seem to have a problem admitting that there are people of color who have worked their asses off to get too where they are today. From how you seem to be putting it is that White men work their asses off and still get left at the back of the bus, where as minorities who do less seem to get ahead. I don't know where you live, but if the rules are like that then your local government is not doing it's job, and the game board in which you move about in is insane. You have a problem with me lumping White men in the same category as having things handed too them, and you seem to want to get across to me and others how hard you've worked at getting to where you are in life, but you seem unable to extend that to people of color. It's like you are saying NO person of color works very hard, or as hard as a white man, and they ALL are using Affirmative Action, and having things handed to them. This seems to be what you are saying and if it is then You are damaged goods from where I stand. You have passed judgment that you cannot prove over 38 million people. but you don't seem to acknowledge that. You also refuse to see how White Privilege is working in your life. As a lawyer you cannot be that blind. Your whole argument is about preserving the power structure and you want us to love you for it. Good luck with that.

As far as myself I worked my ass off and had to be twice as better than the males around me, and had to fight through their bullshit everyday. let me tell you! It was hard work smashing their o

SIGNYM

Friday, June 8, 2007 5:55 PM

Oh nevermind.
---------------------------------
Always look upstream.

RIVER6213

Friday, June 8, 2007 6:06 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
Oh nevermind.
---------------------------------
Always look upstream.

Why "never mind?" Your last post had a lot of really good points and was valid. What? You didn't think anyone read it? You can bet your bottom dollar we all read it. I agreed with most of what you said, and you seem to be right on the mark. I can't argue with it because it is truth from where I stand.

-River

SIGNYM

Friday, June 8, 2007 6:12 PM

It was an ad hominem directed at Hero not worth my signature. Irritation got the better of me.

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

PIRATEJENNY

Sunday, June 10, 2007 6:51 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Hero:
Quote:
Originally posted by RiveR6213:
SO all people of color who have "made it" through school or hard work their opportunities were "handed too them" based on their color? You cannot honestly tell me for certain that you believe this? So anyone that is not White got a free ride? That's a pretty interesting way of seeing it.

I can't speak for all people of color. In my experiance a person with my academic and economic background who is also a minority would have warranted preferrential hiring, admissions, and financial aid. That aint fair. I made it and many of them didn't, not because I'm white but because I had to work my ass off. I suggest/speculate that the reason I had to work my ass off was because everything was not handed to me like I witnessed in so many of the minorities at my same or below my academic and economic level. The were not working their collective asses off so that, upon reaching the real world, they started with their prefferences, but could not compete against a highly motivated and productive me. I speculate that in this fashion Affirmative Action served the duel role of being both unjust to non-minorities and then failing in its principal mission.

In other words, I did more with less and still came out ahead.
Quote:

...most of those white males had plenty of things "handed" too them without them actually working hard for it. Too many white males I know got their positions not because they were particularly skilled, or even intelligent. They got their positions because they were white males.

I wonder if you are not mistaking economic privilage for some sort of racial distinction. Its an easy mistake to make because historically the economically powerful where also largely white males.

You may want to consider the perspective of a poor white son of a coal miner like myself to that of a rich son or daughter of a millionaire industrialist (race neutral). I think you'll find the issue is not race but economic. In that regard the system doubly fails me by making Affirmative Action available for minorities and Economic Privilage available for the rich.

H

ummm we are not talking about affirmative action we are talking about white privilege something you keep trying to avoid...

6IXSTRINGJACK

Sunday, June 10, 2007 9:54 AM

Your messages are starting to get repetitive and annoying River. If you really want to read people's thoughts on this issue, feel free to peruse the archives where this has been hashed and rehashed many, many times.

Why do you hate your race so much? Why do you feel so guilty about everything? Let's start a topic about why so many whites and males, particularly in America, hate themselves.....

Please. Get help for the drinking.

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." http://www.myspace.com/6ixstringjack

PREV PAGE 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 NEXT PAGE