June 22, 2012
White people "are privileged, and that's unfair."
Via James Taranto, who calls it "bizarre" and "reminiscent of that hilarious 'Dear Woman' video we noted last year, in which a succession of wimpy dudes apologize to humanity's distaff half for the putative predations of 'the unconscious masculine.' In one way the 'Un-Fair' video is even weirder: The pallid persons' proclamations of privilege are literally written upon their skin, in what one hopes is water-soluble ink."
Possibly because I read that before I watched the "unfair" video, I thought the new ad had a relatively light touch and made its point well. "Dear Woman," by contrast, hilariously backfires. If you have 8+ minutes and need a laugh this morning, check it out. (If you don't have that much time, just watch for 20 seconds. I bet you'll be laughing.)
Anyway, Taranto has a lot more to say about racial politics. Feel free to discuss, in addition to the relative effectiveness of the 2 videos, whether it's good for American society to push white people to become conscious of the way their race gives them privileges. (Obviously, for one thing, you can't deliver that message solely to white people. If the message goes out, it is also received by nonwhite people, who must hear that they are continually at a disadvantage.)
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111 comments:
God. What a bunch of simpering assholes.
If they feel so bad for being born white, they could always kill themselves.
I think I might wish that they would.
Reminds me of the old Unix joke: The World is 99% full. Please delete someone you don't need.
Seeing the words on their skin, I'm thinking Tawana Brawley....
My race gives me unearned privileges? Like affirmative action?
Sorry, I am white. I was once offered affirmative action in the form of a small scholarship for attending a traditional black college and I turned it down. I don't believe in that shit.
And if I am privileged, it is from the hard work of my father who grew up poor, went to medical school, and died rich. Thanks dad!
But it had nothing to do with his being white. It had to do with him being the first in his family to go to college and then med school and working hard.
Thanks dad!
Trey
Ineffective. Why? Well, I'll tell you, but first, I need to shove this wedge in just a little further...
It says a lot about these "privileged" schmucks that they think only black people get stared at when they walk into a room.
I've gotten plenty of stares when I show up at events that are otherwise all-black. These doofi apparently hang out at places where black people don't usually go.
As one commenter said - if these guys are just trying to get laid, I can't really fault them.
"Seeing the words on their skin, I'm thinking Tawana Brawley...."
I was thinking the Sociology Dept at your local university. Try to imagine a place and a population where these videos would be see as sharp commentary cutting to the heart of things. (I know, I know ...). There is only one such place.
This reminds me of that website where americans were apologizing to the world, or something like that. (can't watch the videos yet).
Elizabeth Warren is 31/32 privileged. That's unfair.
But people always assume I can't dance just by looking at me. I mean, I can't dance, but they shouldn't just assume it. I want them to assume that I can, so I never have to prove it.
Oh, and to have people assume me to be well endowed would be awesome. I try to spread that rumor as much as possible, but my skin defies me - my foul, evil skin.
Blatantly anti-white hiring by government at the federal, state and local level makes the assertion of white privilege a piece of breathtaking chutzpah.
If those white people kept adding magic marker to their faces, then they would ultimately be condemned as racist and offensive.
You can put some black magic marker on your face, white people, but not too much!
Our President makes the opposing argument, silently, perfectly.
I think I have finally reached a point where I am willing to throw the baby (the few students who are actually educated) out with the entire higher education bathwater. Universities as they exist today are poison.
Sorry, Althouse.
Life's unfair.
It's unfair that a white person discovered the polio vaccine. It's unfair that a white person invented the electric lightbulb. It's unfair that a white person perfected a method for freezing vegetables. It's unfair that a white person developed a steam locomotive. It's unfair that a white person developed the thermometer.
Life is SO unfair!
Elizabeth Warren is 31/32 privileged. That's unfair.
give her a break. it's her birthday today. she's 779 moons old.
Feel free to discuss, in addition to the relative effectiveness of the 2 videos, whether it's good for American society to push white people to become conscious of the way their race gives them privileges.
It's a good thing for American society if white people ask whether their race actually gives them privilege. Because the answer is, it doesn't.
PS - I thought race was a completely imaginary social construct which no intelligent person believes in? It's odd how it because very real and concrete for the purposes of attacking white people.
Let me suggest that this ad may be tied fairly closely to President Obama starting to crater in the polls - not because he is Black, but because he is doing a horrible job as President, helping to greatly lengthen and deepen the recession, running guns to violent Mexican cartels, lying to Congress, etc.
What does he have going for him this time around? He can't run on his record, because if he did, he would be lucky to carry D.C. and maybe MA. So, what's left? Racism!! White people are racist, and the only way to get over it is to vote again for the first half Black President!!
Of course, most people aren't going to fall for this again, but the President's campaign seems to be trying to piece together a winning coalition, with women wanting free stuff from the government, Blacks, Hispanics will illegal relatives (or, maybe even some of those illegal relatives, if AG Holder has his way with state photo id laws), unionized government workers, and now White people who are still guilty about their race after sacrificing the economy with their vote for him last time around.
I don't think that this approach towards coalition building with mini-segments is going to work that well this time, but I could be surprised. We shall see.
Really? So am I to assume that all of the worlds problems have been solved and now a new grievance is being manufactured... oh wait, it's all the crackah's fault.
From where I'm sitting white privilege is a lot of hard work.
I should be punished for being privileged exactly in proportion to my own involvement in choosing my parents.
Problem is... I'm probably not going to think it's funny.
It's just what I was trying to explain to Andy a couple weeks ago. There is no *purpose* to demanding that people feel guilty or admit guilt for something they can't do anything about. It's the Underpants Gnome theory of achieving a color blind society of true equality.
There is no step #2.
As one commenter said - if these guys are just trying to get laid, I can't really fault them.
There are some lengths to which a man should not go, even for sex. This is one of them.
The hip bigotry and intolerance of the campus progressives on display.
They now act like Stalinists and whites are to confess their "race crimes" of mere existence and denounce themselves, just like dissidents were forced to do in the USSR.
College campii are islands of repression in an ocean of liberty.
That woman video I just can't watch.
I keep expecting them to cut to a close-up of the guy's face as he's saying (while the harp music in the background is replaced by the needles going across the record): Now will you suck my cock?
Overly-earnest videos don't work for me.
Unfortunately human nature did not evolve in multi-racial environments. People take their race for granted like the air they breath -- unless they are a racial minority. For one to be made to feel guilty and apologetic for the color of one's skin -- how can this be part of a healthy, democratic culture? I don't know the answer to that question.
"It says a lot about these "privileged" schmucks that they think only black people get stared at when they walk into a room."
Does that white girl think people aren't staring at her nose ring ? Why else does she have it ?
In one of my daughter's freshman classes at U of Arizona, the only textbook was on Whiteness .
The online courses in STEM subjects will collapse the education bubble. Stanford has put a computer course online and has 180,000 people sign up for it.
"Seeing the words on their skin, I'm thinking Tawana Brawley...."
Don't forget Amanda Knox.
I don’t think it was “white privilege” that lead to the two individuals in the PSA/POS not being followed by store security or being pulled over for driving in the wrong neighborhood. I think it had more to do with them being old and being women. If two young males had delivered the same lines, I think it might have been met with more incredulity.
Sorry, I can't think of one thing I ever got simply because I'm white.
Actually, this is reminiscent of an old SNL skit where Eddie Murphy disguises himself as white to discover the "secret world of white people" - go into a bank and they just hand you the money rather than having to apply for the loan, etc.
Sounds more like the drivel, as Joaquin implies, you hear from people like Sharpton and Jackson, trying to make black people think whites spend every waking moment plotting against them.
Bruce Hayden said...
Let me suggest that this ad may be tied fairly closely to President Obama starting to crater in the polls - not because he is Black, but because he is doing a horrible job as President, helping to greatly lengthen and deepen the recession, running guns to violent Mexican cartels, lying to Congress, etc.
Doubtless this is a part of it, but there has been stuff like this since the 60s.
Consider the drivel we get from Hatman, at least when he's not trying to tell us how Dan Savage is about to take over the country.
The greatest privilege that white people have is that they can believe whatever they want without having to worry about someone calling them a traitor or an Uncle Tom or somesuch.
"Stanford has put a computer course online and has 180,000 people sign up for it."
I'm not sure if it's the same one but it might exist now as Udacity.
Free for anyone in the world with a computer and internet.
Ah, here it is. http://www.udacity.com/
As Sgt Ted says, this is Stalinist self-criticism. It's not an accident that their faces are scarred with slogans. They have attacked and tried to obliterate themselves. But google "white studies" and you will find that the sins of whites is a common major at your local Stalinist U.
As for Dear Woman, I lasted about 20 seconds, laughing, wondering if that tinkling sound in the background was the sound of a man urinating and then leaving the damn toilet seat up! Men, I tell ya...
The actual list of four grievances suffered by non-whites seems short by historical and international standards (particularly compared to many majority non-white societies), parochial, hackneyed and anachronistic.
I'm still trying to decide if I can bear watching the videos.
I never watched the crying-man video, not once. Couldn't make myself do it.
Do Asians in America (both East and South) feel guilty or privileged because the colors of their skin? Do they try to shame white people for the color of theirs? No. The problem arises because certain racial groups are less successful than average, and because certain "politically correct" ideologues, those who deny that race is real, believe somebody has to be held responsible for this outcome. Better to admit human differance and address problems of amelioration without rancor or shaming. Wages subsidies instead of means-tested welfare would not be stigmatising. Progressive taxation could fund it.
White people are highly privileged.
1) We have the privilege of having no excuses.
2) We have the privilege of avoiding, to a fair degree, gang participation and see crime far far down in the list of options for survival.
3) We have the advantage of not making each other feel guilty for being smart, kind, respectful.
4) We have the advantage of respecting tradition, law and culture.
5) We have the advantage of never carrying that chip on our shoulder.
Our privilege comes not from how others see us or respond to us, but how we see ourselves, and what we expect of each other.
We are not the only ones, but those who do likewise have the same privilege. It's a choice.
The line about being noticed for their color - how many victims of the knockout game were beaten because somebody noticed their color.
And what about the reporters from the Virginian-Pilot?
They were pulled over for their color.
Luke Lea said...
Unfortunately human nature did not evolve in multi-racial environments. People take their race for granted like the air they breath -- unless they are a racial minority.
all things being equal, Euro-centric societies are far less racially oriented that most Asian or African societies. You want to talk about racism being bred in for 5,000 years, go look at China, or India.
If the message goes out, it is also received by nonwhite people, who must hear that they are continually at a disadvantage.
That is what is most corrosive about this ad.
Ironically, the audience that this ad presumably wants to make feel "bad" (white people) actually gets to feel piously smug; and the unaddressed audience that this ad presumably wants to help is only hurt by its condescension.
White people piously reveling in white guilt: a faux self-humbling which is really an exercise in self-flattery. White people flattering themselves for their goodness, flaunting their moral superiority. White people exuding unctuous patronizing condescending sanctimoniousness toward nonwhites.
Poor you, I pity those unfortunates that are not white like me, it must really suck to be you in this unfair world, made just for me. Chances are you won't be as successful as me in life-- the odds are stacked against you-- so why even try? You should be angry and resentful instead. You have every right to be angry and resentful. The game is rigged. Think about that before you think of playing, getting into the game. Alas, the game was made for people like me, not you. If I were you, I sure would feel bitter about that.
Here, let me pretend to grovel. Feel better? No? Well anyway, I sure feel better about myself for pretend-groveling. That shows what a good person I am.
Oh yeah, and by the way, when you enter a room? Everyone's looking at the color of your skin. Yep. All those white people are just thinking about your race. All the self-conscious paranoid feelings you've ever had about that are actually true. Sorry.
What a horrible message to send to nonwhite children and youth.
This is another case of white liberal guilt projecting itself onto others. When given the opportunity to view and treat people of different races as people, instead of races, they decline. Hence, a white radio show host in Madison calling Condoleezza Rice an Aunt Jemima and Colin Powell an Uncle Tom. If you as a "liberal" white person feel you can pigeonhole people by race and that you know what they should think about every issue based on their skin color then you're part of the problem of race and not the solution.
Go ahead and make your stupid videos. We, on the other hand, will continue judging people based on the content of their character. We'll vote against Barack Obama, for instance, because he's a terrible president. Anything else would be the soft bigotry of low expectations. We'll continue to judge Condoleezza Rice on her merits, not the color of her skin. We'll appeal to blacks to vote for our candidates based on universal principles of freedom and prosperity and not based on racial pandering. In short, we're past the point where we can only see things in racial terms. That's the promised land. Why do you want to keep dragging us back to an era when the only thing that matters is skin color. How come you can't get over that? Why can't you see people for who they are?
I love it when people feel what they think is true contrition and it causes them to confess their neighbor's sins.
Feel free to discuss, in addition to the relative effectiveness of the 2 videos, whether it's good for American society to push white people to become conscious of the way their race gives them privileges.
I believe that the word "privileged" used in this video is a technical term used in a gender studies / Marxist (but I'm repeating myself) kind of way.
I don't getting white people to be aware of their race would necessarily be a good thing for the minorities. Race wars start that way.
The sex clip is hysterical. LOL funny. At least the first 20 seconds. And then it's boring.
It needs to be raunchier. If it was intercut with scenes of actual pussy-worship, I would watch the whole thing. If this was porn, or some kind of sex instructional video, it would be great. Or at least provocative.
God. What a bunch of simpering assholes.
If they feel so bad for being born white, they could always kill themselves.
I think I might wish that they would.
I think that in the long run, that is why this ad campaign is going to fall flat. We have our affirmative action President, whose sole credential for office was the color of his skin. And, we all know how disastrously that has worked. It is one thing to admit an extra Black here or there to make the class look more diverse, but quite a bit different when you give one the printing presses so he can print up as much money as he wants to give away to all his friends, and the keys to our nuclear arsenal, which he can then dismantle in payment for our imperialistic and racist past (while the ChiComs are building nuclear weapons as fast as they can, but that is ok, since they are people of color and as a result would never use those weapons in an imperialistic way).
I don't really want to see anyone kill themselves over this, but also can't help but think that a bit of Darwinism might be good for this country. But, maybe not too much...
I have to say though that a lot of Americans may be more racist today than they were 4 years ago, just because of the gross incompetence of this first half-black President, and his cast of bumbling minions, including the odorous Eric Holder. Think back to 4 years ago, when the highest profile the Secretary of State, a woman who had risen to power through continued hard work and brilliance.
The problem with this sort of ad is that it is essentially pushing the affirmative action theory and meme, at a time when we need to be seeing Blacks as individuals, and not as members of an aggrieved minority. Plenty of Condi Rices, as well as plenty of gangbangers. We need to be looking at the contents of their souls, and not the color of their skins, as being pushed by this ad.
I would think most women would find that Dear Woman video patronizing and ridiculous. Assuming that all the problems in the world are created simply because men are men, do these clowns believe, or expect women to believe that they are off the hook because they made this sniveling video? Apologize, pat the little lady on the head, and send her on her way...
Can women worship the feminine? How sexist that there's no feminine worship of the feminine!
Exactly Yashu.
The damage they do is far worse than all the white supremacists in the country combined.
I'd like to hear Elizabeth Warren's take on white privilege.
I was definitely privileged to have a white father and mother who taught me to work hard, play by the rules, save your money, and treat people with respect even if it's difficult. I am privileged to have a loving white family to help me when I am down and to cheer me on when I am succeeding.
What kind of example do blacks set for their children and what do black parents teach their kids?
All the dear woman video does is put a face on the total neutering of men in this country. These are what cowards look like.
kcom, excellent point about Condi Rice and Colin Powell.
And it wasn't just white people saying those things. Harry Belafonte also felt obliged to tell the world how he felt.
yashu said...
What a horrible message to send to nonwhite children and youth.
It's a horrible message to send to white children and youth, also.
There was a piece a couple of weeks ago about how some white kids want to marry any race but white. This is what they're taught in school.
The Drill SGT said...
all things being equal, Euro-centric societies are far less racially oriented that most Asian or African societies. You want to talk about racism being bred in for 5,000 years, go look at China, or India.
Better yet, consider pre-war Japan - the true 1000 year Reich.
Both videos have a remarkable similarity to revivalist, breathless, over-the-top fundamentalist preaching.
Note that Duluth, Minnesota (location of UMD) is 90% white, 2% black (see http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/27/2717000.html). Odd for these hypocrites to be preaching this nonsense. I don't know the source of this campaign, but the high-faluting Wilder Foundation in Minnesota has been pushing this stuff for some time. See http://www.facingrace.org/tools_for_addressing_racism/new_conversations_about_white_privilege/
Let's ask George Zimmerman for his views on "white privilege".
My white family (5 kids) grew up next door to a white family (4 kids) in a modest midwest totally white neighborhood. Same income, neighborhood and schools. Same whiteness and medium level of physical attractiveness. All 5 of us turned out very successful, all 4 of them were disasters (suicide, jail, school drop-outs). Race is a factor, but to me it pales (no pun intended) in comparison with culture, IQ and decent parenting in determining who succeeds in our society.
Yashu, this is exactly why I've said (for years!) that this whole White Privilege thing is not just wrong but actively harmful, destructive, and vile.
Because you're right... this is the message:
"Poor you, I pity those unfortunates that are not white like me, it must really suck to be you in this unfair world, made just for me. Chances are you won't be as successful as me in life-- the odds are stacked against you-- so why even try? You should be angry and resentful instead. You have every right to be angry and resentful. The game is rigged. Think about that before you think of playing, getting into the game. Alas, the game was made for people like me, not you. If I were you, I sure would feel bitter about that."
And even without the smugness, if someone has a pure heart and is truly "good" and buys into this, it has no mechanism for change. (No step number two!) There is no progress, no improvement, no way to change this "truth" that must be acknowledged.
So that utterly destructive message is *demanded* and for nothing at all. All for nothing.
It's vile.
It's not just stupid or funny. It's vile.
I am Norwegian. Of course I am privileged.
"the high-faluting Wilder Foundation in Minnesota has been pushing this stuff for some time."
IMHO all the people in the northern whiteopia states are bigoted, or they would live in more vibrant areas. That goes double for the ones who leave their diverse multiculti homes to live in places like Madison, Eugene or Missoula. Bigots all.
IMHO all the people in the northern whiteopia states are bigoted, or they would live in more vibrant areas.
It's simple. They need that self-loathing to keep warm.
Affirmative action victimizes white men. For some reason Althouse does not get that affirmative action is a zero sum game. When women, hispanics, and blacks are treated preferentially, then everybody else (mainly white men) is discriminated against.
Affirmative action is a con game to buy votes and grab power for members of dem racial and gender based PIGs (privileged interest groups) and should have been abolished decades ago.
The videos show the need to radically reform education in the USA. The dems control education in the USA from K through Phd and they are ruining our kids and young adults.
As a Norwegian also, I felt very prevlidged to pay full tuition for my undergrad, while a guy in my grad school classes bragged about his almost free tuition he got because he was born in Mexico.
I think "guilt" is the wrong frame for the privilege discussion, and Taranato and too many on the left and right assume it is.
"society is set up FOR us"
why not
"society is set up BY us"
Is the latter not true also?
"Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" is still a better intro to white privilege theory.
Also, the recennt analogy from John Scalzi of being a SWM to the 'low difficulty setting' in a game is more helpful, and less value (guilt) laden, and allows other comparisons (some start with more money than others, but the difficulty setting is still not the same)
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/05/15/straight-white-male-the-lowest-difficulty-setting-there-is/
@synova:
yes, the lack of an action item is part of the problem, if framed as guilt.
"I am Norwegian. Of course I am privileged."
You, me and Chuck. :)
The lack of an action item is THE problem.
Suppose we identify our goal first, instead of insisting on the first step, first, with no notion how to go on from there.
There is no virtue in demanding that everyone admit this true thing, where it can be defended by explaining YET AGAIN that it is true.
If someone actually wants to make a change in the world, they have to focus on the goal. If the goal is a society where racial divisions are eliminated, it seems self evident that emphasizing and demanding racial divisions is going to do harm. Active, real, harm.
The only reason I can see to have stopped emphasizing that people should consider their own opinions and actions is that there is so little to do there, anymore, since only a few disapproved of white people are racists anymore, that a new measure had to be invented.
We all understand that people are people, and that they should be judged by their character and not the color of their skin.
There is no dispute anymore. All there is is action, daily life, and behaving as if equality exists and is expected until that becomes more and more true and normal.
But that's boring. And you can't build a career of activism by announcing victory.
So the goal posts shift.
Unfortunately they shift away from the individual, of judging people by their character, as a person, and ignoring to the extent possible that someone is a different ethnicity or race, and DEMAND that we see ONLY race. Race and only race, all the time.
One of the "privilege" questions to prove it, is if you think of yourself, not as an individual, but as a representative of your race.
But the whole thing demands that people do that.
It's wrong. It doesn't just have some problems. It's harmful to race relations from every direction. It sets equality and normalcy backward.
Who can justify that? By saying, but this is true? True things can hurt people. Do hurt people.
Why demand that people feel bitter and oppressed? How does that help anything?
Just because life is difficult you don't tell people you care about that they can't do it, you tell them that they CAN. That the difficulties can be overcome and eventually will fade. That people want to help you and think well of you. You don't concentrate on the people who will make life difficult. Not if you CARE about someone and want them to do well.
My family of 4 grew up next door to a black family of 5. We lived in an affluent community (but my family was not affluent ourselves). The next door family went to the local Catholic school, we went to public school. Otherwise, they were just like us. I never thought of them being black and us being white. My sister was best friends with one of their children.
I feel privileged because of that relationship with our neighbors.
Took only 10 seconds to start uncontrolled laughter! You are sure this isn't a parody?
Thanks Trey's dad, that was great!
White children are privileged. They have a better than even shot at having two married parents to care for them. They will not be accused of "acting white" should they decide to do well in school. They are more likely to have books in their homes.
None of these privileges are available to blacks, of course, because of the color of their skins.
@PDuggie
Much as I respect Scalzi's writing ability, he skipped a step when composing that article, namely, matching his theory to real-world data.
Looking at the US data, why would
'Asian' not be the easiest choice, with a higher annual income, college attendance rate, and life expectancy? (Scalzi cheated by comparing whites to all non-whites lumped together, rather than to each other race taken separately.)
For that matter, how does race theory based on white privilidge justify the differing treatment of Asians under different affirmative action systems (sometimes the beneficiary, sometimes the victim)?
My sister went to UM-D. I think I shall call her tonight and mock her university.
Duluth is nice by parts of the lake and on top of the hill -- most of the city is on a bluff between the two. Most of the city is a slum....but the people who live in the slum evidently are quite privileged.
The populated areas around Duluth is dominated by the Minnesota Iron Range, which once employed thousands in huge iron mines. There is still mining, but not near the jobs so the area is quite economically depressed, but the people who do live here evidently are also privileged.
I am glad the local university is telling these folks about how privileged they are.
This is one of my "pet" peeve topics. I was all ready to write an epistle. But before I did that, I read Bagoh2O, Synova, Yashu and some others who were saying what I think better than I ever could.
These words from the list are what I think:
Our privilege comes not from how others see us or respond to us, but how we see ourselves, and what we expect of each other.
We are not the only ones, but those who do likewise have the same privilege. It's a choice.
I'm also Norwegian. Well, 1/4 Norwegian.
That Dear Woman vid is creepy.
The House Rep for the Duluth area was forever and ever was pork barreler extradinaire Jim Oberstar (D). Duluth and the Iron Range were base of power for the state DFL Party (Democrat-Farmer-Labor) for decades. Oberstar was tossed out in 2010.
No wonder UM-D thinks the area's people are privileged. They no longer vote Democrat.
"The pallid persons' proclamations of privilege are literally written upon their skin, in what one hopes is water-soluble ink."
Permanent ink would be hilarious.
I have to say though that a lot of Americans may be more racist today than they were 4 years ago
I think that the constant accusations of racism in every little utterance and in innocent actions are causing people to want to accept the label after all. We are tired of it.
If you call me a racist because I made a Devil's Food cake, discussed black holes, used the word niggardly or disagree with Obama's dismantling of our country.....well....FUCK YOU then I will be a racist.
You wanna play poor poor pitiful me and try to make out that I am the cause of all of your troubles? Fine. Bring it on. You haven't seen trouble yet.
:-D
well....FUCK YOU
Goodness. Such language from such a pristine, young women...
what a thoughtful birthday gift. the massachusetts republicans bought liz warren an account at ancestry.com.
If you call me a racist because I [snip] disagree with Obama's dismantling of our country.....well....FUCK YOU then I will be a racist.
My cousin (who generally votes democrat but will not be doing that this year) said almost the same thing.
Must keep fanning the flames under black grievence against white priviledge.
Must keep injecting the people with white guilt booster shots.
Otherwise, both concepts might die out naturally.
We can't have that.
The sad thing is that those who are being told that they are victims of racism have no historical perspective. Racism was a pervasive mindset in the past and discrimination was very real and very wrong.
Compare the actions today that are held up as being racist to those in the past. Just being looked at when you come into a room is racist? Really? Compare that to the past when you weren't even allowed to enter the room.
Some historical perspective. Perhaps talking to those who endured racism and rose above it. Clarence Thomas, Condoleeza Rice, Thomas Sowell and many many others.
verification word: excheese I don't want to think what that might be. LOL
My daughter goes to UM-Duluth, the institution sponsoring this. Yesterday, it was what came up first as I got ready to pay her tuition. I've been ranting ever since about the idiocy of it. Possible ray of light - Students can comment on the web site regarding the ad, and when I looked about 85% were variations of "WTF?!?!" So, maybe there's hope.
"I'm also Norwegian. Well, 1/4 Norwegian."
I hear Harvard Law School is hiring.
Self-hatred: Stuff White People Like
The lack of an action item is THE problem.
Yes. That's the unanswered question raised by the ad: so what are white people supposed to do, once they recognize (as the ad insists) that they're "privileged" and that's "unfair"?
I presume the answer isn't to walk around with black marker on their faces and pout. Is the point of the ad just to provoke a white guilt trip (or smug/ pious sense of their own goodness)? Is the answer e.g. affirmative action? Well, we have affirmative action already, and that's not the kind of "privilege" the ad focuses on anyway. So, what is it the ad wants white people to do about their unfair white privilege, short of shedding their white skins?
Pay for it. Just as one should buy "carbon credits" for the privilege/ sin of having Western living standards and causing global warming, and just as in the Middle Ages wealthy people bought "indulgences" to remit their sins, so white people who recognize their unfair white privilege and want to have a clear conscience about it, should pay for it.
It's easy: just vote Democrat. Vote Obama. He's the king and avatar of "fairness." And of course he's black, unlike that white privileged racist Republican Romney. Racist Republicans going after Holder because he's a nonwhite AG & because they want to suppress the nonwhite vote (after all if nonwhites don't have ID, it's because of unfair white privilege). If Obama had a son, he'd look like Trayvon, the victim of unfair white privilege. Etc.
Vote for Obama, and your bill is paid.
The sex video is funny because it's so worshipful of women. If the race video had sincere white people talking about how much they worship black people, that would be funny, too.
"They are so warm. And spiritual. And they can jump really high. And they can dance. I want to dance with black people. Together we will dance in harmony and love." That would crack me up.
I'm so glad that the victim industry is still perpetuating this bullshit. Let me tell you, when I was growing up and dealing with being the only non-white or non-black kid in my schools, I was sooo glad to know about white privilege and how my future would be crippled by centuries of institutional racism.
Oh, wait, that's not what happened at all. Never mind.
There have been any number of inept and corrupt black politicians. They deflect criticism by claiming that it is racist. They usually win re-election by increasing margins. Up until they fled Detroit, the black middle class continued to vote for Coleman Young. No black politician will ever be marginalized, ostracized, or minimized by his constituency because of excessive hostility to whites......I suppose there are white privileges. One of them is our freedom to knock our leaders for ineptitude, corruption, and bigotry. I long for the day when a black leader feels free to slam Marion Berry at an NAACP meeting.
We're privileged because society was set up for us?
6000 years of recorded human history and no other society set it up for themselves.
Get over yourself old man.
Just how provincial or stupid are you?
MadisonMan said...
I'm also Norwegian. Well, 1/4 Norwegian.
What? Old family stories about how Grandad smelled of lutefisk? :o)
When I watch that "Dear Woman" video, it's just creepy, because I know those guys often manage to bang the some women, and I can just see them talking about how this line of shit worked to get them both laid, and how they think it's the greatest thing since free beer on ladies night.
Trust me, that conversation does not include that gentle, respectful, and elusive talk, but rather is replete with basic, honest lizard-speak, and not at all respectful.
If I may add what I see as a non-white, non-black person: I do understand what people mean by white privilege. I do think it exists, sort of. I see it when it's pointed out. It's just not that big a deal. It doesn't hold me back.
I think "white privilege" is a bit of a misnomer/exaggeration; it's really more like "white slight amount of extra convenience if, say, you want a Disney license plate with your kid's name on it and it's Justin or Emily."
Most of it is meaningless but possibly annoying if you've been raised to be hypersensitive to these kinds of things. The good news is that if you're raised differently, it doesn't matter. The bad news is a lot of people in this country are resistant to or, more likely, incapable of raising their kids that way.
(had to edit typo)
I don't remember any head tilting.
You can't have a sincere apology video without head tilting.
I will also confess to commenting without watching the video. It sounds insufferable. Life's too short.
Being an American citizen -- now that's a privilege! And one we should be grateful for.
Being born in America, good looking, and smart -- that's a super privilege.
Being born white in America but ugly and dumb -- not so much a privilege.
Being born black or part black in America and smart and good looking -- that's definitely a privilege.
Being born black in America and ugly and dumb? Just be grateful you weren't born somewhere else.
It's all about citizenship and genes. Isn't that the only honest thing to say?
Ugly and dumb Americans of all races need special help. And I am all in favor of that. Who isn't? Speak up!
I don't know if you noticed, but all the people in that video were white. I mean, lily-white. Where are the people of color?
If someone wants to challenge me putting their brains, skills and experience against mine in any type of contest, I say game on and may the best man win.
If you tell me I have an advantage because I'm white and your not. I'm going to beat you every time. Because you either expect to lose or think I will go easy on you so as not to appear racist.
Attention All White People. You are ordered to assemble at the nearest Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard for your long overdue beatings. Bring plenty of guilt and SWPL, iphones and xboxes preferred.
I would comment on this, but I can't, because I'm shackled in a prison of anger, fear, and shame.
Little did I know that when I was homeless, I was more privileged than the black kid living in an upscale house getting his college paid for by his parents.
I guess I didn't get the memo, seeing as I had no mailbox.
The idiots in the video are idiots.
Marshall’s Law Dateline – Saving America’s constitutional republic economic system offers only two options: save America’s economy, or sacrifice America’s economy to save the world’s economy.
As there are only two options, there are only two sides: internationalist Marxist-fascist progressive liberal Democrats allied with internationalist “free traders” represented by greed-first, America-last Moderate Republicans against the good guys, Judeo-Christian ethical capitalist patriots. The Trojan horse in the above scenario is affirmative action also known as politically correct discrimination.
Some examples of problems with politically correctness include:
1. Equating love with promiscuity;
2. Turning compliment “great American” into meaningless greeting;
3. Eliminating profiling by height, weight, style of clothing, disability, age, sex, gender preference, race, ethnic background, and other characteristics. It seems one can only describe criminal who just murdered their family as un-aborted fetus seen leaving scene of crime;
4. Describing those as trying to re-solve a possible conspiracy as crazy people. Most prosecutors start trying to convict innocent until proven guilty by trying to prove their initial guess or conspiracy about crime is fact;
5. America’s public sector employing and promoting incompetent bureaucrats, then allowing them to use Marxist-fascist policies and regulations to destroy America’s ethical capitalist economic system;
6. Obama, America’s first affirmative action President, publicly known impacts on America’s domestic tranquility, national defenses, and constitutional integrity;
7. Increasing hatred between races and ethnic groups with affirmative action policies that Blacks and some other minority members can only acquire civil rights by depriving Anglos and some economic groups of their civil rights;
Refresher thought — patriots seek to save America’s economy, while affirmative action internationalists like Democrats and Moderate Republicans and their followers and allies seek to betray and sacrifice America’s economy by serving and preserving world economy.
Wow, I am surprised the comments in defense of White People haven't been taken down and the authors either executed or beaten and thrown in prison. I think our government officials are slacking!
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