It starts on college campuses and then the people taking those classes start their tumblr blogs, twitter accounts, and identity theory websites. I would call it an academic fad.
Here is an interesting article describing a lot of nonsense that is starting to take place on campuses.
- http://www.thenation.com/blog/179160/cancelcolbert-and-return-anti-liberal-left
...there
People strawmanning the shit out of White Privilege ITT
The whiteness of privilege is incidental since the most economically privileged are white because of the dominance of western civilization. Naturally if you live in a western nation, with its western culture, western values, white leaders, and majority white population, yeah, the most succesful will be white, whites will fit in, whites will have the best jobs and higher education will be filled with whites. That's demographics, not privilege.
The problem with conflating whiteness and privilege is that western civilization abolished slavery, has been crusading against racism for decades, becoming more liberal, and western nations are democratic and have welcomed immigrants from everwhere, giving them equal opportunity. So now, for whites who do not have any special economic privilege, of which there are plenty, the label becomes a racial stereotype.
Anybody can be privileged, because privilege is a concept that has to do with social norms, and a person's value and acceptance in society, as well as their equality of opportunity. Racism is definitely still a problem among all different groups of people because it is a human, not a white, phenomenon. But privilege and racism do not overlap so perfectly as to justify assigning privilege solely to whiteness.
When you do so, it becomes this rallying against the authority of society and its institutions, which in the most dominant societies, western ones, the institutions as the rest of the population are majority white, and justifying the anti-whiteness that gets mixed up in it as being merely anti-authority, anti-privilege, hence the focus on minorities, the marginalized of every stripe holding up their victim cards.
That's why last time there was a thread on this I suggested that the concept of social privilege should be separated from the concept of whiteness. At first Workers United called me boneheaded for it but later upgraded to merely outrageous, so I thought we made progress.
If people are going to whine about "white privilege" then why aren't they complaining about Chinese Privilege in China or Korean Privilege in Korea? I go to South Korea annually and its the Korean people who have all the jobs and hold all the positions of power. The immigrants there generally have to struggle a lot more than anyone else. These people better start checking their privilege.
Also, the claims that only white people can be racist haven't witnessed how many Koreans, Japanese and Chinese absolutely HATE each other. Koreans living in Japan are treated like absolute shit. In China if you are not a Han Chinese then you are considered worthless.
The reality is that people have a tendency to pick sides and flock together. There have been experiments done in classrooms where students are separated into two groups by wearing red and blue T-Shirts. It doesn't take long before the students start grouping together with those of the same shirt color.
Look at how people who are cheering for different teams treat each other at sporting events.
If people are going to whine about "white privilege" then why aren't they complaining about Chinese Privilege in China or Korean Privilege in Korea? I go to South Korea annually and its the Korean people who have all the jobs and hold all the positions of power. The immigrants there generally have to struggle a lot more than anyone else. These people better start checking their privilege.
Also, the claims that only white people can be racist haven't witnessed how many Koreans, Japanese and Chinese absolutely HATE each other. Koreans living in Japan are treated like absolute shit. In China if you are not a Han Chinese then you are considered worthless.
The reality is that people have a tendency to pick sides and flock together. There have been experiments done in classrooms where students are separated into two groups by wearing red and blue T-Shirts. It doesn't take long before the students start grouping together with those of the same shirt color.
Look at how people who are cheering for different teams treat each other at sporting events.
Your China example does not discredit white privilege. Were this a chinese forum, you would have a point. White privilege doesnt exist in china. In america however...
Well, you see where im going with this.
Your China example does not discredit white privilege. Were this a chinese forum, you would have a point. White privilege doesnt exist in china. In america however...
Well, you see where im going with this.
It starts on college campuses and then the people taking those classes start their tumblr blogs, twitter accounts, and identity theory websites. I would call it an academic fad.
Here is an interesting article describing a lot of nonsense that is starting to take place on campuses.
- http://www.thenation.com/blog/179160/cancelcolbert-and-return-anti-liberal-left
...there
That is true, but I was responding to the point made about the influence of demographics and how they play a role in society. Different societies all over the world have a dominant group of people who are going to benefit more than other groups.
There was a group complaining about the racial representation at a U.S. modelling show complaining it was too "white." Someone broke down the numbers by and it almost perfectly matched the racial demographic in America.
I can show that I am less likely to get a job than an equally qualified white person....
I can show statistics proving this, I can show studies proving this.
The problem with many of these movements is they are attacking on a purely ideological plane. They are acting against trivial notions of thought instead of actual discrimination. Were they backed up by actual statistics, they would have more of a case. I can attack feminism with statistics showing that men get hosed in the family law system, I can point out that men are nearly always treated ad the aggressor in DV cases, I can show that there is no pay gap. There is no he said, she said.
Likewise, I can also show that based on race, I am more likely to go to jail than a white person for drugs even though the white person is more likely to be carrying. I can show that I am less likely to get a job than an equally qualified white person. I can show that I am more likely to receive a harsher sentence for a crime than a white person committing the same offense.
White Privilege does not mean that you are automatically rich if you are white, and if you are saying that you are being absolutely disingenuous. It means that as a White person you are more likely to benefit from our system of economics, law, and labor than a person of color in the same situation. I can show statistics proving this, I can show studies proving this.
To act like the ideological aspects of White Privilege are all encompassing is pretty stupid. Astronomically stupid in fact.
The funny thing is the anti-social justice stuff I have seen is downright sickening especially when it comes to feminism. I mean like downright disgusting. It makes me think it's something a lot more than what is perceived to be taught on college campuses.
It seems to me that it depends on the job. I know there are a lot of companies dying to hire qualified minorities in certain industries because they are underrepresented. In other industries, the same does not hold true. Depending on how the studies are performed it's easy to get the desired results.
Consider college admissions. In that domain, it's white people (and Asians) who are less likely to get accepted than an equally qualified person of color.
Anyway, don't hold back with your studies and statistics.
I agree, but I think you're leaving out the power dynamics. Apartheid south Africa is a great example of the minority having privilege. It's not necessarily numbers, it's power dynamics. I couldn't care less about ideological bullshit unless it is corrupting the system. The systemic disadvantages are where a demographic can get boned.
The problem is, the conference is trying to undermine/subvert everything.
Fine-tuning the system or attempting to help people break out of their own biases is good.
Claiming capitalism, science, logic, etc are devices of bigotry and in need of destruction only discredits the entire movement.
This is similar to the radical right making the collective conscious associate the Republican party with its most negative qualities.
The radical left has a greater ability to infuse their radical BS with sophistry but it is still BS and the BS masks any good points.
I agree with you. Its why I believe the civil rights movement has kind of fucked itself. The loudest and most idiotic people got to the forefront and derailed it in favor of Idiotic shit. Now we have systemic issues that persist because the "leaders" are too far in Donald Sterling's ass.
Honestly, its almost daunting to bring up salient points because you immediately are fighting uphill against the "SJW" stigma. I guess I can say that it at least keeps my source criticism skills sharp.
i agree with you. Its why i believe the civil rights movement has kind of fucked itself. The loudest and most idiotic people got to the forefront and derailed it in favor of idiotic shit. Now we have systemic issues that persist because the "leaders" are too far in donald sterling's ass.
Honestly, its almost daunting to bring up salient points because you immediately are fighting uphill against the "sjw" stigma. I guess i can say that it at least keeps my source criticism skills sharp.