One of the highlights is the interview with a young white woman attending the conference, presumably a student, who insists that “white privilege” is both real and ubiquitous, and that she’s “hyper-aware” its effect “every day,” and feels “super guilty all the time.” But when asked, she struggles to think of any example, any example at all, of how she benefits from it.
She then says, “Sorry, I’m not good at thinking.”
From the comments following this.
I suppose there might be some hope for her, since she didn’t parrot the Left’s talking points on why she’s so gosh darn privileged. It seems to have penetrated her thick skull that she is not, in fact, living an easier life than others simply because of her color. Maybe when she’s 30, or 40, she will have more sense.
White privilege:
1. growing up in situational poverty on the farm
2. one pair of shoes each year
3. cows. I hate cows. Up at 0400 to bring them to the barn for milking.
4. cows. I hate cows. Evening milking ended between 7 and 9. homework
5. Viet-Nam – soooooooooo privileged
6. double shifts to work through university
7. only to be told that I was the wrong race and sex
8. made it anyway
9. cry me a backwater slough
My white privilege was the privilege of crapping in an outhouse at 50 below.
I think I know where you’re coming from.
My white privilege was consisted of earning my rewards despite being an immigrant from a country in Europe and English not being my mother tongue. (I spoke with an accent until I was about 10 years old.)
Because of where I was born, I grew up frequently being derided and insulted. I didn’t like it, but it made me determined to prove to myself that I was at least as good as everyone else, if not better.
I learned the value of hard work from my parents, who were journeymen in their respective trades. I eventually showed some academic abilities late in junior high school and worked hard to get good marks so that I could go to university. Yeah, I was accused of “stealing all the A’s” but that was never said about a fellow classmate who was even cleverer but was from the middle class. (Coincidence?)
I worked in an oil refinery during my undergrad summers, earned my B. Sc. and, later, 2 master’s degrees and a Ph. D. I paid for most of my grad studies expenses out of my own pocket.
My white privilege? Being able to earn my rewards, largely through my own efforts, taking advantage of opportunities that were available to anyone with the will, the talent, and the resources. If there weren’t any opportunities, I either created my own or waited, often impatiently, until there were some.
Cry me a backwater slough? You’ve got that right.
“Sorry, I’m not good at thinking.”
Stating the obvious.
When it comes down to it the whole world has benefited from “White Privilege”. If you want to read a simple primer on the topic to educate yourself there is no better book, IMHO, to read than ‘How the Scots Invented the Modern World” by Arthur Herman. I would challenge any university wonk to read this book and then preach to their students about how unjust “white privilege” is.
Bravo!
My suburban version of white ‘privilege’:
Earliest childhood memory – broken dishes, parents screaming
Second childhood memory – driving to bars at 11p, bundled in my pj’s looking for my dad
Parents Divorce at age 5 – new school, in poorest part of town
Move again – another new school (3 in 3 years) dinners at Salvation Army
Mother remarries – new dad HATES my brother and I
Mom goes to court – says she no longer wants her two boys – we go back to live with alcoholic father
6th new school in 6-years – stability is for RICH sober people …
Dad cannot feed his two boys – drinks our dinner for us every night. literally starving
My brother and I learn how to steal food from the supermarket … we were quite good till we got caught
Kicked out of apartment – and my dad kicked down the concrete stairs – homeless
Tenth new school in first eight grades …
1-pair of converse tennis shoes through 7th – 8th grade – literally wrapped in duct tape.
Got a paper route – Dad stole our collection money, and took our paychecks
Freshman in HS – told my new football coach/math teacher of my destitute living cond’s. – did nothing
Told HS Dean of boys (a tough Christian man) of our living conditions – he found a Foster Home for me
Went to live with Christian Foster Family (RICH by my standards) – 3 final years of HS in one place !
Two “rehab” academic years at local Jr. College – admitted to UC Berkeley
Completely on my own, no support, at age 20. Jobs + college. Desperately poor
Living on poor patchwork of academic scholarships, grants, and loans – no family, no safety net
First few jobs in my profession – working for peanuts … happy for a paycheck
Never complained, never blamed (even my weak-minded parents). Learned to rely on MYSELF, and the charity of open-hearted people. Intense desire to NOT replicate parents mistakes. Intense desire to do RIGHT by my family. Never received any kind of “affirmative-action”
This is ALL TRUE … and so much more. I never had the option to be a snowflake. To adopt such a lazy attitude would have destroyed any chance of attaining my most intense desire … to just be “normal” … like those “privileged” friends of mine who had two parents (male and female) and a stable, loving, home.
I watched the video a few minutes ago and the whites who were interviewed reminded me of when I was unemployed during the early 1980s.
Whenever I felt depressed and unhappy about being out of work, which often happened, there was always some well-to-do champagne socialist who insisted that I needed to show “humility”. Why? Because there seemed to be people in, say, Coleslawvania who couldn’t even afford a Lamborghini with all the trimmings and I had the audacity to be concerned that I didn’t have a paycheque.
Of course, in their thinking, if the Coleslawvanians couldn’t afford such fancy cars, it was because of “circumstances” beyond their control (oppression, sexism, the Crusades, you name it) and, therefore, it wasn’t their fault. On the other hand, since I had a hard time finding a job (which many others did as well during those years), it was because I was lazy and wasn’t putting in any effort.
Those same champagne socialists thought that I should be making sacrifices so that the Coleslawvanians should buy themselves Lamborghinis and not settle for, say, Beemers. They themselves, however, didn’t think they had to. Their sacrifice was to remind me of my apparent obligation which, it was emphasized, required a superhuman effort on their part.
Those champagne socialists and their buddies who insist that “white privilege” exists are completely disconnected from reality.
In my experience, those who “suffer” the least from white privilege lived through tough times and somehow survived reasonably intact. Often, their children had a similar outlook, learning from those experiences.
I think of my parents who grew up in 1930s and 1940s Europe. They were affected by the Depression. They survived WW II, complete with bombing, invasion, and occupation.
My father helped feed his parents and siblings by looting. My grandfather was killed in a bombing raid and, so, my grandmother had to feed and support her 3 children by cleaning bricks that were recovered from bombed buildings. Desperate times often required desperate measures.
Those experiences taught my parents to make do with little but to make the best from what they had on hand.
When we came to Canada, we had few expectations but, like many immigrants, also saw opportunity in a new country. We always had the belief that, although there was no guarantee of success, doing nothing ensured failure.
So much for white privilege.
It’s hard to argue that there aren’t groups that inherit disadvantage and that includes skin colour, sex, address and even accent. The only way a disadvantaged group can overcome those issues is by their own hard work. Sure, there are some benefits to artificially breaking a status quo but long term, if the group doesn’t step up to the challenges, the status quo resumes. The risk is that the disadvantage becomes an excuse not to put the effort in and then the group doesn’t alter its position in society.
Even more worrying, advantage is being used as a reason not to try, either through assumption that success is guaranteed or through a mentality of guilt and hopelessness. Instead of the disadvantaged rising up, the advantaged fall back. The concept that everyone should be equal is poisonous because it rejets the importance of effort and ability.