Does white privilege exist in the US?

[TLK Valentine]

Yes, we thought that. Until racism came roaring back and proved us wrong.

Racism is like any other cancer -- unless you wipe out every last cell, it's only a matter of time before it comes back.

 

[Ken-1122]

Maybe you’re correct?
After all the “March of Dimes” is still a thing decades after its disease (polio) was defeated.
Naw, though, I was talking about the “only Black Lives Matter” tripe that you continue to push.

I was talking about BLM also; they've become a very powerful organization; we have no reason to assume they are going to volunteer and just give up this power once their goals have been met; and go away.

 

[Ken-1122]

Racism is like any other cancer -- unless you wipe out every last cell, it's only a matter of time before it comes back.

As long as people are free to think for themselves; there will be racism.

 

[TLK Valentine]

As long as people are free to think for themselves; there will be racism.

Agreed -- we can't "solve" the problem; we'll have to manage it.

 

[Albion]

As long as people are free to think for themselves; there will be racism.

But in the Orwellian world we're entering into, who knows what meaning the term will have?

 

[SummerMadness]

As long as people are free to think for themselves; there will be racism.

Racism isn't natural, it is taught. There was life before racism, there will be life after racism. It's simply that it takes time for an attitude that is hundreds of years old to subside.

 

[Ken-1122]

Racism isn't natural, it is taught.

Racism is just one of many types of bigotry and hatred; it doesn't have to be taught

There was life before racism, there will be life after racism.

Before racism, people didn't know there were other races, and they found other ways to hate each other. When people developed the technology to travel to different lands, and notice different looking people in different lands, Bigotry and hatred towards those looking different from you is as natural as hate is

It's simply that it takes time for an attitude that is hundreds of years old to subside.

Racism is as natural as hatred; as long as people have the ability to choose, there will always be those who will choose to hate; racism is just one of many forms of hatred.

 

[SummerMadness]

Racism is just one of many types of bigotry and hatred; it doesn't have to be taught

Before racism, people didn't know there were other races, and they found other ways to hate each other. When people developed the technology to travel to different lands, and notice different looking people in different lands, Bigotry and hatred towards those looking different from you is as natural as hate is

Racism is as natural as hatred; as long as people have the ability to choose, there will always be those who will choose to hate; racism is just one of many forms of hatred.

Racism is not natural, people have seen people different from themselves for centuries, there wasn't racism then. Racism is a recent phenomenon.

 

[Taodeching]

The choice to not hate is up to us. Forces want to us apart and engender hate, now we must stand up and say no more we will not hate.

 

[Ken-1122]

Racism is not natural, people have seen people different from themselves for centuries, there wasn't racism then. Racism is a recent phenomenon.

500-600 years ago, people remained within their own culture and tribes; they weren't interacting with people of different races and cultures like they do now; technology of the day did not allow it.

 

[rjs330]

40% is less than half. WHite people have it better in the USA than blacks. If you can't see that then you are not paying attention. People don't feel sorry for you and your wife's poverty the same way you don't care about racism. It's up to the individual to overcome their challenges. Some have more challenges than others. Your white skin opens doors that black skin cannot open whether you acknowledge it or not white men rule the United States.

You know only 48% of whites are middle class. Less than half.
There are a lot more blacks in poverty than whites by percentage. That cannot be denied. But it's not the white man's fault anymore. Jim Crow and slavery is gone. The opportunities are wide open.

My whiteness didn't open my doors for me. I used the opportunities that this country has to offer and I pursued them. Same as anyone else can.

 

[rjs330]

Unfortunately, that illusion lasted only until the point at which we had the temerity to elect a black man to the presidency.


As I said above, the achievements of the Civil Rights movement of the 60s and 70s turned out to be just an illusion. Perhaps some took that as a sign that different tactics were needed.

At any rate, I was just responding to your claim that the use of those terms was new. Aside from "white fragility," all have been in use for at least 30 years. And thanks to the internet, which has really only had widespread access available for about 20 years, language spreads much, much faster than it used to.

The fact you used the word temerity speaks volumes about your racist thinking. Cause we could've cared less what color he was.

The achievements of the Civil Rights movement changed history. It was the racist policies of the democrats that created the problems after that. They just couldn't help themselves. They couldn't hold the black man back anymore with Jim Crow so they just found a different way. Then they could blame white people even further.

This whole white man is the enemy nonsense is what is creating disunity. Division is the cry of the left. Blame the white man. Don't remind the black man that he has great opportunities. Do your best to keep them blind by incitement. Don't you dare try and open their eyes to the possibilities, cause then they might not need the great white hope anymore.

 

[rjs330]

Yes, we thought that. Until racism came roaring back and proved us wrong.

What do you mean roaring back? There has always been and always will be people who are racist. Racism never went away. There are racists in every skin color. But racism is the outlier and not the norm. At least in the white community. Because we are taught about the horrors of it. We learned all about how bad it is to be racist. On the other hand racism is rampant among the black community because they are taught that white people are the evil in their world and the reason they can't succeed. It's all our fault you know. And all we ever got we got simply by the virtue of the color of our skin.

It's a sick, twisted and evil ideology.

 

[RocksInMyHead]

What do you mean roaring back?

People definitely became a lot more free about voicing with their racist opinions following Obama's election. The rise of the internet as a primary communication platform has also contributed - the protection of a screen leads to people voicing opinions that they would never speak about face-to-face.

The majority of people aren't racist, it's true, but it turns out that there are a lot more racists than we thought.

Edit: case in point - the newly announced "America First" caucus in the House of Representatives

https://www.usnews.com/news/top-new...america-first-caucus-raises-hackles-over-race

 

[Triumvirate]

People definitely became a lot more free about voicing with their racist opinions following Obama's election. The rise of the internet as a primary communication platform has also contributed - the protection of a screen leads to people voicing opinions that they would never speak about face-to-face.

The majority of people aren't racist, it's true, but it turns out that there are a lot more racists than we thought.

Edit: case in point - the newly announced "America First" caucus in the House of Representatives

https://www.usnews.com/news/top-new...america-first-caucus-raises-hackles-over-race

Apart from anything else, the Internet allowed racists, as well as every other kind of crank, to network.

Harder to cause a great deal of trouble when you're the only person shouting on the street corner. In previous times these people would have sandwich boards and most normal people would shun them.

 

[rjs330]

People definitely became a lot more free about voicing with their racist opinions following Obama's election. The rise of the internet as a primary communication platform has also contributed - the protection of a screen leads to people voicing opinions that they would never speak about face-to-face.

The majority of people aren't racist, it's true, but it turns out that there are a lot more racists than we thought.

Edit: case in point - the newly announced "America First" caucus in the House of Representatives

https://www.usnews.com/news/top-new...america-first-caucus-raises-hackles-over-race

Apparently you didn't read the article. The caucus has nothing to do with race. The punchbowl gossip is nothing more than left wing propaganda trying once again to throw racism around in everything. And you fell for it again.

If you have actual evidence of this large amount of racists (and I'm assuming you mean whites cause you've never addressed the serious racism in the black community) I'd like to see this "lot more racist" evidence you have. Just what percentage of whites do you think are racist? And what's you evidence of that? Do you believe blacks are as racist as whites?

 

[rturner76]

You know only 48% of whites are middle class. Less than half.
There are a lot more blacks in poverty than whites by percentage. That cannot be denied. But it's not the white man's fault anymore. Jim Crow and slavery is gone. The opportunities are wide open.

My whiteness didn't open my doors for me. I used the opportunities that this country has to offer and I pursued them. Same as anyone else can.

I keep on saying the term "white privilege" does not mean you get a free ride. It is one advantage that helps, it's not a free ticket to success.

My dad lived under Jim Crow so it wasn't all that long ago. The generation that fought for freedom in the 1960's is still alive and well. My dad told me he couldn't look a white man in the eye when he was young, for fear of getting a beating that would be totally allowable because of his color. THat's not my great-great-grandparents, that's my dad and I'm not that old.

Do you think having white skin has absolutely no benefits? That black skin is preferable because of affirmative action or something? There is probably nothing that I can say that will make you see what privilege is and is not.

Race relations have gotten much better since the new millennium but there are still advantages to being white, rich, tall, attractive, smart, creative, or whatever. A privilege doesn't guarantee success but it helps.

 

[RocksInMyHead]

Apparently you didn't read the article. The caucus has nothing to do with race. The punchbowl gossip is nothing more than left wing propaganda trying once again to throw racism around in everything. And you fell for it again.

I did read it. Perhaps you're right. But it's telling to me that dismissing it as "gossip" is all the defense offered. No statement of what the actual platform will be or what the caucus will value.

If you have actual evidence of this large amount of racists I'd like to see this "lot more racist" evidence you have.

All I can point to is the fact that I see significantly more racism expressed publicly than I used to.

 

[rjs330]

I did read it. Perhaps you're right. But it's telling to me that dismissing it as "gossip" is all the defense offered. No statement of what the actual platform will be or what the caucus will value.


All I can point to is the fact that I see significantly more racism expressed publicly than I used to.

If you are referring to the ease of access to social media platforms you probably are because people have more access to places where they can express it. Until the proliferation of the internet people could only express their views in a localized area.

There isn't any more racism now than their us ed to be. In fact I think there is less. There isn't more racism. There is less racism.

 

[rjs330]

I keep on saying the term "white privilege" does not mean you get a free ride. It is one advantage that helps, it's not a free ticket to success.

My dad lived under Jim Crow so it wasn't all that long ago. The generation that fought for freedom in the 1960's is still alive and well. My dad told me he couldn't look a white man in the eye when he was young, for fear of getting a beating that would be totally allowable because of his color. THat's not my great-great-grandparents, that's my dad and I'm not that old.

Do you think having white skin has absolutely no benefits? That black skin is preferable because of affirmative action or something? There is probably nothing that I can say that will make you see what privilege is and is not.

Race relations have gotten much better since the new millennium but there are still advantages to being white, rich, tall, attractive, smart, creative, or whatever. A privilege doesn't guarantee success but it helps.

We all know how the blackman suffered under Jim Crow. But Jim Crow is done. And was 50-60 years ago.

What can white people do that black people can't? Where can white people live that black people can't? Where can white people eat that black people can't? What job can a white person hold that a black person can't? Where is it lawful for people to discriminate against black people?
What opportunities do white people have access to that black people don't?