<p>This is really, really interesting. I dont know exactly how I feel about it, but I do think it’s good that they’re making a point to discuss racial issues with white people, especially because there are so many cultural/institutional weird benefits that white people get that sometimes are overlooked. It’s also good because I think white people tend to feel very, very guilty and scared to talk about race because they’re afraid of being called a racist, so this will facilitate discussion. However, something like this could go totally wrong, and its important to not be TOO divisive. There should be a next step where there is no racial divide. White people are not the only ones who need to learn about racial problems, that’s everyone’s job.</p>
<p>I think it’s perfectly fine to have a white person weekend, if you wanna call it that. I’m Native American and it doesn’t offend me one bit. If you can have Diversity weekends, or ethnic based clubs, what’s wrong with white clubs, as long as they’re not devoted to KKK type things?</p>
<p>My best example, I get a flyer about once a month or two on my door for “Latino Lawn Care.” No one cares, but I bet if someone was passing out “White Boy Lawn Care,” there would be a ****storm and it would be outrageous.</p>
<p>I just find that interesting.</p>
<p>I think White Boy Lawn Care would be a cool company name.</p>
<p>Unlike “Google” and “Yahoo”</p>
<p>White people don’t have their own culture. Every other culture has something associated with it. I don’t get what they will be discussing. How white people oppressed blacks for hundreds of years? …sounds fun.</p>
<p>Here’s the article by the way: [Orientation</a> group created for domestic white students - News](<a href=“http://media.www.themhnews.com/media/storage/paper999/news/2009/03/12/News/Orientation.Group.Created.For.Domestic.White.Students-3670806.shtml]Orientation”>http://media.www.themhnews.com/media/storage/paper999/news/2009/03/12/News/Orientation.Group.Created.For.Domestic.White.Students-3670806.shtml)</p>
<p>^ White people do have their own culture. The reason y’all don’t even pick up on this is because your culture is the dominant one in American society, so mainstream it’s the standard culture and everything not part of it is considered “ethnic”. Saying white people don’t have a culture is like asserting that it’s the standard and everything else is a subgroup of a larger culture. but yeah I have no clue what they would discuss in a seminar like this either, but obviously anyone will be allowed to walk in and participate. otherwise Mt. holyoke would have a lawsuit on their hands, that’s illegal not to let other people in. probably just a discussion of class/ethnic relations in America. fun fun.</p>
<p>
I haven’t read the whole thread or whatever, but I think what leah may have been referring to the fact that whites have an advantage in this world simply because of their skin color. “White privilege” refers to the advantage Whites have over other races socially/financially/etc.</p>
<p>White priviledge? Hah that’s funny my parents are dirt poor and I don’t remember anyone giving me a job or any favors because I’m white. But yeah, let’s not open that can.</p>
<p>If you want to talk about a privledged class of society, I say very attractive women (of all races). Get men to buy you things! Feel welcome anywhere! Make males do anything for you! Very easy, lucrative employment! No need for social skills or personality! Never having to work if you don’t want to! Easily find sex and boyfriends! I rest my case.</p>
<p>Anyway, I doubt this lecture is going to talk about “white priviledge” - that is highly presumptious, insulting, and patrionizing. It’s not going to talk about “white culture” either, please. </p>
<p>It’s probably going to talk about peculiar racial scenarios white people might be put in and general race relations.</p>
<p>For instance, look at this post. People have already been called insensitive and racist. Basically, whenever a racial slur or something offensive happens, look to your left, look to your right, then point at the white person in the room - it’s probably his fault. That’s how most of society generally works right now. The seminar probably deals with being as racially sensitive as possible and different petty things that may get you labeled a racist/ insensitive/ offensive for some reason.</p>
<p>Hell, my school paper has different “offenses” written about every issue. The blood drive is anti-gay, the party is anti-semetic because its on saturday, the 40s party is perpetuating black stereotypes by using the word 40s. That guy should apologize for [misconstrued offense]. Now that he apologized, his sincere apology is deemed offensive. That article about so-and-so being offensive was offensive. The parody of the apology being offensive is extremely offensive. Everything that everyone has said everywhere is offensive. That is my school newspaper. Jesus Christ Almighty. <--------offensive</p>
<p>I remember this really funny occurrence at one university. There was some “pride parade” or something or other, where each of the minority groups (black club, south asian club, hispanic club, etc) made a float for their individual club and marched with it. Some guy wrote a piece in the newspaper saying how it’s kind of funny that the parade reinforces racial lines, rather than encourages unity. He was basically made into some pariah and labeled as some mega-racist by the outraged “clubs.” God bless America, eh folks?</p>
<p>That or they’re probably making n-word jokes and they can’t have black people around if people are going to feel comfortable laughing. Haha I had to say something.</p>
<p>peter_parker, your parents are dirt poor but you made it into college. you’re on cc so it’s probably a damn good college. a black or latino person in your family’s financial situation probably wouldn’t have made it there. do you think that’s because you’re just an extra hard worker, or maybe because this entire society, from our public schools to our division of labor, is extremely favorable to white people? (hint: it’s not because you’re a hard worker. any “dirt poor” person of color would have to work, two, three, four times as hard as you have with half or maybe half of your resources.)</p>
<p>i implore everyone in this thread who doesn’t understand the concept of white privilege to check out the documentary “race: the power of an illusion” and read the essay “unpacking the invisble knapsack.”</p>
<p>When I went to UBuffalo once before the term started, the campus was filled with Asian kids. Apparently there was some kind of Asian student orientation there. Not something that was publicized as I didn’t know a thing about it.</p>
<p>I can just hear the conversation now:</p>
<p>“OMG, America is like sooooo racist. Not me, I voted for Barack Obama and that proves I’m cool. I even have a black–I mean, African-American–friend. Her dad is a partner at Covington and Burling. I also worked in a soup kitchen one time. But the people there were soooo icky, so I didn’t go back.”</p>
<p>Spare me. Just rename the program “orientation for pretentious, affluent white women who want to prove to themselves how cool they are.”</p>
<p>I voted for Obama, even shook his hand personally.</p>
<p>I also roomed with a black guy (we decided to believe it or not), work with predominatly black people, my boss is black, and live in the most racially diverse city in the U.S. where whites comprise of less than 50% the general population.</p>
<p>Now bask in my smugness, lol.</p>
<p>Actually yeah, all the above was coincidental, and not some attempt at proving I’m not racist, although it’s easy to bring it out to deflect the stereotype that whites are racist (lol try processing that statement).</p>
<p>ego: how exactly would a minority have to work 3 or 4 times harder? I didn’t take any special programs or test prep or SAT programs. I went to the local magnate public school. Black kids enrolled there; it was free obviously.</p>
<p>Are you talking about all-black schools that are subpar or have terrible teachers? I’m confused. Yeah maybe people have had to work harder than me; I’m just generally highly intelligent, so yeah – I relied on that? I also busted my a** as well. I understand what you’re getting at but it doesn’t really “jump out” at me as much as it does you, especially the 3-4 times harder sentiment.</p>
<p>peter_parker, how poor was your family?</p>
<p>Also, a large part of the racism in our society comes from the fact that in a lot of “black” neighborhoods there’s a lot of crime and peer pressure to drop out of school, to name two non-economic factors of why being white is a privilege. Racism isn’t institutionalized anymore, true, but it does come from self-segregation. White people like to live near other white people, so they move out of majority-minority neighborhoods as soon as they get the money, taking it out of those regional economies.</p>
<p>I agree with you on one thing, classism is becoming a bigger problem than racism, especially with the election of Obama. But trust me, there are people who are fine with a black person in the White House but would be uncomfortable with a black person in the house next door.</p>
<p>By the way, I support economic-based Affirmative Action (with a combination of scholarships and quotas) instead of race-based because you can’t quantify racism.</p>
<p>I wish every college did this. Ruffle up some PC hippie’s feathers. </p>
<p>I laugh at all of you that are talking about “white privilege” etc. That is why a white person can get rejected from a college with a 34 act, 2200 SAT, 4.0 gpa but a black person can get in with a 3.29 gpa and 25 act.</p>
<p>Right. </p>
<p>we are so ooo ooooo ooooo privileged!</p>
<p>Good on Mt. Holyoke. This made my day.</p>
<p>“I laugh at all of you that are talking about “white privilege” etc. That is why a white person can get rejected from a college with a 34 act, 2200 SAT, 4.0 gpa but a black person can get in with a 3.29 gpa and 25 act.”</p>
<p>because there are a lot more white people with 4.0 GPAs than black people with 3.29+ GPA’s?</p>
<p>just a thought.</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/1995-SAT-Income2.png]whywehaveaffirmativeaction.png[/url”>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/1995-SAT-Income2.png]whywehaveaffirmativeaction.png[/url</a>]</p>
![http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/1995-SAT-Income2.png]whywehaveaffirmativeaction.png[/url](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/1995-SAT-Income2.png%5Dwhywehaveaffirmativeaction.png%5B/url){kind=link}
<p>Oh yeah I’m sure every black person has to work 3 or 4 times as hard as me. I’m poor. I go to a school that is half and half of both races, with a few Hispanics thrown in. And they don’t work hard at all so that is why maybe I’m going to a top college and they are going to the local state U.</p>
<p>Alright let in the less intelligent person because there are more less intelligent people of their color than smart white people. That is a good policy, forgive my stupidity.</p>
<p>“they don’t work hard at all”</p>
<p>“there are more less intelligent people of their color than smart white people.”</p>
<p>I’ve proven one opponent of affirmative action was racist, are there any other takers?</p>
<p>You said “there are more white people with 4.0s than black people that had a 3.29+”</p>
<p>I simply restated what you said.</p>
<p>And who the hell are you to say “they didn’t work hard at all”</p>
<p>Do you go to my school? I don’t think so. So you have no right to call me a racist because I know the kids at my school that don’t work, and the ones that do.</p>
<p>From what I see, affirmative action is a question of why blacks and non-white hispanics are underrepresented in colleges. The people against affirmative action, from what I see, think this is because whites and asians are naturally smarter or harder workers, and that nothing should be done about it. How is that not a racist view?</p>