<p>White male checking in. I came from a lower middle class upbringing but I realized at an early age the built in “privilege” I had being white. Never took it for granted and always felt empathy for minority groups that always had it harder. Always are amused how white males “decry” how they are somehow becoming obsolete or marginalized. Its codespeak for saying they are lazy and are being outworked by others.</p>
<p>Remember I had a very close friend in HS and I wrote the following in his yearbook “Every morning I get up off my back and thank the good Lord I wasn’t born black”. Well before I encounter any outrage, as I said before this was a close friend who told me he showed that quote to his mother who laughed. The point being that given a choice, most people would welcome the privileges given those who are white. </p>
<p>Race and how it is viewed in a given situation can be a circumstance.</p>
<p>That said, in a global sense, racism tends to be more of a deadweight loss tax. The privileges and gains that some individuals gain from racism are outweighed by the losses of more people, including those of the same race. Of course, those of the race more commonly discriminated against typically pay more of the “tax” (but not in this fraternity incident, where the fraternity basically brought about its own destruction while putting itself up for ridicule).</p>
<p>Obviously, you have not seen some of the poverty that exits among whites such as those living in appalachian areas of the east coast as I have observed. There is little doubt in my mind that Jessie Jackson’s kids, Bill Cosby’s kids, Obama’s kids, and every other wealthy successful black person in American would be likely to wake up and thank the good Lord they were not born a white person in those impoverished areas. </p>
<p>Privilege is not race. Never has been, never will be. Saying it is, is racist and offensive. </p>
<p>But would it have mattered in terms of the opportunities or lack thereof that you encountered if you were born as a person of a different race in an “other things equal” (e.g. same SES family in the same area, etc.) situation?</p>
<p>If there was such a thing as white privilege, you would not see the success of Asian Americans with respect to education, professions, and business success. I don’t hear many Asian Americans complaining of white privilege. </p>
<p>If you compare the supposed “victims” of white privilege, namely African Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Americans you will see significant differences between those groups on average and those differences have nothing to do with whites.</p>
<p>Aside from being a racist term, the phrase is just one more excuse for many (primarily) African American to excuse their many failures that, in realty, have little to do with their race. </p>
<p>Asian Americans include a large percentage of immigrants and first generation descendants of immigrants. Because immigration is subject to both self-selection (people with high enough motivation to move to another country) and external selection (the immigration laws in the US favor some categories like PhD students and skilled workers), the comparison is not really “other things equal” on a whole group basis (it never is, on a whole group basis).</p>
<p>On an individual basis, do you think that your opportunities or lack thereof would have been different if you were of a different race, but from a similar family background otherwise (same SES level, same area growing up, etc.)?</p>
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<p>Perhaps not with that specific term, but it is widespread belief among Asian Americans that many colleges either have secret quotas to limit them, or otherwise set higher admissions standards for them, in order to leave enough space to admit enough others (including European Americans). Surprising that you have not noticed this belief floating around here. (Of course, whether or not it is true at any given college is another subject altogether.)</p>
<p>You can be a privileged black (or brown, and by that I mean hispanic or otherwise non white) person and by that I mean born into wealth and still be pulled over by the cops for the sole reason of being black or dark skinned (driving a fancy car perhaps). That is what the young man meant when he said he was glad he wasn’t born black. It happens every day (pretty sure that Obama has been pulled over for the sole reason of being a dark man driving a car. That’s where the privilege comes in - it is a visual thing. Read the book “Black Like Me” for more perspective.</p>
<p>And I certainly don’t think these ASU students need to be crucified for this ‘not too smart’ party, I understand a major part of the infraction was the underage drinking. </p>
<p>I’m Asian American and I believe very much in white privilege, not because I feel like I am denied things because I am not white, but more because I know that a white male can walk into any store or business anywhere and be judged on what he says or does, pretty much. I may be judged because of how I look. I may not be hated or discriminated against, but I may feel Other. If an African American person, esp a young male, walks into the same places, he may be judged harshly and he may be discrimated against. He definitely feels Other in many places. I don’t let the notion of white privilege inform my life, but to discount it as either mythical, or a burden, is just not realistic. I know it’s frustrating to hear “you just don’t understand unless you’re a minority”, and I totally get the impatience with that kind of notion, but it really is true. I’m not pissed, I’m not ranting, I’m not using any excuses. But I think it’s disingenuous to deny it.</p>
<p>jaylynn has described it exactly right - it is visual and impossible to NOT be judged by the way that you look (whatever the myth du jour is for your race). </p>
<p>Consolation and UCBalumnus, I am grateful for your input.</p>
<p>Razor, I’ll recommend to you two things which may add to, or revise your perspective on whether or not white privilege exists.
Professor Andrew Hacker’s book and the classroom test he describes therein. He asks his white student how much compensation would they ask for if they were compelled to change their race to Black. Nearly all felt white status was essentially invaluable in U.S. society.</p>
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<li> Chris Rock’s joke; ‘No one white in this audience would trade places with me…AND I’M RICH!!!’</li>
</ol>
<p>I decided I should clarify the kind of thing I was talking about when I said that “white privilege” is sometimes used inappropriately. Here’s an example: a young woman at my son’s college went off to dinner, leaving her books and laptop on a table in the library. She was away for two hours. When she returned, she found that someone had moved her stuff to the side so that they could sit in “her” chair. I think that it was a group that wanted to sit together. In moving her things, they had accidentally popped open the disk drive. (I know this happens with may laptop if one grasps it by the sides and accidentally presses on the drive. It is not a big deal.) She became irate, and went on FB (and possibly twitter, I don’t know) claiming that they had moved her stuff because of “white privilege.” This set off a firestorm. IMHO, her claim was patently ridiculous. I’m sure that in the history of the school, a student of color has moved someone’s stuff after they were away for a couple of hours, and it wasn’t because of “white privilege.” I think it is as ridiculous to ascribe a single motivation to all white people simply because of their race as it is to do the same thing to black people.</p>
<p>Does white privilege exist? Yes, and mostly white people are unaware of it. They just haven’t thought about it. They take it for granted that people don’t lock their doors when they see them coming, for example. On the other hand, I think it is in danger of being trivialized as a concept by people like the young woman above. Unfortunately, her silly accusations simply caused people to become defensive and angry. THe next time they read something about the issue, they may be dismissive, which would be a pity.</p>
<p>Don’t they tell students not to leave stuff unattended because it may get stolen? She was lucky that it was just moved. (Did she know who moved her stuff?)</p>
<p>ucb, at their school it is the norm to leave your stuff at a desk in the library and go grab a bite to eat or something. Theft is highly unusual, almost unheard of. I gather that there is a balance between being able to take a break and holding a spot for too long a time without using it, and two hours might be over the line in some people’s opinion, especially during exams.</p>
<p>I don’t think anything would change in terms of my successes and failures. They are based on my actions not the perceptions of others. I am pretty highly motivated, however. </p>
<p>What about you? </p>
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<p>I have noticed that claim and it seems common. To the extent it is true, it would not be based on some concept of white privilege but rather a bias against Asian Americans in favor of blacks, hispanics, and whites. </p>
<p>If you really wish to talk about privilege, then it would be fair to say that blacks and hispanics have privilege that whites do not. Most if not all colleges will take a black or hispanic student over a white student who is otherwise equal in every respect. The same is true for a lot of businesses. How isn’t that a privilege based on race?</p>
<p>I’m going to look for an article written by a black woman who had been looking for a job and got few hits on her resume (well qualified for the job). She created a new job profile with a more generic ‘white sounding’ name and immediately got many hits on her resume (she got actual job offers) - I just read the article very recently and will try to remember to post it here. The only difference was the name change. when it comes down to it there’s still discrimination based on color (the browner your skin, the more likely you are to NOT be offered the job all other things being equal and it doesn’t matter WHAT school you went to. White guy, black guy, hispanic guy, asian guy all went to Harvard, if it is all visual (everyone interviews with a black suit, white shirt, red tie), the black guy is going last, the hispanic guy is going next, then asian and the white guy will be offered the job first. </p>
<p>I would not be surprised if perceptions by some teachers, counselors, etc. in schools may have differed, possibly resulting in different grading, evaluation, and placement in some of the more subjectively graded subjects in school.</p>
<p>Then there is the whole matter of employment and housing and such.</p>
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<p>Many colleges do not consider race or ethnicity at all in admissions. All California two year and four year schools do not consider race or ethnicity in admissions, and they educate most of the college students in the state.</p>
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<p>Matched pair (white/black) studies have consistently found that employers and landlords favor white over black applicants with matched credentials, differing only by race for when in-person interviews were done, or by stereotypically white/black names on resumes and such when counting the percentage of call-backs.</p>