Checking My Privilege: Character as the Basis of Privilege
http://theprincetontory.com/main/checking-my-privilege-character-as-the-basis-of-privilege/
There is a phrase that floats around college campuses, Princeton being no exception, that threatens to strike down opinions without regard for their merits, but rather solely on the basis of the person that voiced them. “Check your privilege,” the saying goes, and I have been reprimanded by it several times this year. The phrase, handed down by my moral superiors, descends recklessly, like an Obama-sanctioned drone, and aims laser-like at my pinkish-peach complexion, my maleness, and the nerve I displayed in offering an opinion rooted in a personal Weltanschauung. “Check your privilege,” they tell me in a command that teeters between an imposition to actually explore how I got where I am, and a reminder that I ought to feel personally apologetic because white males seem to pull most of the strings in the world.
I do not accuse those who “check” me and my perspective of overt racism, although the phrase, which assumes that simply because I belong to a certain ethnic group I should be judged collectively with it, toes that line. But I do condemn them for diminishing everything I have personally accomplished, all the hard work I have done in my life, and for ascribing all the fruit I reap not to the seeds I sow but to some invisible patron saint of white maleness who places it out for me before I even arrive. Furthermore, I condemn them for casting the equal protection clause, indeed the very idea of a meritocracy, as a myth, and for declaring that we are all governed by invisible forces (some would call them “stigmas” or “societal norms”), that our nation runs on racist and sexist conspiracies. Forget “you didn’t build that;” check your privilege and realize that nothing you have accomplished is real.
But they can’t be telling me that everything I’ve done with my life can be credited to the racist patriarchy holding my hand throughout my years of education and eventually guiding me into Princeton. Even that is too extreme. So to find out what they are saying, I decided to take their advice. I actually went and checked the origins of my privileged existence, to empathize with those whose underdog stories I can’t possibly comprehend. I have unearthed some examples of the privilege with which my family was blessed, and now I think I better understand those who assure me that skin color allowed my family and I to flourish today.
Perhaps it’s the privilege my grandfather and his brother had to flee their home as teenagers when the Nazis invaded Poland, leaving their mother and five younger siblings behind, running and running until they reached a Displaced Persons camp in Siberia, where they would do years of hard labor in the bitter cold until World War II ended. Maybe it was the privilege my grandfather had of taking on the local Rabbi’s work in that DP camp, telling him that the spiritual leader shouldn’t do hard work, but should save his energy to pass Jewish tradition along to those who might survive. Perhaps it was the privilege my great-grandmother and those five great-aunts and uncles I never knew had of being shot into an open grave outside their hometown. Maybe that’s my privilege.
Or maybe it’s the privilege my grandmother had of spending weeks upon weeks on a death march through Polish forests in subzero temperatures, one of just a handful to survive, only to be put in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp where she would have died but for the Allied forces who liberated her and helped her regain her health when her weight dwindled to barely 80 pounds.
Perhaps my privilege is that those two resilient individuals came to America with no money and no English, obtained citizenship, learned the language and met each other; that my grandfather started a humble wicker basket business with nothing but long hours, an idea, and an iron will—to paraphrase the man I never met: “I escaped Hitler. Some business troubles are going to ruin me?” Maybe my privilege is that they worked hard enough to raise four children, and to send them to Jewish day school and eventually City College.
Perhaps it was my privilege that my own father worked hard enough in City College to earn a spot at a top graduate school, got a good job, and for 25 years got up well before the crack of dawn, sacrificing precious time he wanted to spend with those he valued most—his wife and kids—to earn that living. I can say with certainty there was no legacy involved in any of his accomplishments. The wicker business just isn’t that influential.Now would you say that we’ve been really privileged? That our success has been gift-wrapped?
That’s the problem with calling someone out for the “privilege” which you assume has defined their narrative. You don’t know what their struggles have been, what they may have gone through to be where they are. Assuming they’ve benefitted from “power systems” or other conspiratorial imaginary institutions denies them credit for all they’ve done, things of which you may not even conceive. You don’t know whose father died defending your freedom. You don’t know whose mother escaped oppression. You don’t know who conquered their demons, or may still conquering them now.
The truth is, though, that I have been exceptionally privileged in my life, albeit not in the way any detractors would have it.
It has been my distinct privilege that my grandparents came to America. First, that there was a place at all that would take them from the ruins of Europe. And second, that such a place was one where they could legally enter, learn the language, and acclimate to a society that ultimately allowed them to flourish.
It has been my distinct privilege that my grandparents came to America. First, that there was a place at all that would take them from the ruins of Europe. And second, that such a place was one where they could legally enter, learn the language, and acclimate to a society that ultimately allowed them to flourish.
It was their privilege to come to a country that grants equal protection under the law to its citizens, that cares not about religion or race, but the content of your character.
It was my privilege that my grandfather was blessed with resolve and an entrepreneurial spirit, and that he was lucky enough to come to the place where he could realize the dream of giving his children a better life than he had.
But far more important for me than his attributes was the legacy he sought to pass along, which forms the basis of what detractors call my “privilege,” but which actually should be praised as one of altruism and self-sacrifice. Those who came before us suffered for the sake of giving us a better life. When we similarly sacrifice for our descendents by caring for the planet, it’s called “environmentalism,” and is applauded. But when we do it by passing along property and a set of values, it’s called “privilege.” (And when we do it by raising questions about our crippling national debt, we’re called Tea Party radicals.) Such sacrifice of any form shouldn’t be scorned, but admired.
My exploration did yield some results. I recognize that it was my parents’ privilege and now my own that there is such a thing as an American dream which is attainable even for a penniless Jewish immigrant.
I am privileged that values like faith and education were passed along to me. My grandparents played an active role in my parents’ education, and some of my earliest memories included learning the Hebrew alphabet with my Dad. It’s been made clear to me that education begins in the home, and the importance of parents’ involvement with their kids’ education—from mathematics to morality—cannot be overstated. It’s not a matter of white or black, male or female or any other division which we seek, but a matter of the values we pass along, the legacy we leave, that perpetuates “privilege.” And there’s nothing wrong with that.
Behind every success, large or small, there is a story, and it isn’t always told by sex or skin color. My appearance certainly doesn’t tell the whole story, and to assume that it does and that I should apologize for it is insulting. While I haven’t done everything for myself up to this point in my life, someone sacrificed themselves so that I can lead a better life. But that is a legacy I am proud of.
I have checked my privilege. And I apologize for nothing.
The white privilege argument doesn’t really apply to somebody who got into a school like Princeton for two reasons. Firstly, white students are roughly proportional to their numbers in the general population because Asians, who make up 20-25% of Ivy League undergrads, are so overrepresented.
Secondly, saying that somebody got into Princeton because of white privilege is a silly argument, because you’re talking about something that 95% of white high school graduates couldn’t do. There may still be a few rich kids who get in because of connections, but that isn’t white privilege so much as wealth privilege. I’ll give Tal the benefit of the doubt and assume his high school grades and SATs were at the very high level of the average Princetonian. Maybe that argument would apply to some average but expensive college that a mediocre student could get into, but not the Ivy League, which only takes the best and brightest.
Tal may have had a very privileged upbringing and more breaks than you did, but so what? His getting into Princeton shows that he isn’t wasting it. It’s not how much privilege you have, since you have no choice in the matter, it’s what you do with it. If you want privileged people to feel ashamed of themselves, how about focusing on the rich kids who had everything handed to them and threw it away and still managed to screw up their lives? Why do you have to take something away from someone whose head is on straight and wants to make something of himself?
Shaniqua,
You my dear exemplify precisely what young Fortgang wrote about: you are so enamoured of your ‘victim’ status, that you can get past yourself: you DEMAND that someone hand you all you want, when you want it, and how you want, and you never have to foot the bill for all of it.
Your river of tears demanded is a cop out, yet another crutch that you provide yourself so that you needn’t take responsibility for your thoughts, your words, or your actions. You make excuses for how you think, what you say, and for the severely bigoted positions which you reflect so clearly in the racist terms you directed toward young Fortgang:
“..poor Mayo boy…”, “…white boy..”
Let’s change it around shall we, but for you this time?:
:.poor Choco girl…”, “…black girl..”
Do YOU like the sound of those phrases? No?
You shouldn’t like the sound of them, because the prime focus is skin color, rather that the character of the person at whom they are being directed. Get the drift?
I would add that your implied anti-European (white) bigotry when it comes to just who killed whom, and for how long all of that went on, illustrates a SEVERE ignorance of history, HUMAN history, and the foundations of why things happen. The proof of it is in the vacuous manner in which you give African history a pass on the ‘standard’ you seem to use against white Europeans.
News flash oh proud ‘victim’: Africans sold Africans into slavery in West Africa, because when the slave trade began, and for the next approximately 300 years, the white Europeans could not and did not venture too far inland, because of the ‘bad air’ (Bing search the Spanish word ‘mal aria’).
Yoruba peoples conquered Ibo/Igbo peoples and many others along the coastal and near-inland areas, while the Fulani Muslims raided other black African peoples and sold them to the Yoruba for the slave trade.
The tens of thousands of black slaves who were forced onto those ships, were sold into that situation by OTHER black Africans.
Oh yes, the names of the fine fellows for the first, roughly, two hundred years of the slave trade?
Hispanic names, because for those first nearly two hundred years, the Spanish and Portuguese ran nearly all of the slave trade, THEN came slaver merchants with Dutch, French, and English names, but only AFTER the Spaniards and Portuguese nations diminished in power.
Here’s another News Flash Shaniqua: the Slave Trade is STILL ongoing: it is engaged in by BLACK Muslim Africans, as the latest act to go public in Nigeria proves all to well; Muslims acting according to what the Muslim prophet Muhammad commanded, and his successors commanded: that enslaving non-Muslims is a profitable and ‘allah’ supported positive act, NOT a sin.
Arabs by black African slaves, they’ve been doing that at least since 600 AD in Kenya and southwards in East Africa, and for longer than that in North Africa.
Slavery was not a ‘white’ invention: it was a human invention, practiced in nearly every culture, in every land, for nearly all of human history.
I know none of these FACTS will sway you from your deeply held bigoted points of view; that would take a supreme effort to confront yourself, your severely ignorant misconceptions, and the very clear hatred which you so carefully nourish in your heart, towards white people.
Check your victim privilege Shaniquah.
Minorities, if there is such a thing, relish in the shadow of their forefathers. The white liberals, in order to secure political votes, have shackled the Blacks to paper chains. The devastating storm of Katrina should have opened some eyes but, it did not. I marveled at the multitude of Black people who were completely at the mercy of the white establishment to “save” them. New Orleans, a town of full of minorities were clueless to help themselves. Rather, they sat and waited on the white man to recue them. It continues today. Education cannot be forced on anybody and that is a shame. Until the minorities realize that is education that will break their bonds then they will dwell in the ghettos of this once great nation which is nothing more than a modern day cotton plantation.
Unfortunately, we are witnessing the embryonic form of a slowly developing American version of fascism, which will likely lead to re-education camps for those who think or express anything that is politically incorrect or offends someone. There is now a hierarchy of victim hood in this country, where the uber-victim gets the spoils. Black people believe that they are at the top of the cultural Marxist food chain of victim hood, but they are not. The radical Muslim is the uber victim of neo-colonial oppression. This is why a white Muslim can force a university to rescind the honorary degree from a black woman, and the college will accede to his demands, while a white Christian would be laughed off the phone for such effrontery. In the comments section here, a black racist calls you “matzoh boy” and “white boy”, denigrates all Eurpeans, and pooh-poohs the hardships your ancestors suffered because his ancestors had it worse. We all have are cross to bear, and it is specious to compare whose cross is the worst. I bet if you sneezed in his direction, you would be charged with a racist micro-aggression. Recently, I read of a white privilege conference in Wisconsin, where whites were decried as irredeemably racist, and white students wrote on their skin how they are racist and white-privileged. There is something very chilling about this, where it seems that anyone who is white Christian or Jewish is being marked for genocide in this country. Our AG has already claimed that hate crime laws do not apply to whites. Nazis were decrying Jewish privilege and denigrating their history well before Jews were thrown into concentration camps.
I will be very careful where I send my kids to college, and they will never go to any Ivy League cess pool of liberal fascism where their race, culture, country and religion will be demonized and hated. I work four jobs to keep them relatively well-off in this awful economy. Like hell I will have them taught that only their skin color is responsible for their upper middle class status
I will be very careful where I send my kids to college, and they will never go to any Ivy League cess pool of liberal fascism where their race, culture, country and religion will be demonized and hated. I work four jobs to keep them relatively well-off in this awful economy. Like hell I will have them taught that only their skin color is responsible for their upper middle class status
I have read through most of the Replies to this man of courage to speak his thoughts. I am saddened by most peoples replies, and taken back by some. My father and mother raised me and my sisters in a house on one principle. ” You get out of life son not what you deserve, but what you work for to earn”. He used to say this to me all the time.
I worked as a construction worker for my father for 10 years. I started off hating my job-after all I was a spoiled young kid with no sense of privilege of my own that my father didnt give me. I started off making under minimum wage as it was his choice that I started my own life path, and found my own way in life as he did. My father also came from nothing. He was raised with 6 brothers and sisters by his mother who worked on and off as a waitress. The clothes they wore were drapes from homes they lived in when they were not evicted by lack of rent paid. My grandmother did the best she could, but lack of good jobs for woman in the 60′s and 70′s led to my father dropping out of school at age 13 to help pay for the growing bills. He played a key part to the survival, as talked in another post, for him and his 6 younger brothers and sister. That lack of education but strong will to survive led him to building one of the largest construction firms in the state of Pennsylvania. Not bad for a kid that didn’t make it past 9th grade.
His hard ethics on me his oldest son led to my strength and will. I started my own company when I was 27 years old. My company has top honors in 4 counties, and continues to grow not because I was privileged, but because my hard work and dedication paid off at mastering my life skills. I found my way in life, and will instill the same value on my children my father instilled in me. At a young age I found success that no one gave me but myself. Everything I own today was built off of $5.25 an hour.
American dreams are not built on the backs of men who are handed torches. They are built on the backs of men who were instilled with core values that any dream can be accomplished by putting your pants on every day and doing what you have to for the sake of your family. One will never find success if they accept the defeat from social behavior. My instincts tell me that not one soul in the universe can ever tell me I cant be somebody. My ethics tell me that if I put my mind to a task I can accomplish said task.
In conclusion to my story and agreeance of this article I want to add. Skin color and social status do not make the man, they only prohibit him from achieving his personal goals. Men with lots of money are not successful in my eyes, but the hard working dedication by men with spirit outweigh all the riches in the world. I am blessed with opportunity all the time. These opportunities fall into my lap not because I am privileged, but because I worked my tail off to be the best at what I do. You master your life skills, and you cant help but to fall into opportunity. Thats not a race thing, thats a life thing. so I say the same that my father said…….”You don’t get out of life what you deserve, but what you work for”!!!!! Change the way you think, and see if that doesn’t help your situation.
Dear Tal,
I read the New York Times article and wanted to read yours in full. You’re right, you shouldn’t apologize for the privileges you’ve had in your life or for your race or sex. We don’t choose what family, country or body we are born into and don’t have any control over that. You should be proud of your family history, their strength and resilience. Every person in this world has a family history and one can’t possible know or understand that just by what your look like. You mention toward the end of the article that you are privileged, privileged to have grown up in a family environment where your parents valued education and spent time making sure you learned and grew into not only an educated person but one with morale and cultural values. That is a privilege and I respect you for recognizing that. As you know, many Americans and people around the world don’t have that same support from their family, they aren’t encouraged to go to school or maybe aren’t even given that opportunity. You grew up in a place where your family worked hard and was able to provide you with food every day, a good education, a roof over your head, a neighborhood not instilled with violence and probably even a suit to go to your high school prom. All of these things, many, even myself often take for granted on a daily basis because particularly in this country and in the circles of elite colleges, we often assume everyone has or grew up with. However, to assume, often, as the saying goes, makes an “ass” of “u” and “me”. People shouldn’t assume what your upbringing was or what your family history is but simultaneously, consider the long list of benefits and advantages you’ve been given in life. “Check your privilege” is harsh and in the context of race, sex or gender inappropriate. Privilege is not solely race, sex or gender, it’s about everything, your whole life, everything you call your own, the experiences, trips, classes, everything that you’ve been able to do in your life, even the college you worked long and hard to attend. You’ve learned and grown as an individual from all your given and earned experiences. And while you shouldn’t apologize for that, I encourage you to think about all you have done and be humbled by it, grateful for it, and use that knowledge and experience to encourage your friends, family, classmates, future co-workers and everyone that you touch in your life, to promote the values of education, of a safe, loving and supportive upbringing, of diversity and of morals that you were given by your parents and now continue to thrive on and support to make a positive impact. Don’t let ego, resentment or personal rivalries allow your comments and impact to be negative. Be grateful for the life you’ve been given and have earned and help and encourage others to have the opportunity to do the same. Don’t apologize for your privileges but don’t get angry, USE THEM.
Wow…you commentors are NUTs…I will never “apologize” for being a white male, I will never apologize for slavery, something my kin folk were never involved in. I will not apologize to the Indians when our Government made the descision to take their land…I would have sided with the slaves, I would have sided with the Indians had I been around.
Privileges??? What “Privileges”??? The “privileges” my dad gave me by working hard his entire life feeding and clothing us? Going to school in the 80′s with no socks while the black kids did??? The “privilege” my grandmother gave us cooking the fish and racoons we caught for dinner, ’cause we couldn’t afford “real food”, and we helped feed our neighbors. Oh, the privilege JFK had of riding in a nice top-less car only to have his brains blown out???
If you want to use the term “privilege”, I’ll use it here for a quick second…I “earned” my “privileges” by serving this great country…something you guys probably (yes, I’m assuming) know nothing about. We do the dirty work and see the ugly (and real, I might add) side of the world, something you guys are so far disconnected from, it ain’t even funny. What have you guys done to “earn” your priveleges???
What was Allen West born with that your typical “under privileged” African American wasn’t??? See, color/sex has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with it…If my dad was a drunk and didn’t work, and slept around, having babies with every other woman…if I chose to follow in his foot steps, that is MY FAULT and MY FAULT alone…I remember a time when people took responsibility for their lives/well being/actions.
Let’s set the record straight…I don’t have “privileges”…I have God given rights…this White, Christian, Heterosexual, gun toting Male, owes NOBODY NOTHING!!! Not even apologies or feeling sorry. Think this “thought process” is crazy??? Look at the African Lion…yeah, we’re on the same page. I will be prejudice…it’s called survival…I will not walk into down-town Little Rock in a Klan outfit (not that I would wear one anyways).
Get in touch with your primordial instincts…you might live longer…
Too any African Americans that “see” what I see, drop Jesse Jackson and his ilk…take the lead of Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell, Allen West, Ben Carson, and Herman Cain…work! Don’t let the trend continue…just because it’s “been that way”, doesn’t mean it has to be…YOU decide…YOU make the decisions…and you live with the consequences…
I enjoyed reading this article. As a black man in America, I have nothing but respect for this young man. And to be clear: he does have a privilege. His family worked hard for that privilege, and rightfully, it will be passed down to him, and he will be obligated to pass it down to his descendants. This is how families keep their legacy alive. Instead of being envious, seek to create privilege within your own families. If a Cuban or a Hatian can risk drowning in the Caribbean Sea to come to Florida (where I live), and go from “the clothes on their backs” to “well-educated, well-off professionals” in 10 years (or often less), it makes you question those blacks in America who have lived here a their lives and yet still, cannot get it together. Put the past aside; look to the future. You’re only going to make it if you work hard. America is not a socialist nation, its a meritocratic, capitalist, protestant republic.
As I read this article and comments, I have found that I can agree with both sides of this argument, yet disagree at the same time. As I go through my college education, i see countless scholarships I can never receive just because I am a white male. If I were Black, Hispanic, female or even more than just 1/32 Native American money for college would be more readily available than just a Pell Grant and Loan. I know there are scholarships that are available for me, but they much higher competition and harder to get.
To get a job may be easier because I am white and male, but I know that one of my first jobs all the management I saw were women, from my boss, to her boss, and even the next boss up. I was one a handful of guys that worked there, and this was a big health insurance company. Since then I have had many job interviews, and been rejected more times than I have received a job.
To be honest when it comes to school, careers, and any other aspect of life, it comes down to spirit, and your determination to get there. Fredrick Douglas was a black educated man who was on speaking terms and helped advise government officials. This was during the downfall of American slavery, and he was an escaped slave. He did not let anyone tell him what he could or could not do, and found a way to achieve his goals. The problem that I see with “checking my privilege” is that I am not just outright handed everything, I have to earn my college degree, I have to apply to the jobs, Go through interviews, And all in all make choices that won’t hinder or side track me from where I want to go (i.e. stay away from drugs and heavy drinking, pass my classes, etc). If I saw someone actively being persecuted, like people say, I would stand up and say that that is wrong, and others should too. I would also advise that just because people think that that is happening to them, they should not stop and believe that it is impossible to achieve their dreams because the white man will never let them. This believe only fosters the prejudice, and will do more than any other person could to stop them. By going through and winning the game by getting an education, owning their own successful business, or getting to management positions. This would do more to break the barriers and prove there are none, because some of our biggest barriers were put their by yourself.
Aww, poor Mayo boy, someone hurt his feelings! I guess one or two generations of “oppression” gives him the right to walk around campus whining that people don’t like him cause his European ancestors decided to kill each other off, like through most European history (if you can even call the European past history). But us proud Africans have to be subjected to centuries of slavery, followed by centuries of oppression, just so we can scrape by and thank “mastah” for barely letting us into college to better ourselves? Cry me a river, white boy and check your privileges.
Congratulations! You’ve leveraged your privilege and capitalized on the hard work antiracists (mostly POC’s) have been doing for decades to centralized the discussion institutionalized racism.
Unfortunately your essay is just another example of how our educational institutions are for the large part doing students an expensive disservice. The people who are telling you to “Check your privilege” have done their homework, and do in fact know what they’re talking about. The people who tell you to “Check your privilege” have not only learned about your ancestors experience (after all you ARE describing the kind of story most all of us have been taught in high school history), they have also been cultivating an advanced understanding of the structures (systems of oppression) that have shaped our collective consciousness (which are directly linked with the mindset that allows genocide) On top of it, sounds like most of them have more personal experiential knowledge of what it’s like to BE OPPRESSED than you do.
Until you decided to do the homework yourself you will be excluded from certain conversations that require a more advanced knowledge. It’s like going into a surgery and being pissed that they won’t let you dissect the heart just cause you have a heart too? Get the picture?
Here is an example of media deception..at HARVARD…JEWS are %1.8 of the population,yet %25 of the students..
WHITES %68 of the population….only %20 of the students
data from the Hillel Princeton review.
White people are UNDER represented more than any other group! Man people are stupid. Media control means you get to push the “white privilege” ,but in reality it is JEWISH PRIVILEGE ….For you people who don’t know the difference between white people and Jews,you need to. They do NOT consider themselves white,and in fact despise white people. They like to shift the blame for crimes they commit on whites,like the slave trade..Jews were the slavers. Jews are so over represented in IVY it isn’t even funny…they boast about it,like they brag about their media control,control of Wall Street,and the big banks,and of course Hollywood. The most prominent NY Times Columnist, David Brooks, wrote a column called “The Chosen, Getting In.” The article talks about a book by a Jewish Professor James Karabel who wrote a book called The Chosen, which discusses the Jewish takeover of the Ivy League.
WHITES %68 of the population….only %20 of the students
data from the Hillel Princeton review.
White people are UNDER represented more than any other group! Man people are stupid. Media control means you get to push the “white privilege” ,but in reality it is JEWISH PRIVILEGE ….For you people who don’t know the difference between white people and Jews,you need to. They do NOT consider themselves white,and in fact despise white people. They like to shift the blame for crimes they commit on whites,like the slave trade..Jews were the slavers. Jews are so over represented in IVY it isn’t even funny…they boast about it,like they brag about their media control,control of Wall Street,and the big banks,and of course Hollywood. The most prominent NY Times Columnist, David Brooks, wrote a column called “The Chosen, Getting In.” The article talks about a book by a Jewish Professor James Karabel who wrote a book called The Chosen, which discusses the Jewish takeover of the Ivy League.
Let’s keep this simple. “Check your privilege” is an insult that says the recipient should bow their head in shame to the speaker. There is no constructive purpose for making this statement. It is a destructive and divisive statement of hatred, envy and/or prejudice that reflects the insecurity of the speaker. It is an excuse to claim that the recipient’s success actually belongs to someone or something else. It means: you got where you are because whitey gets preferential treatment. Tell that to Dr. Ben Carson.
The “privilege” that too many are missing today is proper parental guidance during the years prior to college; knowing the vast array of choices there are, including the bad choices, and having a good idea of what’s required of each choice and what the consequences of making each choice are; having the ability to truly weigh the pros and cons of all the potential career paths. This “privilege” has far more to do with the success or failure of a person’s future than the color of their skin, their sex, their neighborhood, or their sexual preference. But sadly, too many of their parents either don’t have, or don’t believe that they have, what it takes to get this vital information to their children. And too many of their schools are unable or unwilling to get it to them. THIS is what needs to change!
Only a culture change among neglectful and unknowledgable parents and schools can change the course of repeated generational failure. Statements of envy and hatred like “Check your privilege” merely reinforce the false notion that ownership of the problem should not be shared with those that fail. Social justice means empowering our young to make the right decisions in their lives. And the phrase “our young” is not specific to any race or ethnicity or other DIVISION of humanity.
It’s time for the finger pointers to either point at the sources of the problem and get involved in the solution, or shut up and stop being divisive. “Check your privilege” is flipping the bird at successful people. Reaching out your hand can help break the walls of animosity and build the knowledge bridges to the future that are so badly needed. Argue over what the best solutions to getting career decision knowledge to our children are. And then get involved in implementing those solutions. Keep the “check your privilege” middle finger in your pocket.
Let’s keep this simple. “Check your privilege” is an insult that says the recipient should bow their head in shame to the speaker. There is no constructive purpose for making this statement. It is a destructive and divisive statement of hatred, envy and/or prejudice that reflects the insecurity of the speaker. It is an excuse to claim that the recipient’s success actually belongs to someone or something else. It means: you got where you are because whitey gets preferential treatment. Tell that to Dr. Ben Carson.
The “privilege” that too many are missing today is proper parental guidance during the years prior to college; knowing the vast array of choices there are, including the bad choices, and having a good idea of what’s required of each choice and what the consequences of making each choice are; having the ability to truly weigh the pros and cons of all the potential career paths. This “privilege” has far more to do with the success or failure of a person’s future than the color of their skin, their sex, their neighborhood, or their sexual preference. But sadly, too many of their parents either don’t have, or don’t believe that they have, what it takes to get this vital information to their children. And too many of their schools are unable or unwilling to get it to them. THIS is what needs to change!
Only a culture change among neglectful and unknowledgable parents and schools can change the course of repeated generational failure. Statements of envy and hatred like “Check your privilege” merely reinforce the false notion that ownership of the problem should not be shared with those that fail. Social justice means empowering our young to make the right decisions in their lives. And the phrase “our young” is not specific to any race or ethnicity or other DIVISION of humanity.
It’s time for the finger pointers to either point at the sources of the problem and get involved in the solution, or shut up and stop being divisive. “Check your privilege” is flipping the bird at successful people. Reaching out your hand can help break the walls of animosity and build the knowledge bridges to the future that are so badly needed. Argue over what the best solutions to getting career decision knowledge to our children are. And then get involved in implementing those solutions. Keep the “check your privilege” middle finger in your pocket.
nope, not at all; you are wrong on every level. he says he is not privileged as a “white male”, but he also says that no one else is either. this is because the people who have succeeded did so bc their forefathers labored and sacrificed everything, not bc of a patriarchal system. this locates the source of privileged in hard work, not power or oppression. this turns the narrative on its head. “i am proud of my privilege, it means my parents sacrificed everything to make sure i had a better life.”
lastly, the point of referring to his parents is to demonstrate the location of privilege, where it springs from. this man did not benefit from patriarchy, only hard working parents.
QED, you are wrong because the author has relocated the source of privilege and made it into something that anyone can be proud of.
Camila, Angela Davis is an example of everything that is wrong with identity politics and the left. Far from being oppressed, she grew up in a comfortable middle-class family, attended prestigious colleges and adopted the ethos of the violent counter-culture. Her attempt to take over a courthouse in 1970 in a plot to free fellow Black Panther George Jackson resulted in Judge Harold Haley’s head getting blown off by a sawed-off shotgun owned by her. Davis fled and was ultimately arrest two months later. At her trial, she presented alibi witnesses who falsely testified that she had been playing Scrabble at the time of the slaughter. Eyewitnesses who testified to her presence in Marin were slandered as being unable to accurately identify blacks — because they were white. She is an unrepetent communist thug, murderer and perjurer. Nothing that she has to say should be of interest to anyone except a clinical psychiatrist looking into the nature of evil.
Caesar wrote “Tal Fortgang never had to face racial and sexist taunts, never had to consume media where people like him are invisible or denigrated, never had to face quotas or had his credentials questioned based on the color of his skin. When people look at him, they think “privileged” instead of “danger”, or “nigger”, or “chink” or “illegal” or “foreigner”. That’s the privilege he has and he should dig a little deeper next time instead of just bringing up the struggles of his grandparents.”
As a white male, allow me to “check MY privilege.” I live in a city in the United States which is about 70% black. I cannot tell you haw many times I have been called a “cracker.” I believe that qualifies as a racial taunt.
Sorry about your argument.
The more I think about this, the more I’m convinced that “privilege” comes from making good decisions. Starting with not majoring in Gender Studies.
Here is the 10-point plan of the Black Panther Party (with my comments added). To say none of this has been achieved is not accurate since trial by jury and legal representation are long-standing rights in this country. The rest of it, well, read my comments.
The Ten Point Plan
WE WANT FREEDOM. WE WANT POWER TO DETERMINE THE DESTINY OF OUR BLACK AND OPPRESSED COMMUNITIES.
We believe that Black and oppressed people will not be free until we are able to determine our destinies in our own communities ourselves, by fully controlling all the institutions which exist in our communities.
We believe that Black and oppressed people will not be free until we are able to determine our destinies in our own communities ourselves, by fully controlling all the institutions which exist in our communities.
(Blacks can only be governed by blacks? Really? How racists is that?)
WE WANT FULL EMPLOYMENT FOR OUR PEOPLE.
We believe that the federal government is responsible and obligated to give every person employment or a guaranteed income. We believe that if the American businessmen will not give full employment, then the technology and means of production should be taken from the businessmen and placed in the community so that the people of the community can organize and employ all of its people and give a high standard of living.
We believe that the federal government is responsible and obligated to give every person employment or a guaranteed income. We believe that if the American businessmen will not give full employment, then the technology and means of production should be taken from the businessmen and placed in the community so that the people of the community can organize and employ all of its people and give a high standard of living.
(Ask the old soviet countries how well that works. Or take a look at Venezuela to see how government run “jobs” work out.)
WE WANT AN END TO THE ROBBERY BY THE CAPITALISTS OF OUR BLACK AND OPPRESSED COMMUNITIES.
We believe that this racist government has robbed us and now we are demanding the overdue debt of forty acres and two mules. Forty acres and two mules were promised 100 years ago as restitution for slave labor and mass murder of Black people. We will accept the payment in currency which will be distributed to our many communities. The American racist has taken part in the slaughter of our fifty million Black people. Therefore, we feel this is a modest demand that we make.
We believe that this racist government has robbed us and now we are demanding the overdue debt of forty acres and two mules. Forty acres and two mules were promised 100 years ago as restitution for slave labor and mass murder of Black people. We will accept the payment in currency which will be distributed to our many communities. The American racist has taken part in the slaughter of our fifty million Black people. Therefore, we feel this is a modest demand that we make.
(Deal. Now calculate all that black people have received in Welfare, Medicare, Food Stamps, Job Training, etc. and deduct it from the 40 acres and a mule cash value. I think you us the government a few hundred billion dollars.)
WE WANT DECENT HOUSING, FIT FOR THE SHELTER OF HUMAN BEINGS.
We believe that if the landlords will not give decent housing to our Black and oppressed communities, then housing and the land should be made into cooperatives so that the people in our communities, with government aid, can build and make decent housing for the people.
We believe that if the landlords will not give decent housing to our Black and oppressed communities, then housing and the land should be made into cooperatives so that the people in our communities, with government aid, can build and make decent housing for the people.
(Don’t like the government housing? I don’t blame you. Go to North Dakota, where the energy industry is booming and they are begging for workers, and live there in a dwelling of your own choosing using your own money that you make working in the oil fields for 12 hours a day. If that kind of work isn’t for you and you really want to try that cooperative thing, ask Oprah, Lebron, Shaq, and any other rich black folks who you assume agree with you to buy property and support your efforts to build housing that you like. Heck, ask Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and Barbara Boxer to donate some of their millions to the cause.)
WE WANT DECENT EDUCATION FOR OUR PEOPLE THAT EXPOSES THE TRUE NATURE OF THIS DECADENT AMERICAN SOCIETY. WE WANT EDUCATION THAT TEACHES US OUR TRUE HISTORY AND OUR ROLE IN THE PRESENT-DAY SOCIETY.
We believe in an educational system that will give to our people a knowledge of the self. If you do not have knowledge of yourself and your position in the society and in the world, then you will have little chance to know anything else.
We believe in an educational system that will give to our people a knowledge of the self. If you do not have knowledge of yourself and your position in the society and in the world, then you will have little chance to know anything else.
(Welcome to Home Schooling! Christians do it all the time because public schools by and large suck at delivering true moral guidance. See? You really are not that different and have options you are not choosing to use. But you will have to keep paying taxes to support the sucky public schools just like the rest of us home-schoolers do.)
WE WANT COMPLETELY FREE HEALTH CARE FOR All BLACK AND OPPRESSED PEOPLE.
We believe that the government must provide, free of charge, for the people, health facilities which will not only treat our illnesses, most of which have come about as a result of our oppression, but which will also develop preventive medical programs to guarantee our future survival. We believe that mass health education and research programs must be developed to give all Black and oppressed people access to advanced scientific and medical information, so we may provide our selves with proper medical attention and care.
We believe that the government must provide, free of charge, for the people, health facilities which will not only treat our illnesses, most of which have come about as a result of our oppression, but which will also develop preventive medical programs to guarantee our future survival. We believe that mass health education and research programs must be developed to give all Black and oppressed people access to advanced scientific and medical information, so we may provide our selves with proper medical attention and care.
(Not sure where you get the idea that a doctor or nurse, who spends years if not decades learning their craft, is obligated to give you their services for what some government bureaucrat thinks their time and effort is worth. Health care, like any other occupation, is just that – a JOB for which anyone who does it should expect to be paid what THEY think THEY are worth. The market will bear what the market will bear.)
WE WANT AN IMMEDIATE END TO POLICE BRUTALITY AND MURDER OF BLACK PEOPLE, OTHER PEOPLE OF COLOR, All OPPRESSED PEOPLE INSIDE THE UNITED STATES.
We believe that the racist and fascist government of the United States uses its domestic enforcement agencies to carry out its program of oppression against black people, other people of color and poor people inside the united States. We believe it is our right, therefore, to defend ourselves against such armed forces and that all Black and oppressed people should be armed for self defense of our homes and communities against these fascist police forces.
We believe that the racist and fascist government of the United States uses its domestic enforcement agencies to carry out its program of oppression against black people, other people of color and poor people inside the united States. We believe it is our right, therefore, to defend ourselves against such armed forces and that all Black and oppressed people should be armed for self defense of our homes and communities against these fascist police forces.
(So you support the 2nd amendment and the NRA when it comes to government control of citizen owned arms? Welcome to the TEA party!)
WE WANT AN IMMEDIATE END TO ALL WARS OF AGGRESSION.
We believe that the various conflicts which exist around the world stem directly from the aggressive desire of the United States ruling circle and government to force its domination upon the oppressed people of the world. We believe that if the United States government or its lackeys do not cease these aggressive wars it is the right of the people to defend themselves by any means necessary against their aggressors.
We believe that the various conflicts which exist around the world stem directly from the aggressive desire of the United States ruling circle and government to force its domination upon the oppressed people of the world. We believe that if the United States government or its lackeys do not cease these aggressive wars it is the right of the people to defend themselves by any means necessary against their aggressors.
(Not sure how the US can be blamed for the Chinese takeover of Tibet or the violence in the CAR so the whole basis of this is wrong.)
WE WANT FREEDOM FOR ALL BLACK AND OPPRESSED PEOPLE NOW HELD IN U. S. FEDERAL, STATE, COUNTY, CITY AND MILITARY PRISONS AND JAILS. WE WANT TRIALS BY A JURY OF PEERS FOR All PERSONS CHARGED WITH SO-CALLED CRIMES UNDER THE LAWS OF THIS COUNTRY.
We believe that the many Black and poor oppressed people now held in United States prisons and jails have not received fair and impartial trials under a racist and fascist judicial system and should be free from incarceration. We believe in the ultimate elimination of all wretched, inhuman penal institutions, because the masses of men and women imprisoned inside the United States or by the United States military are the victims of oppressive conditions which are the real cause of their imprisonment. We believe that when persons are brought to trial they must be guaranteed, by the United States, juries of their peers, attorneys of their choice and freedom from imprisonment while awaiting trial.
We believe that the many Black and poor oppressed people now held in United States prisons and jails have not received fair and impartial trials under a racist and fascist judicial system and should be free from incarceration. We believe in the ultimate elimination of all wretched, inhuman penal institutions, because the masses of men and women imprisoned inside the United States or by the United States military are the victims of oppressive conditions which are the real cause of their imprisonment. We believe that when persons are brought to trial they must be guaranteed, by the United States, juries of their peers, attorneys of their choice and freedom from imprisonment while awaiting trial.
(The US has trial by jury, free attorneys for those who can’t afford to hire one themselves, and only people who are deemed a flight risk or a threat to the community are held until trial.)
WE WANT LAND, BREAD, HOUSING, EDUCATION, CLOTHING, JUSTICE, PEACE AND PEOPLE’S COMMUNITY CONTROL OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY.
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown that mankind are most disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But, when a long train of abuses and usurpation, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.
(So that government abuse of the power granted it is justification for overthrowing that government? Again, welcome to the TEA party!)
@lilly glenn: This is 2014. You’re about a generation and a half late for the civil rights marches. Here’s the hard truth – EVERY American faces challenges regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, or economic class. Each and every person you meet – from besties to acquaintances to strangers on an elevator – is enduring a monumental, pervasive crisis and possibly existential crisis you know nothing about. That is the sum and substance of the human condition. We all struggle. Is the world perfect? No. As Americans, are we all absolutely equal by every conceivable measure? Of course not. We are a planet of individuals being pressured by media to adopt a “collective” view of our existence. All of us can pretend to be First Person Pluralists, but at night, when the lights are off and we’re left alone with our thoughts – each of us is first person singular. Cut Tal Fortgang some slack. Sure he’s American. Sure he’s white. Sure he’s male. Sure he’s an Ivy Leaguer. Who knows, he might be heterosexual AND right-handed! But the point is, the institutional P.C. pre-judgement of Mr. Fortgang’s life based upon his gender, race, or current economic class is indistinguishable from Al Sharpton’s ranting about “Greek Homos,” Jesse Jackson’s ranting about “Hymietown,” or Joe Biden’s assessment that Obama is “the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.” “Check your privilege” is akin to Liberals bashing Ted Cruz for not being Hispanic enough. At the end of the day, for the collective to pass judgement upon the individual based on meaningless superficiality serves no purpose other than to perpetuate racism. If Mr. Fortgang takes exception to being shackled with your institutional stereotypes of his existence – I applaud him! Like every other human alive or dead, his life carries with it secret burdens about which you are painfully ignorant. Don’t judge his whiteness or his maleness (or anything else about him) merely because it’s easy. That’s the coward’s path.
Camila,
That charter is not entirely reasonable. Especially once you read beyond the “headlines” (posterity was fortunate in this case, that they were preserved inline.)
1. Apparently we need to have segregated communities political institutions, because “black communities” (whatever those are…) should have only black folks “fully controlling all the institutions.”
2. Apparently, we must become a socialist nation, because the means of production should be forcibly removed from those who currently possess them, unless *full* employment is reached.
6. Apparently, we must have universal healthcare system, or the we are a racist nation that systematically oppresses people.
9. Apparently, we need to *utterly empty our prisons* of all black folks, or we are living in a racist dystopia. Also, the bail system must be removed, and we must accept everyone’s “good word” that they will show up for trial.
10. I can only assume “people’s control of modern technology” probably means more forcible appropriation from the existing owners of that technology.
2. Apparently, we must become a socialist nation, because the means of production should be forcibly removed from those who currently possess them, unless *full* employment is reached.
6. Apparently, we must have universal healthcare system, or the we are a racist nation that systematically oppresses people.
9. Apparently, we need to *utterly empty our prisons* of all black folks, or we are living in a racist dystopia. Also, the bail system must be removed, and we must accept everyone’s “good word” that they will show up for trial.
10. I can only assume “people’s control of modern technology” probably means more forcible appropriation from the existing owners of that technology.
Tal,
I think you did misunderstand the “check your privilege” mantra. The problem is that many of its most avid users misunderstand its purpose as well. I’ve heard it deployed to mean exactly “shut up” many, many times, even when the discussion had nothing specifically to do with people’s own *experiences.* We’d need to know more about the context of your discussions to understand whether or not people were using that phrase as an irrational weapon to silence anyone of a difference race/gender/orientation/whatever who disagrees, or whether it was a reasonable attempt to remind someone that they weren’t carefully considering what experiences other folks might have. My personal experience is that it is almost always the former, but it’s not always. And even in those cases where it is an irrational, race or gender-motivated weapon, it’s important (though it shouldn’t be necessary) to point out that even if it’s unfair, it’s not as unfair as the treatment many historically oppressed groups have received.
In any event, just because something is *less* unfair doesn’t mean that it’s a valid, productive tool that folks should seek to utilize in their discussions. More often than not, it silences discussion and halts progress, at least in my experience.
It’s amazing, what bigotry and racism look like, isn’t it?
To see examples, please look to the three responses by Robert, Lilly, and Camilla, who justify their racism and bigotry because of who Tal is, or who they think he is. Their attitudes are okay, they say, based on Tal’s gender and the color of his skin.
Irony and all sense, whether it be common or humor, are lost on ideologues like them. They have none of those attributes.
They learn nothing from his testimonial here, and it is people like them who are the “Leaders of Tomorrow.”
Sigh.
Good grief! If you seriously uses the charge of privilege today, you mark yourself as an unserious person. “Privilege” is a Cultural Marxist PC slur term that is used to intimidate people into silence. It is intended to thoughtstop. The Cultural Marxist double standard goes entirely the opposite direction. Jay Z wears an anti-white medallion to a Nets’ game and few people complain. Donald Sterling commits wrongthink and gets banned for life and fined 2.5 million. Why don’t you talk to me about white privilege.
Privilege is the fact that your grandparents were even allowed to start a business when they came into the country.
You want to play oppression olympics? What about the millions of blacks enslaved in America for 300 years, who then had to deal with segregation and Jim Crow while new immigrants were allowed to assimilate into white culture within one or 2 generations.
You want to play oppression olympics? What about the millions of blacks enslaved in America for 300 years, who then had to deal with segregation and Jim Crow while new immigrants were allowed to assimilate into white culture within one or 2 generations.
I hope you take some African American History or Latin@ history with your history major…maybe then you can actually understand what privilege means.
Its pretty interesting to read this article today given that last night I had the distinct privilege to get to see Angela Davis give a lecture at a local university.
When people speak of “checking” and understanding one’s privilege it isn’t a call to check your own personal genealogical history. Being oppressed doesn’t mean that you can trace back your familial history and find the exact five family members that directly related to you that were persecuted. In fact it means quite the opposite. It means that people who share certain characteristics or traits as you (race, gender, sexuality, ability- to name just a few) have been so systematically oppressed through out the course of history that EVEN if they did make it to the golden shores of the great US of A they STILL couldn’t get a job, proper housing, access to education, health care, etc., based on these shared characteristics. It means that even if they did “get to the US” or were born here or brought here in captivity, and then somehow managed to “prove” themselves moral, just, and economically savvy, generations later their ENTIRE community is still being denied basic rights.
Angela Davis is one of the most prominent activists alive today. She is the authority on so many fights for civil justice and her breadth of knowledge and experience is awe inspiring. One of the topics she touched upon yesterday was her involvement in the Black Panther Party. Davis enumerated for us the Ten Point Plan of the party- and I am sure most people would be surprised to know how basic the rights they were calling for actually were. Here is a link- http://www.blackpanther.org/TenPoint.htm.
The Black Panther Party was formed in 1966. Its 2014 now- just two years shy of their 50th anniversary, and I think its safe to say that it saddened everyone present at the lecture to acknowledge that none of these 10 basic points of human rights have been achieved for the black community of this country. Since the “abolition” of US slavery about 150 years ago black people have been terrorized and mass murdered by white supremacists, have been denied education, equal facilities, the right to vote (thats still happening), they have been ghettoized, imprisoned in disproportionate amounts to their white “criminal” counter parts, have been denied jobs, equal housing, the list goes on and on. All this is based on race, and not on the spirit of entrepreneurial grandfathers. That is what it means to be systemically oppressed.
I have no doubt that the young man who wrote the article has every right to be at Princeton based on his personal academic merits. But what is asked of him when one suggests that he check his privilege is for him to acknowledge that even though most certainly his family has dealt with oppression (whose hasn’t) the generations following that oppression HAVE been allowed to received education, amass wealth, and enjoy a higher amount of safety and freedom than those with darker skin (and in his specific case, more safety, freedom, and wealth, than those with vaginas.) It means that when he is walking down the street, regardless of his grandparents’ experience, he is exponentially less likely to be stopped and searched by the police than is a black man that might be walking down the same street. It means he doesn’t have to feel the constant fear of sexual violence and male aggression that a woman feels on a daily basis, it means he can marry who he likes whenever he likes and his rights will never be questioned by society at large. And it means that these rights are granted to him based on the historical privilege granted to white males. Period.
That is what it means to have privilege that one might want to “check.”
See the difference?
Thank you for stating this so brilliantly. At my job, I consistently interact with customers for an average of 10 seconds, and in that amount of time, I am able to make a good judgment of their character. Sometimes even before I see them and know their gender and race, I know whether they are polite, understanding, respectful, etc. These characteristics alone determine where I could see them with regard to prestige of schooling and occupation. Some people think that they have this “white privilege” and it is absolutely detestable to me, a white male. They think they are above me for some reason based on where I work (McDonald’s). No matter what your station in life is, if you think you are above me, I don’t like you. The occupation you might have can seem to be far more important (e.g. doctors vs. janitors), but every occupation exists because it is very important. If a job weren’t important, it wouldn’t exist.
Yes, there some people who have what “white privilege” is thought to be (schooling and occupation handed to them because of money), but that is not the majority of white males. Which gender gets more scholarships? Females. Which race gets more scholarships? Anybody but whites. White males have almost everything going against them. Most of them get there because of their hard work and determination. Those who get to the top while retaining a sense of politeness, understanding, and respect to everyone they encounter without having a sense of entitlement—along with everyone else of that same status regardless of gender and race—receive my penultimate respect (my highest respect going to our veterans and those currently serving in the armed forces).
MLK said “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’” — these values are the only thing that will make this creed be realized.
“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.”— without these values, this will never happen.
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”— these values judge someone by their character, the values they hold, not their color, gender, age, occupation, or any other outward appearance.
Content of character is more important than any “white privilege.”
Yes, there some people who have what “white privilege” is thought to be (schooling and occupation handed to them because of money), but that is not the majority of white males. Which gender gets more scholarships? Females. Which race gets more scholarships? Anybody but whites. White males have almost everything going against them. Most of them get there because of their hard work and determination. Those who get to the top while retaining a sense of politeness, understanding, and respect to everyone they encounter without having a sense of entitlement—along with everyone else of that same status regardless of gender and race—receive my penultimate respect (my highest respect going to our veterans and those currently serving in the armed forces).
MLK said “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’” — these values are the only thing that will make this creed be realized.
“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.”— without these values, this will never happen.
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”— these values judge someone by their character, the values they hold, not their color, gender, age, occupation, or any other outward appearance.
Content of character is more important than any “white privilege.”
He bundled two bleeding men onto the back of the car, and slowly made his way up the slope.
When he finally made the surface, the superintendent of works came up to him and looking over the bodies of the men still bleeding, asked my grandfather a question: “How many mules died?” The Poles, and Hungarians, and Irish dying below were replaceable for nothing. Mules cost money. Was it “slavery”? Perhaps not legally. But the arrogance and cruelty were there in abundance. The fundamental inhumanity of exploiting the “other” was there.
?prej?d?s/
noun
noun: prejudice; plural noun: prejudices
preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.
“English prejudice against foreigners”
synonyms: preconceived idea, preconception, prejudgment More