Let’s back up a second here. When did everyone become so bitter? And also, when did this become an issue of race? Because there is a black police officer in the picture? Its incredible the racism that exists on BOTH sides, and that the economy is color blind. It has been BAD FOR EVERYONE, I don’t appreciate it when people say that “Now we’re paying attention because the shit hit the fan for white people.” What’s that supposed to mean? That because I’m white I’ve been immune from financial difficulties up until now, and that even now, I’m not hurting as much as every black, hispanic or asian person in the USA? My WHITE MOTHER was on welfare for 2 years because my abusive father left her with me and my sick brother. We had to live in the worst part of philadelphia while she attended NIGHT SCHOOL so she could work and pay for us just to have shelter and food. And now, as a 20 year old WHITE citizen I live paycheck to paycheck with 30k in student debt for a school i didn’t even graduate from. I have bill collectors calling me already about over due accounts on medical bills for a suicide attempt and forced hospitalization in a facility not of my choosing that was not covered under my insurance. Insurance I almost LOST if it weren’t for the healthcare bill recently passed. So how about we stop bitching about color issues and see that EVERYONE IS HURTING. EVERYONE. And the protests in New York are not about color or race or creed or whatever, it’s about people and how people have mismanaged the wealth in this nation regardless of the color of their skin. So how about we stop doing this race bullshit and treat everyone as equals.
It’s a “race issue” because people like you see nothing wrong with saying shit like this: “We had to live in the worst part of philadelphia.”
What made it the worst part of Philidelphia, hm? How come the problem with that part of the city is that you had to live there? And not the poverty “that part” of Philly had to deal with for decades before you “had to” live there? What about the people there? Why aren’t you indignant about their suffering? No, you’re just mad you had to live with them. And that tells me all I need to know.
PS: “I don’t appreciate it when people say that ‘Now we’re paying attention because the shit hit the fan for white people.’ What’s that supposed to mean? […] that even now, I’m not hurting as much as every black, hispanic or asian person in the USA?” I believe that’s your guilty conscience speaking.
HA! this this THIS FUCKING THIS!
Commentary.
Privilege Speaks! (trigger warning for discussion of rape, violence, and talking to a privilege denying dick)
- Me: The amount of race-fail I have encountered today is astounding. I mean come on, straight cis white guys really shouldn't be trying to write novels about the experience of racism... because they suck at it
- Him: Is it perhaps a little ironic that you reference the gender, orientation, and race of someone to justify their ability to do something?
- Me: Privilege matters (unfortunately) if you have no experience of discrimination based upon immutable qualities you'll probably end up with a mighty whitey saves the day case of bullshit.
- Him: Privilege is a blanket term to throw over any entire gender, race, orientation, or any other group of people; it doesn't really do anything to resolve a specific point of contention and I don't think it adds a whole lot to any debate. It comes off more as a way to disqualify someone's opinion on the basis of things that should have nothing to do with it's validity.
- Me: No, that's not what privilege is. Privilege is a way of describing the fact that there are certain things certain groups just don't experience the same way others do (due to systemic oppression) cisgender men for example will never experience street harassment the same way women and people socially coded female do. So when some douchebag guy says "I'd love it if some girl yelled vulgarities at me from across the street" it fails to take into account the fear and threat inherently associated with being catcalled for women (and people read as women)
- Him: What privilege is depends on who I'm talking to and what point they're trying to make. In any case - let's use the example of fear of sexual assault - using the word "privilege" adds nothing to the point and risks alienating the group of people it's directed against.
- Saying that a "cisgender man will never experience harassment the way women do" excludes the experience (or potential experience) of someone on nothing other than the typical experiences of members of their social group. It stops treating them like a person and starts treating them a representation of their group, which is what I think we'd want to get around in the first place.
- Me: No, privilege is a defined piece of academic jargon that often gets misused, and you know what? I have never met a cisgender man who got street harassed the way women do. It's a big picture term, because in order to combat systemic oppression (systemic is when it's ingrained in the culture so deeply you can barely tease it out from what's inherent) you have to look at the big picture. Treating individuals as individuals on an... individual basis is all well and good, but we're not talking about that. We're talking about the fact that I earn .75 cents on a cisgender man's dollar, we're talking about the fact that thousands of women die from eating disorders every year, we're talking about how many times more likely it is I'll be raped than you, we're talking about how the average lifespan of a transgender person worldwide is 22 years, we're talking about the fact that you have a statistical advantage at pretty much everything. This doesn't make you a bad person, this doesn't mean you're not allowed to talk in debates about this shit, but you have to think before you speak and educate yourself because YOU DON'T FUCKING KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE. You have to take the time to imagine what it must be like to know X about the way the culture treats your group, and the way that effects your behavior and perception of things.
- Heeeeeeere doucheydoucheydoucheydouchey