General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: "Let's work to end racial discrimination" is a better approach than "whites are so privileged". [View all]Baitball Blogger
(46,570 posts)with every day benefits and treatment that are derived from skin color.
For example, statistics prove that people who are non-white are burdened with more unwanted attention from police, than those who look more Anglo American. That is what we call white privilege. It is a term that means something to those of us who recognize the preferential treatment that white Americans receive. It will obviously not mean anything to you because your personal perspectives will be what you view as "standard ones." But they are not standard to minorities.
So, the term is a reference that has meaning to one side of the Two America syndrome. If you are trying to fit it into your own experiences, you will fail to understand why it has relevance to us.
And I'm just being kind here, because I can go on and talk about the illegal ways that Anglo-Americans have in taking over communities through illicit collusions with city government using insidious private organizations such as the Rotary Club and Master Homeowners' Associations. You live in one of these communities long enough and soon you'll see the pattern. They trash the Fourteenth Amendment in order to protect their access to decisions that will benefit their inside circles. THAT's white privilege. When there is no one challenging them, they start cannibalizing their own communities. And it is impossible to eradicate until you expose the whole network--which usually includes politically connected lawyers who have access to the Governor's office. That's how they shut down investigations from the State Attorney's office and the FDLE--and probably have some clout with the FBI departments that are supposed to ferret government corruption.
On edit: After re-reading my own post it has occurred to me that racial discrimination and white privilege are actually two very different things, but both work against minorities. Racial discrimination is a conscience act, policy or action that treats individuals unfavorably based on skin color; while white privilege shows favorable treatment to a group which is primarily white in skin orientation.
One is racism by definition, the other is racism by proxy.
However, now we come full circle, because once these networks are exposed and it is shown that there is a system that systematically discriminates against minorities, you will begin to understand why programs such as Affirmative Action became necessary in the first place. It was a court remedy for a reason.