2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: please just stop it. [View all]starroute
(12,977 posts)The BLM #ShutItDown campaigns are intended to make the white middle class aware that their comfortable way of life is made possible by the exploitation, impoverishment, and suppression of black lives and black aspirations. It doesn't matter if the individual white person can sincerely say, "I'm not a racist. I don't hate anybody. I've never knowingly harmed a person of color." What matters is that they are personally benefiting, both through the unrecognized perks of white privilege and through the economic advantages of having a black underclass.
In the same way, Hillary is benefiting from any protest that targets Sanders while leaving her untouched. She benefits from having the perception that the Clintons are allies of the black community go unquestioned. She benefits from the Secret Service protection that as a former first lady surrounds her with an iron wall of security. She benefits from her high level of name recognition that enables her to slip in and out of cities to appear at $2700-a-plate fundraisers rather than doing wide-open public events.
She has her own very special version of white privilege, and rather than sitting back and letting it work in her favor, she has a moral obligation to, at the very least, acknowledge the unfair advantages she receives on every side.