I do not know the origin of the antagonism nor how it starts up and breathes into life. It seems vacant and forced. The provocations come out of nowhere, that is somewhere, for some reason, and once it has life and spreads becomes aggressive by bandwagon energy and I don't like it. Conservatives treat it as a joke. This is only the latest example of phenomena seen regularly. Out of the blue, some bizarre provocation.
A.) Not mad. So false premise out of the gate
B.) Black activist did not ask for anything that I'm aware. Just you saying so. So you're provocatively wrong twice in a single sentence. You must be vile.
C.) I already did check my privilege. Just as I checked my youth (C.2) when my elders told me to make sure to enjoy it while it lasted as well as my health. Just as I checked my advantage of being born American (C.3) and not some third world heck hole. (C.4) good family (C.5) male, man did I ever luck out on that one. Joke! (C.6) penis, got lucky there too. Hey, you told me to check my privilege. Your privilege would be different, you'd have vag and tits on your list. I know that you would.
I checked my privileges and they're doing just fine. I heard that before.
And the race and sex and height and looks and family that you chanced upon.
When I checked, the white privilege I noticed, the change that I notice, arises naturally, conferred upon me by all races by virtue of my age and survival. It's impressive, my age and survival is. I would not have checked my white privilege on my own nor enjoyed it so much had SJW types not been so silly to suggest that I do it. Thanks. Now that I notice, it's great. It really is. I'll take as much given me and I'll enjoy it.
And now that SJW types have me also talking about it openly I find the rest of the world does not agree with all this entirely.
The insurance broker on the phone gave me resistance in acknowledging my white male privilege. She offered me a very good price for automobile insurance. Good enough to induce me to switch providers. Then after offering she was embarrassed to notice I have a speeding ticket that's recent. Then she discovered that hardly affected the cost of my insurance at all. It hardly bumped. I didn't even feel it. A tiny amount for such a bad thing. She was shocked. I said, "That's white male privilege for you right there."
"No."
She argued with me. Tried to get me think I'm not privileged and yet she's still shocked by my low speeding ticket penalty increase. Left shaking her head and she's the pro.
But even the day of the ticket is another example, I cast back to the moment and related to her it was actually pleasant exchange with the cop. I was having a terrible morning otherwise. The conversation with the cop ticketing me was one of the brighter points. I told him, "Man, I'm having a terrible day today." He was a very pleasant minority cop.
"How so?"
I told him what happened, the litany that led to the ticket, and he spaced out asking me for my registration and proof of insurance. All he asked for is my license. That's all. And that's white male privilege right there.
The insurance lady kept making excuses for the cop in my story to dissuade me from thinking I'm enjoying white privilege. "He already knew by calling it in" but the truck could have been stolen and assuming it was not stolen is white privilege all over the place.
Conversely, being a privileged white male can be a bit expensive at times and not everyone is willing to maintain one's privilege.
This occurred to me when I was checking my privilege. I encountered my neighbor, his girlfriend, and her two girls in passing in and out of our apartments. I was stoked about my photographic excursion at Morrison and recommend him taking the girls, they'd love it, I said with the girls right there. I realized later the guy doesn't drive. Maybe due to expense. There I am blabbing on about how easy it is to get there, details like maps, when he has no means to drive there, my sales pitch adding to his sense of vehicle inadequacy.
I really need to check that privilege of mine that has me so presumptuous.
And it is expensive even if not making payments. Right then the brakes went out and I barely made without incident into Tilden's into the back where I shouldn't be but had to, and there I was ushered carefully picking through the garage where customers are not allowed due to the clutter, the equipment and insurance restrictions, but then due to white male privilege I was allowed through. But then the cost of repairs push guys like my neighbor out of the vehicle market. White male privilege right there again. Vehicle ownership is a big privilege that is taken for granted I only started to realize.
I figured all teenagers have cars. It's a teenager thing. But not for everybody.
And even within that episode upon paying I used a card and credit is a huge white privilege thing, certain the card is approved I jokingly said, "Boy, I sure hope this works, or I'll be out there on capitol hill selling my body again" no response, "and it takes forever collecting enough quarters" no response, "It' passed?" The guy answered "of course."
"It did? Heh heh heh heh, suckers."
"Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha " The two minority guys thought that was hilarious. It's not that funny but it is white privilege conferred on me by them for them to think it's that funny. And it is expensive.
The same day a young black man was unlocking the closet door for me to retrieve a package stored in there but he does not have the right key. He's checking dozens of keys on a ring and taking an embarrassingly long time to no avail. Another black woman walks behind me while he's trying as I wait behind the man. Ignoring me she says to him in passing, "Careful like that or you'll end up getting arrested." He answered, "Yeah, I know." Not to be ignored I answered both of them, "No worries, I've got you covered. Nothing can happen with me standing here: white privilege."
Shut up.
There is no natural rejoinder for subtle tacit racialism met with bald bluntness.
The next day, the same office, the same black guy and different minority woman.
"I am going to Don Quijote's can I buy you two lunch?"
That surprises people. He doesn't know me that well, she does though. They accept. Then on return, "Thanks, Chip. I owe you one."
"No you do not. That takes the fun out." Doesn't he grasp how privilege works?
26 comments:
Nice point.
I know I have no intention of surrendering my White Privilege to a half white communist.
If only I could have conferred some of my amazing white privilege onto Sandra Bland then she would have no argument with a cop.
They said she was in a good place, that she had just been offered a job. Why, oh why, was she so hostile to the cop who pulled her over? Why didn't she simply comply?
What IS it with blacks and their interaction with police?
I saw the video just once and without studying it. What I saw is her treating the cop worse than anyone treats an employee. Worse than anyone treats a bad employee. Worse than someone treats a slave.
She spoke to the cop like he is her slave speaking to her out of turn and it escallated exkalted esscallated went high really fast. It was her fault.
Plus him being a natural asshole. But that's the beginning premise. Had she just been real the he'd have been just real and moderated his natural assholeness instead of being an asshole too causing him to double his assholeness. Was she really that stupid to not see that coming and not see her part in it?
My white daddy warned me about asshole cops. He taught me how to behave specifically with cops. It is a very important lesson due to the nature of their job and due to the job attracting a % of assholes and due to the job changing non assholes into assholes over time. People like Sandra Bland.
...assuming it was not stolen is white privilege all over the place.
As Freeman would say... it's privilege all the way down.
I watched a Nature show, I forget the tile, where they re-enacted the first encounter between Homosapiens and Neanderthals. They made it look like a non-event.
They didn't speak the same language, they didn't look at all like each other and yet there is DNA evidence that the two species got to know each other in the privileged biblical sense.
Turns out, long story short, the Homosapiens where priviledged. We can't go back and change it. Like when someone dies, no privilege can go back and change it.
In AA we have something close/similar (but not the same) to checking ones privilege, called doing ones inventory.
A good AA is supposed to get in the habit on doing his own inventory. In a stressful situation a quick inventory can serve to de-escalate and return one to a pleasant calm state where productive communication can occur.
One of the questions, perhaps the most important question of the quick inventory includes - is this something I have control over? one is supposed to answer that honestly.
I would say a difference between "checking a privilege" and "doing an inventory" is that the first (checking a privilege) has a convoluted comparative analysis involved, having to do with skin color, ethnicity, job title and apparent worldly possessions that the person doing the personal inventory is supposed to assiduously avoid.
It's a good thing too.
I've been privileged my whole life.
I first became aware of my privilege when I was drafted into the Army from my factory worker job.
Very difficult to do a personal inventory while taking another persons inventory at the same time. It might be possible but is not recommended.
If I had to check my privilege, the most obvious one being the familial kind, being allowed to enjoy a roof over my head with little to offer in return.
Bottom line... Checking a privilege (I keep putting a d in priviledge that doesn't belong there) as opposed to doing an inventory, is primarily based on making a set of assumptions placing the person checking privilege a cut above.
So much so that the exercise is rendered useless if the person checking his privilege fails to comply, fails to assume the other person at some kind of disadvantage.
The example of Chips neighbor is an illustration. Chip didn't assume his neighbor not to have transportation of his own. And now he will have to carry that to the grave ;) (kidding)
Arlington and cemeteries all across this great country are filled with white privilege. There's also plenty of black privilege buried there. It's the privilege of being an American.
Privilege is an ugly word. Whenever I ponder a word itself, I first check its etymology and then I check its translation into other languages (especially German) because that often reveals a truer meaning.
German comes up with das Privileg which has sinister latinate roots, and means that people foisted that word onto that language. Perhaps "those people" were the French and the time was after 1066.
The secondary meaning for privilege is das Vorrecht. That at least has Jim Crow connotations in sense of vor + Recht = front + law which Rosa Parks already addressed.
I think what modern day foisters of "White Privilege" mean is "check whether you're enjoying any residual Jim Crow laws there buddy." Other than that, the term smacks of pure racial and cultural put down, imho.
And to those who constantly scream "White Privilege", I wonder if they've ever thought about where the world would be without it.
Another possible meaning of "white privilege" is "monied advantage." I believe that's a true translation of the feeling behind white privilege. It has the advantage of being race-blind. After all, Carlos Slim, George Soros, Donald Trump, et al. all have "monied advantage;" that's why they or their agenda are in our faces day in and day out.
Oh and Oprah Winfrey certainly has "monied advantage" too. So does David Geffen. They represent the $ behind the black and gay agenda respectively.
In almost every case I have seen (except Tamir Rice - those cops screwed up terribly) the "victim" interacted with the officers in ways I would never consider. If I get pulled over, I say a lot of "Yes, sir." and "You're right, sir." It seems that my privilege should allow me to tell every cop I see to "Blow me." So, why don't I? I know! Because it would not end well for me!
"Bland ambition" is the ardent desire to be confrontational with the law.
I should add that Carlos Slim, George Soros, Donald Trump, Oprah Winfrey, and David Geffen all represent private "monied advantage." The real mischief comes from public monies directed to specific agenda. The sad thing is that We the People are supposed to control the public monies.
"Bland ambition" is the ardent desire to be confrontational with the law.
I'm going to tweet that... call it priviledge .. see? I keep putting a d where it doesn't belong.
Monied advantage is the result, in almost all cases, of spending based on future time orientation.
Here is the figure for White household median wealth in 2013: $141,000.
Here is the figure for Black household median wealth in 2013: $11,000.
Here is the figure for Hispanic household median wealth in 2013: $13,700.
Privilege? Discrimination? But we know that there is a very large Black middle class. Not only that but it is a more secure middle class than the White middle class. Why? Because the Black middle class is mainly a public sector government worker middle class. And yet Black savings is minuscule compared to White savings. Why? Much lower future time orientation. Strictly behavioral.
@ Bagoh.
When these unthinking assholes say "white privilege" what they are saying is "shame on you for being white". Therefore, it's a racial, slur plain and simple.
That. From the roof tops.
I watched the whole Bland arrest video carefully. No doubt that she was less than cordial with the cop, and was not giving him the respect he demanded, but she is not required or paid to do either. A big part of the the cop's job and responsibility is to prevent and avoid escalation. He did just the opposite.
He had the right to pull her over and ticket her, although I think he should have done neither. She was doing nothing dangerous, so pulling her over was an unnecessary waste of her time and his while bringing all the normal risks of roadside stops to both of them without good cause. Pulling her over was far more dangerous than her failure to signal a lane change far ahead of another vehicle.
The cop is on the job, and therefore has some specific responsibilities. The citizens is not, and is only required to be lawful, which she was. When he approached her, she seemed to have an attitude, but she answered his question (one she did not have to answer) and he replied with "are you done?". That was provocative and disrespectful. If your boss, a subordinate, your kid, or a shopkeeper said that to you, we all would find it offensive. Then he asks her to put out the cigarette, which again is unnecessarily provocative and escalating. She refuses, which I think is her right, but which is arguable, which is exactly why he should not have insisted on it, unless he is looking for submission or an argument, which it seems to me he was.
The cop then continues to rapidly escalate and force a confrontation. He continues to demand submission when none was necessary. He eventually resorts to force to get it.
While Bland may have been a jerk, and did not show any respect. It's not her job nor duty to do anything other than remain lawful, which she did until he escalated it to where he was demanding submission and respect by force. I believe that was his goal shortly after the confrontation started. He sensed her disrespect, and was going to win her submission as he lost control of his emotions. His job and special powers demands that he not do that. This insistence on submission is human nature, but it is extremely dangerous to citizens and cops, and is the primary source of most police/citizen issues. which are currently coming to a bad place.
Of course many citizens are assholes to the cops, and when they act unlawfully they should get arrested. I have no problem with cops shooting people who are a real threat, or even being aggressive when necessary to keep the peace and protect themselves and others. Although I believe we all should show the police respect and be as cooperative as possible, I do not believe we should be forced to do so based on how a cop feels about us. We do not have a responsibility to bow our heads to other citizens just because we have hired them to be cops.
Police need to control themselves and put the safety and rights of citizens first. It's their job, and when they don't do it they are endangering themselves, as well as us,and they are making their job harder and less respected.
When it is done right, police work is very demanding, and requires very special people. Many police are just not up to the task. Too many are simply bullies. We need to be firing more, training more, hiring more. That's how you get the rare people fit for the job. Those who do it right are a gift and deserve our thanks, appreciation, and respect. Those who can't handle the job - all of it - need to find another.
@Bagoh - THAT - printed out on a cool plaque hanging in the halls of all police stations.
Well, I've always been civil when stopped by a cop for a traffic infraction. Not that I give myself high marks for being civil. It's the prudent thing to be. But was I taught to be civil to cops? Not that I remember. In fact my Dad used to mutter "Polizei" when he was driving us around in the big fat maroon Buick family car. Maroon! So I must've picked it up the way we pick up everything when we're kids--by osmosis. You just showed cops respect, even if you weren't from an automatic-respect-for-the-uniformed upbringing. It's really not that hard. And if you're out of sorts as the cop approaches the car, and who isn't out of sorts when stopped? count down from ten. Or in ST's case from twenty. ;^)
Is Officer Encinia going to be considered white or Hispanic as we go forward with this story? So far I only see him referred to as white. Maybe the media knew what they were doing when they invented the term White Hispanic as a way to avoid an uncomfortable truth which interferes with the narrative, but Encinia surely has a nice tan for a white man. Maybe he's Italian, we know they're bad guys.
I'll take "White Privilege" for $200, Alex.
Answer: "An all-purpose, all-encompassing excuse for personal and institutional failures, both real and imagined, which eliminates examination of other causal factors and thereby inevitably leads to more and continuing failure. Words to say in order to avoid the awful truth."
I'll take "White Privilege" for $400, Alex.
Answer: "A means to pit Americans against each other to create a need for government intervention and growth."
"White Privilege" for $600, Alex.
Answer: "A new false consciousness to replace the old one."
"White privilege" for $800.
Answer: "That good old timey progressive racism all dressed up in new words."
"White privilege" for $1,000.
Answer: "Hey, that's raaacist."
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