Is white privilege real? To what extent?

[Jackalope]

I don't believe it.

I am a white guy and I have never received privilege over a minority.

I have been homeless, living in a car, and still black people were doing better than me.

Fallacy of division and/or hasty generalization.

Anecdotes are of no value when speaking of populations.

[Excited Penguin]

But how does this privilege thing even work, like in real time?

[paulpablo]

But how does this privilege thing even work, like in real time?

I think most people definitely don't get how it works.

I can see how it works in some instances that being white is a statistical advantage but even then it doesn't work 100% relative to other races from areas of Asia like Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean.

Also let's say white people statistically are the least likely to be killed by police (which isn't true). When is the statistical advantage no longer an advantage to a white person?  

Let's say a white family have a bad reputation so police follow them around or a white person who's in the middle of being beaten to death by police.  That statistical advantage he had for being white really wasn't much of an advantage for him as an individual because once he's dead the advantage of him being white is useless to him.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Try it this way: Would you opt to be treated the way non-whites are treated in your region? Not specific non-whites (I'd trade places with Denzel Washington in a quick minute), but non-whites in general.

Boru

[Excited Penguin]

Try it this way:  Would you opt to be treated the way non-whites are treated in your region?  Not specific non-whites (I'd trade places with Denzel Washington in a quick minute), but non-whites in general.

Boru

I can't imagine it and don't know what it's like, so  I can't answer that. But I get your point.

[The Grand Nudger]

But how does this privilege thing even work, like in real time?

I think most people definitely don't get how it works.

I can see how it works in some instances that being white is a statistical advantage but even then it doesn't work 100% relative to other races from areas of Asia like Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean.

Also let's say white people statistically are the least likely to be killed by police (which isn't true). When is the statistical advantage no longer an advantage to a white person?  

Let's say a white family have a bad reputation so police follow them around or a white person who's in the middle of being beaten to death by police.  That statistical advantage he had for being white really wasn't much of an advantage for him as an individual because once he's dead the advantage of him being white is useless to him.

Now, if only white people were being shot/beaten by cops at a remotely similar rate as black people.   Being white..hell, even being -thought of- as white... is a distinct and quantifiable advantage in the US.  I can routinely expect better treatment from authorities, and a more sympathetic jury should I find myself on trial.  Not that I really have to worry about police or trials...because I can casually get away with the sorts of infractions that another, darker man would sweat bullets over.  More mundanely....I can get mouthy with my neighbors, I can give a girl behind the counter copious shit for her poor attitude, I can demand to see a manager, I can threaten not to pay for services rendered or products consumed.  I can take a product of a shelf, out of it's package, fuck around with it...then put it back because I never intended to buy it. I can get belligerant in public, or drunkenly stumble down the highway at 3am. At a job interview, I'm not perceived to be a beggar, and speaking of jobs..if I'm standing in a crowd of black or brown people....I'm assumed to be the boss. No one ever accused me of being a moocher for being on welfare. If I wear a red/blue bandana..I'm not a thug, if I wear a green checkered fucking keffiyah to cover my face no one calls homeland security. Try that sometime, btw..you'll notice that people immediately look at your hands when they can't see your face. Maybe they're just checking to see if I wear a wristwatch......

I could go on, and on, and on..but I shouldn't have to.

[paulpablo]

I think most people definitely don't get how it works.

I can see how it works in some instances that being white is a statistical advantage but even then it doesn't work 100% relative to other races from areas of Asia like Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean.

Also let's say white people statistically are the least likely to be killed by police (which isn't true). When is the statistical advantage no longer an advantage to a white person?  

Let's say a white family have a bad reputation so police follow them around or a white person who's in the middle of being beaten to death by police.  That statistical advantage he had for being white really wasn't much of an advantage for him as an individual because once he's dead the advantage of him being white is useless to him.

Now, if only white people were being shot/beaten by cops at a remotely similar rate as black people.   Being white..hell, even being -thought of- as white... is a distinct and quantifiable advantage in the US.  I can routinely expect better treatment from authorities, and a more sympathetic jury should I find myself on trial.  Not that I really have to worry about police or trials...because I can casually get away with the sorts of infractions that another, darker man would sweat bullets over.  More mundanely....I can get mouthy with my neighbors, I can give a girl behind the counter copious shit for her poor attitude, I can demand to see a manager, I can threaten not to pay for services rendered or products consumed.  I can take a product of a shelf, out of it's package, fuck around with it...then put it back because I never intended to buy it. I can get belligerant in public, or drunkenly stumble down the highway at 3am. At a job interview, I'm not perceived to be a beggar, and speaking of jobs..if I'm standing in a crowd of black or brown people....I'm assumed to be the boss. No one ever accused me of being a moocher for being on welfare. If I wear a red/blue bandana..I'm not a thug, if I wear a green checkered fucking keffiyah to cover my face no one calls homeland security. Try that sometime, btw..you'll notice that people immediately look at your hands when they can't see your face. Maybe they're just checking to see if I wear a wristwatch......

I could go on, and on, and on..but I shouldn't have to.

None of those things is necessarily true though.

White peoples have suffered from police brutality for doing a lot of those things.

I think you might have missed the point of what I was saying.

Being white might be an advantage in some of those situations but not necessarily a privilege unless it's only true if your white.

If Asians are the one racial group that are statistically the least likely to be shot at by police that makes it an Asian privilege. They are the one group with that privilege.

I agree that white people are statistically more likely to get away with those things you mentioned than black people, but when does that stop being a statistical advantage to the white person being beaten/shot for doing those things?

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Try it this way:  Would you opt to be treated the way non-whites are treated in your region?  Not specific non-whites (I'd trade places with Denzel Washington in a quick minute), but non-whites in general.

Boru

I can't imagine it and don't know what it's like, so  I can't answer that. But I get your point.

No, I don't think you do get my point, but that's par for you. If you don't know what the treatment of minorities is like in your area then you're either stupid or willfully ignorant.

And how can you possibly say, 'I can't answer that'? Of course you can answer. You can either choose to be treated the way minorities are treated, or you can choose not to. It's an either/or choice. If you think there's no such thing as privilege based on race, then it shouldn't make any difference if you trade places with minority.

You might be the most woefully persistent jerk on these boards.

Boru

[Excited Penguin]

I can't imagine it and don't know what it's like, so  I can't answer that. But I get your point.

No, I don't think you do get my point, but that's par for you.  If you don't know what the treatment of minorities is like in your area then you're either stupid or willfully ignorant.

And how can you possibly say, 'I can't answer that'?  Of course you can answer.  You can either choose to be treated the way minorities are treated, or you can choose not to.  It's an either/or choice.  If you think there's no such thing as privilege based on race, then it shouldn't make any difference if you trade places with minority.

You might be the most woefully persistent jerk on these boards.

Boru

I get your point in the sense that I agree with you that minorities are treated badly. I said I can't claim to know what it's like because I'm actually white and haven't ever experienced what it's like to be a minority. I don't claim to know what it's like. I think that would be particularly arrogant of me towards people who actually go through it.

I never said there's no such thing as white privilege. I only asked what it is.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

No, I don't think you do get my point, but that's par for you.  If you don't know what the treatment of minorities is like in your area then you're either stupid or willfully ignorant.

And how can you possibly say, 'I can't answer that'?  Of course you can answer.  You can either choose to be treated the way minorities are treated, or you can choose not to.  It's an either/or choice.  If you think there's no such thing as privilege based on race, then it shouldn't make any difference if you trade places with minority.

You might be the most woefully persistent jerk on these boards.

Boru

I get your point in the sense that I agree with you that minorities are treated badly. I said I can't claim to know what it's like because I'm actually white and haven't ever experienced what it's like to be a minority. I don't claim to know what it's like. I think that would be particularly arrogant of me towards people who actually go through it.

I never said there's no such thing as white privilege. I only asked what it is.

If you agree that minorities are treated badly, then how can you say that you can't answer whether you'd want to be treated the way they are? You don't have to know 'what it's like'. If you agree that they're treated badly, then you clearly wouldn't want to be treated the same way.

You've don't know what it's like to be eaten by a crocodile, either, correct? But you can understand that it isn't something you'd like to do. Fuxxake, you're thick.

Boru