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Social Justice White/Straight/Cis/Male Privilege

birdup.snaildown said:
In the US, if you're black and you grow up in a wealthy neighborhood you get points added to your college application... whereas if you're a white "redneck" kid you lose points. That seems like a seriously flawed system to me. I'm pretty sure the same system (more or less) exists in Australia?
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I stick by the theory that the rich are behind "critical race theory" and all this racial bullshit is funded by ostensibly philanthropic donations meant to keep the working and professional classes at war while the wealthy get to keep jetsetting instead of being dragged out of their mansions and flayed by the rest of us, like they would if we weren't all kept busy with this whole perpetual racism narrative
 
JessFR said:
are homeless men proportionally attacked by strangers at a higher rate than homeless women? Cause that's the specific example I was talking about.
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Women are disproportionately sexually assaulted and men are disproportionately murdered. I'd rather be sexually assaulted than murdered, but that's besides the point. You can't say that white men have advantages over women unless you also acknowledge that white women have advantages over men. I think we've gotten to a point that it's pretty much equal. Your comment about how it must be so hard to be a white man doesn't make sense to me, for this reason. You can't prove that it's harder to be a white woman than a white man. If you're going to argue that being white is a privilege (I disagree) you shouldn't split the gender. You should realize that you're just as "privileged" as the rest of your race, regardless of gender.

JessFR said:
My original point, is you're disadvantaged by being born say aboriginal woman vs white man.
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The problem with this is you're talking about statistics, not individuals... and it hurts people (who are white men born into hell) when people make these type of comments. It's also offensive (I imagine) to some Aboriginal people who are raised in a loving supportive environment with everything they need. There are lots of people with Aboriginal ancestry and they don't all think alike.

Individuals aren't statistics. If you're born white, that isn't necessarily an advantage over non-white (Maori / Aboriginal / African American) people.

JessFR said:
As for why aboriginals are disadvantaged, I'm sure we could debate it all day, but it doesn't really matter for my original point.
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It does matter. Whether or not Aboriginal people are disadvantaged because of systemic racism is significant. If not, why downplay the problems that white kids have?

Men kill themselves a lot. Statements like yours about how hard it must be to be male don't help. It can be hard to be a man, just like it can be hard to be a woman. It can be hard to be white man. Doesn't matter if it's harder to be something else.

JessFR said:
It must be so hard being a white man who's a member of no minority groups.
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Your comment was a response to nothing. Nobody said it was harder to be white than it is to be Aboriginal or African American. For seemingly no reason whatsoever you just mocked the struggles of a particular demographic.

I'll let you know something. It is hard being me, despite the fact that I'm white and male. My dad had a lot of money too, but I've suffered (for whatever reason) from mental illness and addiction my entire life. I've been through a lot of pain. I've struggled more than a lot of Maori kids I know. Maybe I don't have an excuse, but that doesn't make it easier. If anything, it makes it more difficult... because people make comments like that and I feel even more depressed and like more of a loser. I already hate myself enough, I don't need to be told that life isn't hard for me because of my genitals and my skin pigment.

You don't know what it's like to be a white man.
I don't know what it's like to be a woman.

I would never say, "it must be so hard to be a white woman."

Your comment doesn't help me.
 
@JessFR bluelight is blessed with the presence of a small handful of gifted individuals who know what other people are feeling and thinking better than the people themselves.

we should feel honored to be at the same table as these extraordinary seers.

or something :)

alasdair
 
I’m white, 51, hetero (most days) and university educated. In multicultural Australia I don’t really perceive having particular privilege for any of those characteristics and I have missed promotions or been fired in favour of various ethnic and sexual minorities on several occasions. Admittedly those events were likely my unsuitability compared to the successful candidates.

However, I also went to a very exclusive all boys boarding school. Something like the Winsor school in the US or Eton in the UK (but a little bit more low-rent ‘cause Australia). That school spent 6 years brain-washing me into thinking I was especially privileged and deservedly so. It very much gave me a sense of entitlement for many years when I was younger. But it had aboriginal kids (on scholarships), Asian kids and Melanesian kids and they ALL graduated with the same sense of privilege and entitlement. Nothing to do with race at all. All about education.
 
Atelier3 said:
But it had aboriginal kids (on scholarships),
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But why were the Aboriginal kids on scholarships? Isn’t that a lack of privilege?

Having been poor at a school for rich kids, I didn’t fit in socioeconomically (although I had friends), and I certainly didn’t develop a sense of entitlement.

I’m not sure you can speak to the experience of the scholarship kids, no matter what their ethnicity/race unless you were a scholarship kid too.
 
cduggles said:
But why were the Aboriginal kids on scholarships? Isn’t that a lack of privilege?

Having been poor at a school for rich kids, I didn’t fit in socioeconomically (although I had friends), and I certainly didn’t develop a sense of entitlement.

I’m not sure you can speak to the experience of the scholarship kids, no matter what their ethnicity/race unless you were a scholarship kid too.
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Actually I wrote my Masters thesis on how kids on scholarships turn out following being at an exclusive high school. The indigenous kids were interesting, because they were really aware of the privilege they received and mostly did everything they could to turn that privilege into some benefit for their communities. They tended to become doctors, teachers, or lawyers. Other groups on the other hand took their privilege to somehow be part of the natural order of things - like gravity or the seasons.

‘This school specialised in instilling a sense of privilege in the hope boys would become leaders of society as men and improve things for the greater good. In reality, apart from the indigenous kids who got that idea, most just became stockbrokers, investment bankers, or accountants specialising in tax avoidance.

I was only there through a bit of nepotism and coming from a middle class family of teachers and health workers took the whole thing with a grain of salt but apprecia6ed the doors it opened in life. Didn’t send my kids there though. Regular school for them.
 
Atelier3 said:
Actually I wrote my Masters thesis on how kids on scholarships turn out following being at an exclusive high school. The indigenous kids were interesting, because they were really aware of the privilege they received and mostly did everything they could to turn that privilege into some benefit for their communities. They tended to become doctors, teachers, or lawyers. Other groups on the other hand took their privilege to somehow be part of the natural order of things - like gravity or the seasons.

‘This school specialised in instilling a sense of privilege in the hope boys would become leaders of society as men and improve things for the greater good. In reality, apart from the indigenous kids who got that idea, most just became stockbrokers, investment bankers, or accountants specialising in tax avoidance.

I was only there through a bit of nepotism and coming from a middle class family of teachers and health workers took the whole thing with a grain of salt but apprecia6ed the doors it opened in life. Didn’t send my kids there though. Regular school for them.
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Very interesting that the aboriginal kids tried to improve their communities.

My experience provided me with a solid education and broadened my horizons, but I certainly didn’t feel any privilege.
 
cduggles said:
Very interesting that the aboriginal kids tried to improve their communities.

My experience provided me with a solid education and broadened my horizons, but I certainly didn’t feel any privilege.
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I think the privilege in education is found less in the actual test score and more in the networks and sense of self kids pick up along the way. That’s why the highest priced schools often don’t even make it into top 10 for ATAR/HSC results.
 
I think it is the ability to obtain social goods (status, recognition, jobs, education, healthcare, housing, etc) with less effort than other people on average and all other things being equal.
 
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