It's time to talk about 'black privilege'

2stepz_ahead
2stepz_ahead Guests, Members, Writer, Content Producer Posts: 32,324 ✭✭✭✭✭
Here's some good news for all you black folks complaining about racism in America.
You don't know how good you have it.
At least that's the message I heard during one of the strangest conversations I've ever had about race. I was talking about the concept of white privilege -- the belief that being white comes with unearned advantages and everyday perks that its recipients are often unaware of. I asked a white retiree if he believed in the existence of white privilege. He said no, but there was another type of privilege he wanted to talk about:
"Black privilege."
Confused by his answer, I asked him to give me an example of a perk that I enjoyed as a black man that he couldn't. His answer: "Black History Month."

"In America you can't even talk about whiteness," said Drew Domalick, who lives in Green Bay, Wisconsin. "If you try to embrace being white, you are portrayed as being a racist. If we had a White History Month, that would be viewed as a racist holiday."
Domalick isn't the only one who believes in black privilege. The term is being deployed in conservative circles as a rhetorical counterattack to the growing use of the term "white privilege." It's part of a larger transformation: White is becoming the new black.
Google the phrase "black privilege," and one steps into a universe where whites struggle daily against the indignities heaped upon them because of their skin color. In books and articles such as "Black Skin Privilege and the American Dream," and "It's Past Time to Acknowledge Black Privilege," white commentators describe how blackness has become such a "tremendous asset" that some whites are now trying to "pass" as black.
If you're a skeptic, there's even a "Black Privilege Checklist" listing some of the perks blacks enjoy that whites cannot.

Here's how great it is to be white. I can get in a time machine and go to any time, and it would be awesome when I get there. ... A black guy in a time machine is like, hey, any time before 1980, no thank you.

Louis C.K., comedian

A sample:
Blacks can belong to clubs and organizations that cater specifically to their race, but there's no National Association for the Advancement of White People because such a group would be deemed racist. Blacks can call white people "? " and "? ," but whites cannot use the N-word.
The concept of black privilege is still so new, though, that some of the nation's most acclaimed scholars on race didn't even know it existed. One giggled when she heard the phrase because she thought it was a joke. Others were bewildered; some became angry.
Count Peggy McIntosh as one of the angry. She is arguably more responsible for popularizing the concept of white privilege than anyone else. An activist and retired Wellesley College professor, her 1989 essay "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" has been widely reprinted and is now taught in many colleges. Her essay gives examples of what McIntosh calls white privilege ("I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed; If a traffic cop pulls me over ... I can be sure I haven't been singled out because of my race").
McIntosh scoffed at the idea of black privilege.
"When you've had as much freedom to do what you want to do and think what you want and say what you want and act as you please, then you get irrationally rankled at having to curtail your life and your thought in any way," says McIntosh, who also founded the National SEED project, which helps teachers create courses that are more gender sensitive and multicultural.
She said the black privilege checklist sounds like a "prolonged whine" from people who resent being challenged about their white privilege.

the rest here:
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/30/us/black-privilege/index.html

Comments

  • A Talented One
    A Talented One Members Posts: 4,202 ✭✭✭
    Just another false equivalence that some whites love to come up with.
  • jetlifebih
    jetlifebih Guests, Members, Writer, Content Producer Posts: 4,655 ✭✭✭✭✭
    No such thing, however I do feel favored to be Afrikan
  • jono
    jono Members Posts: 30,280 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Who cares? Dry your teary eyes whitey.
  • 7figz
    7figz Members Posts: 15,294 ✭✭✭✭✭
    FYI, some of the places where you start using your new found Black privilege benefits:

    - Stores
    - Public office
    - Any situation involving the police
  • _Goldie_
    _Goldie_ Members, Moderators, Writer Posts: 30,349 Regulator
    edited March 2016
    Just another false equivalence that some whites love to come up with.

    This^^

    We have BET because everything else is WET and the rest boils down to "why cant we say ? !?!?!"

    I never thought CK was funny, not surprised he thinks "black privilege" exists.
  • Trillfate
    Trillfate Members Posts: 24,008 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Black privilege and unicorns exist
  • S2J
    S2J Members Posts: 28,458 ✭✭✭✭✭
    When u leavin again?
  • ghostdog56
    ghostdog56 Members Posts: 2,947 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Black privilege is the ability to be able to stay in the sun for long periods of time and not get burnt
  •   Colin$mackabi$h
    Colin$mackabi$h Members Posts: 16,586 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I think I see what he trying to say but even if it was real black privilege dont reap the same rewards.
  • Cabana_Da_Don
    Cabana_Da_Don Members Posts: 7,992 ✭✭✭✭✭
    ghostdog56 wrote: »
    Black privilege is the ability to be able to stay in the sun for long periods of time and not get burnt

    Thats a lie.You will get burned.I live 5 mins from the Beach.
  • LcnsdbyROYALTY
    LcnsdbyROYALTY Members Posts: 13,763 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 2016
    I'm guessing melanin is Black privilege..........

    Take that you pasty ?
  • playmaker88
    playmaker88 Members Posts: 67,905 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I would recommend not even engaging in a long winded "debate" or respond at all
  • gns
    gns Members Posts: 21,285 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Mann i dont een have to read the whole article to know these dumb cacs put saying the n word as a black privilege
    sounds like a "prolonged whine" from people who resent being challenged about their white privilege.

    Nothing to see here folks
  • 5th Letter
    5th Letter Members, Moderators, Writer Posts: 37,068 Regulator
    Their idea of black privilege is silly and it cracks me up. Because black people can say ? , and we get food stamps. So therefore black people have privilege, that idea in itself sounds racist.
  • mohamed
    mohamed Members Posts: 1,299 ✭✭✭✭✭
    _Goldie_ wrote: »
    Just another false equivalence that some whites love to come up with.

    This^^

    We have BET because everything else is WET and the rest boils down to "why cant we say ? !?!?!"

    I never thought CK was funny, not surprised he thinks "black privilege" exists.

    nah I dont think that last paragraph was CK, just the qoute.
  • powerman 5000
    powerman 5000 Members Posts: 3,084 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I read that yesterday morning. The concept of privilege goes over their head. Dude compared the privileges of being born in the back woods of west virginia to the privileges of being born colin powells kid. Cuz, you know at least 10% of us are colin powells kids, right? Dude said that saying ? is a privilege but didn't even address the fact that redlining is documented as happening as recent as 2011.

    white privilege is when your junkie daughter over doses and you feel the need to sue the hospital
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jessica-grubb-obama_us_56f99db9e4b014d3fe23de54

    white privilege is when you have a sport where you can fight and hit each other in the face with sticks and you're not "thugs" but "enforcers"


    white privilege is saying that black privilege extends to the white house because former Senator Barack Obama was an "inexperienced presidential candidate" yet not even pausing to consider that you said this in an era when Donald Trump is leading the way for the Republican nomination.

    yeah but the nba is racist.. This could be a hash tag that never ends; updated hourly but, they still wouldn't get it. You can't take these people seriously.
  • blackrain
    blackrain Members, Moderators Posts: 27,269 Regulator
    _Goldie_ wrote: »
    Just another false equivalence that some whites love to come up with.

    This^^

    We have BET because everything else is WET and the rest boils down to "why cant we say ? !?!?!"

    I never thought CK was funny, not surprised he thinks "black privilege" exists.

    You misinterpreted that quote...he's not saying black privilege exist he's saying that being white is so good there's no point in history where being white doesn't benefit you more than other people...he actually agrees it's ? for white people to complain
  • TheNightKing
    TheNightKing Guests, Members, Writer, Content Producer Posts: 2,484 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Here's some good news for all you black folks complaining about racism in America.
    You don't know how good you have it.
    At least that's the message I heard during one of the strangest conversations I've ever had about race. I was talking about the concept of white privilege -- the belief that being white comes with unearned advantages and everyday perks that its recipients are often unaware of. I asked a white retiree if he believed in the existence of white privilege. He said no, but there was another type of privilege he wanted to talk about:
    "Black privilege."
    Confused by his answer, I asked him to give me an example of a perk that I enjoyed as a black man that he couldn't. His answer: "Black History Month."

    "In America you can't even talk about whiteness," said Drew Domalick, who lives in Green Bay, Wisconsin. "If you try to embrace being white, you are portrayed as being a racist. If we had a White History Month, that would be viewed as a racist holiday."
    Domalick isn't the only one who believes in black privilege. The term is being deployed in conservative circles as a rhetorical counterattack to the growing use of the term "white privilege." It's part of a larger transformation: White is becoming the new black.
    Google the phrase "black privilege," and one steps into a universe where whites struggle daily against the indignities heaped upon them because of their skin color. In books and articles such as "Black Skin Privilege and the American Dream," and "It's Past Time to Acknowledge Black Privilege," white commentators describe how blackness has become such a "tremendous asset" that some whites are now trying to "pass" as black.
    If you're a skeptic, there's even a "Black Privilege Checklist" listing some of the perks blacks enjoy that whites cannot.

    Here's how great it is to be white. I can get in a time machine and go to any time, and it would be awesome when I get there. ... A black guy in a time machine is like, hey, any time before 1980, no thank you.

    Louis C.K., comedian


    A sample:
    Blacks can belong to clubs and organizations that cater specifically to their race, but there's no National Association for the Advancement of White People because such a group would be deemed racist. Blacks can call white people "? " and "? ," but whites cannot use the N-word.
    The concept of black privilege is still so new, though, that some of the nation's most acclaimed scholars on race didn't even know it existed. One giggled when she heard the phrase because she thought it was a joke. Others were bewildered; some became angry.
    Count Peggy McIntosh as one of the angry. She is arguably more responsible for popularizing the concept of white privilege than anyone else. An activist and retired Wellesley College professor, her 1989 essay "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" has been widely reprinted and is now taught in many colleges. Her essay gives examples of what McIntosh calls white privilege ("I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed; If a traffic cop pulls me over ... I can be sure I haven't been singled out because of my race").
    McIntosh scoffed at the idea of black privilege.
    "When you've had as much freedom to do what you want to do and think what you want and say what you want and act as you please, then you get irrationally rankled at having to curtail your life and your thought in any way," says McIntosh, who also founded the National SEED project, which helps teachers create courses that are more gender sensitive and multicultural.
    She said the black privilege checklist sounds like a "prolonged whine" from people who resent being challenged about their white privilege.

    the rest here:
    http://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/30/us/black-privilege/index.html


    I hope people dont really believe the bold...white folks only been winning for maybe a good 500-800 years....majority of that time they was beefing wit each other.....ask who was really winning before that...where that get all that knowledge to be able to win?

    It was a joke supporting the concept of white privilege. I don't think he consciously sat down to think of a time when it might not be so great for whites.
  • Will Munny
    Will Munny Members Posts: 30,199 ✭✭✭✭✭
    ghostdog56 wrote: »
    Black privilege is the ability to be able to stay in the sun for long periods of time and not get burnt

    My lily white ass needs some black privledge.
  • BackInWhite
    BackInWhite Members Posts: 23,591 ✭✭✭✭✭
  • Inglewood_B
    Inglewood_B Members Posts: 12,246 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2016
    Stopped at "Black History month".

    Not entertaining this white nonsense