General Discussion

hfojvt

(37,573 posts)

109. isn't it amazing then

Fri Mar 1, 2013, 11:22 AM

Mar 2013

that I am such a failure?

There I was with a clear, almost obstacle free path to success, and I still ended up as a janitor, unmarried, childless. In spite of all my advantages.

You see why I find this notion so insulting? It's like insult to injury. First, I have the injury of being a low income, low status grunt, and then I get the insult of being told how very privileged I am.

Also, when you say that "it does not mean that a white male is guaranteed of success or status" you are basically saying "white male privilege is pretty darn insignificant, especially compared to many other factors".

Which is not all that different from my own argument. If, after all, you have a set of 'privileges' which do not even necessarily result in actual economic benefits, then you have privileges which do not really exist for all practical purposes. They don't amount to a hill of beans.

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My privilege rant. It bugs the hell out of me to read these [View all] upaloopa Feb 2013 OP

Nice rant. reflection Feb 2013 #1

Yeah. ananda Feb 2013 #16

Not all people do. NCTraveler Feb 2013 #2

I disagree. You'd have to be deaf dumb and blind not to upaloopa Feb 2013 #4

I think many would say..... NCTraveler Feb 2013 #6

Privilege deniers...like the SC Justices who see no need for VRA Sec. 5 pinboy3niner Feb 2013 #14

Or those who think affirmative action is reverse-racism. NCTraveler Feb 2013 #20

The denialism boggles the mind pinboy3niner Feb 2013 #58

seriously? on all these privilege threads, you do not hear the men insist it is not true? seabeyond Feb 2013 #25

Then there are plenty of deaf dumb and blind people here at DU. nt geek tragedy Feb 2013 #45

I see lots of income inequality hfojvt Feb 2013 #98

It's not what you have Samjm Mar 2013 #105

isn't it amazing then hfojvt Mar 2013 #109

I grew up during the same period of time and saw the same conflicts as you. Frustratedlady Feb 2013 #3

Hatred and bigotry is learned. It is taught to you. upaloopa Feb 2013 #11

+ a whole lotta thousands for the last paragraph+ graham4anything Feb 2013 #5

The 'haves and the havenots protested together' in the 60s? leftstreet Feb 2013 #9

the rich and the poor graham4anything Feb 2013 #21

This is a thread about working class people leftstreet Feb 2013 #46

I don't understand...economics is about money isn't it? graham4anything Feb 2013 #56

"we know we have been given privilege" Cali_Democrat Feb 2013 #7

What's wrong with the 'privilege' meme is that it 'disappears' the role of the ruling class in HiPointDem Feb 2013 #8

+1 leftstreet Feb 2013 #13

Another great point. reflection Feb 2013 #19

ruling class is one of those soundbyte words that alas are meaningless graham4anything Feb 2013 #26

that's the ticket, graham. there is no ruling class and never was. and they didn't aggregate HiPointDem Feb 2013 #28

the revoultion was won in 2008. Most don't want to go back to times prior graham4anything Feb 2013 #31

Thanks for bringing the Ruling Class perspective to DU leftstreet Feb 2013 #42

No shit... redqueen Feb 2013 #48

Occupy Main Street! Starry Messenger Feb 2013 #52

You don't agree with the OP? I do. graham4anything Feb 2013 #57

I swear are you getting paid to be a mouthpiece for the 1%? white_wolf Feb 2013 #93

The 1% got ninety five percent of the value of all productivity gains of the last few years Squinch Feb 2013 #64

Right. redqueen Feb 2013 #65

I disagree ... 1StrongBlackMan Feb 2013 #33

Exactly. redqueen Feb 2013 #49

+1 Jamastiene Feb 2013 #50

which would be fine, if it weren't the only narrative on racism. but it is, in the dominant HiPointDem Feb 2013 #69

Indeed, and the ruling class is perpetuated by this privilege. joshcryer Feb 2013 #101

Absolutely 100% bang on. snagglepuss Feb 2013 #37

Thank you. Brilliant analysis. nt HomeboyHombre Feb 2013 #92

+1000 LadyHawkAZ Feb 2013 #99

I think the point is riqster Feb 2013 #10

You sound like a great guy. There are tons of folks who fight the concept of privilege here though. Starry Messenger Feb 2013 #12

I was one of the first people on this board. I have left and changed my name twice upaloopa Feb 2013 #15

Didn't know. Sorry. Starry Messenger Feb 2013 #23

No problem no one knows who I am or could know upaloopa Feb 2013 #24

Don't forget Beyonce! gollygee Feb 2013 #38

Oh right! Starry Messenger Feb 2013 #43

I appreciate what you write ... 1StrongBlackMan Feb 2013 #17

Outstanding redqueen Feb 2013 #22

I am trying to say that you can't help but see upaloopa Feb 2013 #30

I think this ... 1StrongBlackMan Feb 2013 #36

Ok for me I don't need a lesson on privilege upaloopa Feb 2013 #39

Not to put too fine a point on it ... 1StrongBlackMan Feb 2013 #41

My whole point is that there aren't any privileged upaloopa Feb 2013 #47

So ... 1StrongBlackMan Feb 2013 #51

Strongly disagree. There are many people who don't seem to get it at all. redqueen Feb 2013 #53

i find it interesting that these privilege threads always get lots of play, but threads which HiPointDem Feb 2013 #72

That might be ... 1StrongBlackMan Feb 2013 #94

i'm not getting your meaning. the sentence is clear, but for some reason i'm not getting it. HiPointDem Feb 2013 #95

If ... 1StrongBlackMan Feb 2013 #96

so you're saying black people who participate in privilege threads at DU don't participate in HiPointDem Feb 2013 #97

No ... 1StrongBlackMan Feb 2013 #100

"you don't even recognize my fight as a fight" = not the same thing as questioning the HiPointDem Feb 2013 #103

I agree ... 1StrongBlackMan Mar 2013 #108

The "popular" conceptualization of white privilege focuses on the fact that white people can HiPointDem Mar 2013 #110

For future reference: privilege, not priviledge oberliner Feb 2013 #86

I was born in 1939 and was taken to Miami, FL., from PA, when I was RebelOne Feb 2013 #18

What REALLY bugs me VA_Jill Feb 2013 #27

But they're MAKERS, not TAKERS pinboy3niner Feb 2013 #35

as another duer pointed out in that thread, it is black and white quinnox Feb 2013 #29

lol, why are you explaining a Star Trek reference? redqueen Feb 2013 #59

I think there's a.. stillcool Feb 2013 #32

There are deniers everywhere. Evoman Feb 2013 #34

Here is why it bugs me. I have spent much of my life trying upaloopa Feb 2013 #40

Why are you so convinced that the people "lecturing" you are young enough to be your Sheldon Cooper Feb 2013 #54

The threads are broadcast as if we all need the lecture. upaloopa Feb 2013 #73

lol Sheldon Cooper Feb 2013 #75

Does anybody need the lecture? How do we do it without offending/irritating you? Evoman Feb 2013 #79

You make it personal, when it isn't. Evoman Feb 2013 #55

+1 redqueen Feb 2013 #62

Exactly. Why is that so difficult for people to understand? Evoman Feb 2013 #66

I wish I knew. redqueen Feb 2013 #68

The person doing the OP most likely has a problem upaloopa Feb 2013 #74

Huh? You are doing the OP in this thread..... Evoman Feb 2013 #76

I mean the privilege thread OP. Sorry for the confusion. upaloopa Feb 2013 #83

Looks like ageism is alive and well when one is only defined by a single characteristic > lunasun Feb 2013 #80

All right I will. You can tell about what age, very roughly, that some people are by the way they upaloopa Feb 2013 #84

Thank YOU! It's so refeshing to see that someone gets it. smirkymonkey Feb 2013 #67

Only the 1% are privileged. The rest of us have varying degrees of oppression. nt valerief Feb 2013 #44

K&RRRRrrrrrrrrggghh!!! patrice Feb 2013 #61

That means some of us are more oppressed than others, which is just another way of saying redqueen Feb 2013 #63

that some are starving doesn't make anything better than starvation a privilege. HiPointDem Feb 2013 #70

I find your lack of guilt disturbing Capt. Obvious Feb 2013 #60

Explain upaloopa Feb 2013 #78

The fact that you acknowledge your social privileges as a white male exist.... YoungDemCA Feb 2013 #71

Why is that relevant? Recognizing privilege upaloopa Feb 2013 #77

um.....uploopa? Skittles Feb 2013 #81

That isn't the point I was making. I'm saying we all know we have privilege, Some of us try upaloopa Feb 2013 #82

no they DON'T all know they have privilege Skittles Feb 2013 #85

I think they say that openly but inside they know they have privilege. You can't grow up white male upaloopa Feb 2013 #87

you're a good guy upaloopa but you really don't know Skittles Feb 2013 #88

Ok. I was listening to Mark Tompson today on his show "Make It Plain" on SIRIUS. upaloopa Feb 2013 #89

thanks - and I listen to my gay and black friends and coworkers / DUers Skittles Feb 2013 #90

I agree with this post. nt HomeboyHombre Feb 2013 #91

Too broad a brush. Privilege follows individuals first. Zax2me Feb 2013 #102

"privilege follows individuals first?" yeah, it's completely random that 1/3 of black americans HiPointDem Mar 2013 #104

That was 1968 in Columbus Georgia. The black teens upaloopa Mar 2013 #107

White male, heterosexual, right handed, privilege Bosso 63 Mar 2013 #106