How has use of the term "white privilege" harmed you?

[tkmorris]

94. The term "white priviledge" has not harmed me at all

I will tell you that I don't often find it useful to use that term when speaking about the concept though. Bear with me.

There is no doubt that "white privilege", as a concept, exists. At least it does in the manner that proponents of the term think it does. The reason I don't care for it much though is because privilege is only privilege insofar as one group enjoys benefits that another does not. It implies that one group is getting something extra, over what everyone else receives. From this angle the logical way to even things out is to remove that privilege. Now it's true, you COULD look at what happens in the real world from that perspective, but I prefer not to.

Instead I am of the opinion that the way white people are treated in general (as opposed to other racial and cultural groups) is how EVERYONE should be treated. I don't want to see that privilege denied them, I want to see it afforded to all. From a linguistic perspective this implies bringing everyone up to the same high level, versus dragging others down to equalize matters. It just feels more morally correct to me to focus on what is denied certain groups, rather than how one group is "privileged" since other groups are sometimes not treated with the same basic human decency.