No! I will not Stop it! ...

[RainDog]

64. We see this response that you mention

Here. On this supposedly liberal forum. All the time. Not from every white person (I'm white) tho.

We see it most often from people who focus on the economic aspects, as though the phrase is meant to say that all white people get a card, at birth, that insures everything they do will be successful. If they have economic struggles, the phrase really bothers them because the word, "privilege" is associated with an economic elitism.

I agree with what you say about the phrase - it is not a well-turned phrase in the context of wider culture. It's like giving a gift to those who want to stir up antagonism among white people, rather than opening their eyes. So, Republicans who want to dog whistle are going to be more likely to use this word in everyday speech than any Democratic politician.

But here - people talk about concepts using this phrase and others related to it. The only time it's not objected to is when economic privilege is the context.

The academic context in which it arose also includes ideas about class and gender, as well as race, and uses it as a verb to note someone's words or actions are "privileged" compared to someone else's - to indicate bias... for many separate and intermingled issues. Someone has the "privilege" of having their words heard and believed. It's a courtesy extended to a group - not an indication of someone's economic status.

In this person's case, however, he seems to have created a strawman to argue about the issue that NO ONE in ANY CONTEXT has every made unless they are trying to find some argument to appeal to people's sense of aggrievement that anyone would note the greater ease with which the majority of the population moves/works/lives among the entire population.

They discount this idea because they simply do not want to address how the past, recent past, and the present are all tied up in the divisions based upon someone's ethnicity by pretending someone's ethnicity has no bearing on their treatment - even when that ethnicity is the majority one in this nation.

So, I understand what you are saying. I agree that there are better terms to describe what the term "white privilege" is supposed to describe. However, IN THE CONTEXT here, a liberal discussion board - it's ludicrous for anyone to be so upset that the term is used to describe a phenomena that exists, no matter what term is used.

By focusing on the term and nit-picking it to death, they avoid actual discussion of the issues behind the term.