If you don't believe there is white privilege in this country...

[badtoworse]

162. I'm starting to regret wading into this again

Let me summarize my thoughts.

I fully agree that racial injustice is a huge problem and that discrimination and prejudice need to be eliminated. In my book, these things represent a denial of rights and the enjoyment of your rights is to be expected; it's not a privilege. Calling it a privilege, implies that the expected case is a denial of those rights and that is just plain wrong.

I think that the effects of discrimination against blacks are not a pure positive for whites. There are negative impacts on white people that result from keeping black people economically disadvantaged:
- Decreased buying power among blacks hurts all merchants, white and black
- With significantly less income, blacks will have greater needs for social services and will put a commensurately greater strain on the available resources to meet those needs.
- Another impact of lower income among blacks is that they contribute less in income taxes than whites that have, on average, higher incomes.
- Substantial talent in the black community gets wasted and the potential fruits of that talent aren't enjoyed by anyone, white or black (This is the Thomas example)
- The high unemployment in the black community is a factor in higher crime rates. Crime has costs that are borne by everyone, blacks and white alike.

I'm sure I could think of others but I think I've made my point. You have to weigh the above downsides against the benefits to whites of keeping blacks down. Other than less competition in the job market and getting into better schools, I can't think of any.

The bottom line question to me is do the benefits to whites (less competition) outweigh the costs of a disadvantaged black community? I believe the answer is no. If the institutional obstacles faced by blacks could be eliminated, it might result in a smaller slice of pie for white people, but the pie would probably be a lot bigger. I'd be happy with a smaller slice from a bigger pie.

I'm going to let this thread go now. I see things in a different light than you do, but I believe the need to correct the problem is just as pressing as you likely do. I hope you appreciate that.