What Is Privilege? I Don’t Know. And It Doesn’t Matter.

 

Of all the silliness on the left, “white privilege” may be the silliest.  White privilege used to matter quite a lot, of course, the last time the Democrats had real power — in the South before and after the Civil War.  But in today’s America, it’s much harder to define.

I saw a talking head on a TV news show claim that white people are often oblivious to their advantages, because they never stop and think about them.  So I stopped to think about my advantages.  And my disadvantages.  And I was struck by the fact that I often couldn’t tell which was which.

I grew up on a hog farm and we lost our farm when I was 16.  So just when my sister and I wanted to go to college, our family lost everything.  That is certainly a disadvantage.  On the other hand, it made me even more determined to succeed, and I realized that I had very little margin for error.  So I worked even harder, stayed out of trouble, and pursued my dreams with focus and determination.  So perhaps that disadvantage was an advantage?  I’m not sure.

Today’s Democrats claim that I had the advantage of white skin.  But that also meant that it would be much, much harder for me to get into medical school.  No affirmative action for me.  And once I got in, I would have none of the special help programs available to keep affirmative action students from flunking out.  I was on my own.  So perhaps that advantage was a disadvantage?  I’m not sure.

One of my classmates in medical school was a black girl from Cleveland.  Her Dad was a dentist, she went to the best private schools from kindergarten through high school, and she spent her summers working in her uncle’s office (he was a cardiologist).  She had a great education, no money problems, and lots of experience in the medical field.

I was a hog farmer from the second poorest county in Ohio, who went to some of the lowest-ranked public schools in the state.  I spent my summers working in fields.

Ok, so who was privileged?  I’ll concede that it may be me – perhaps the challenges in my life better prepared me for the difficulties of medical school than her more comfortable upbringing.

Or perhaps not.  I don’t know.

What I’m getting at is that even in retrospect, it’s not always clear what privilege is, or what advantages are, or what disadvantages are.

Who can say, really?  Life is what you make of it.

So after I took the TV talking head’s advice, and tried to evaluate my privileges, I reached the following conclusion:  I don’t know what my advantages were, or my disadvantages.  And neither does he.  And neither one of us cares.

I’m just doing the best I can with what I’ve got.  And that’s it.

He’s just trying to gain power by convincing people that they can’t improve themselves – they need to vote for him for protection.  And that’s it.

He and I would probably disagree about a lot of things.  But I strongly suspect that we would agree on one thing.  In today’s America, racial privilege is imaginary.  He doesn’t care who I am, or my classmate from Cleveland, or anyone else.  Whatever.  He knows that racial privilege doesn’t matter.  In the real world, it doesn’t matter.

It certainly doesn’t matter as much as your work habits, innate ability, determination, comfort with risk, ability to handle setbacks, ability to handle delayed gratification, and so on and so forth.  Racial privilege, if it exists, is not big enough in today’s America to control your life.  I think that Thomas Sowell and Clarence Thomas would agree with me.  Life is what you make of it.  And that’s it.

Politicians should be trying to inspire us – especially the downtrodden.  Pointing out that all of us can improve our lives, regardless of perceived slights from others.  Ignore the naysayers, and reach for your dreams.

But no.  Small-minded politicians believe that the only way to gain power is to take power from the citizens – keep them helpless, convince them that they need you to fight against forces beyond their control, and you’ll become more and more powerful.  More and more loved.  Racial privilege doesn’t have to be real.  It doesn’t matter.

In politics, the fantasy of racial privilege is a useful tool.  And that’s it.

Perhaps it exists, to a certain degree.  Or perhaps it’s so small you can’t measure it.  Whatever.  It doesn’t matter.  Racial privilege doesn’t matter nearly as much as the things you can control, like work habits and determination.

It’s a political tool.  If a leftist politician’s message of inevitable failure of minorities curses the most vulnerable among us to lives of depression and misery, he doesn’t care.  It’s just a political tool.

And that’s it.

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  1. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    There are so many societal problems that the “white privilege” concept is creating and/or exacerbating. Not only is it hard on the white guys for all the reasons stated in the OP and the preceding comments, it is also hard on the kids of color because they are being told that the odds are stacked against them because of “white privilege.” The teachers and mass media are stealing a good adult life from a lot of kids who believe they don’t have a chance. So they don’t try. Making matters worse, it creates a defiant attitude in the kids, so their social skills are poor.

    I could go on and on here.

    If you loved children, you would never ever do this to them. Not to any of them.

    • #31
  2. GlennAmurgis Coolidge
    GlennAmurgis
    @GlennAmurgis

    Here is an example of priviledge

    A person who got drummed out of the military for drugs, ended up making lots of money lobbing around the world and selling “art” for millions all because his last name is the same as a prominent US politician. 

     

    • #32
  3. Steven Seward Member
    Steven Seward
    @StevenSeward

    Whenever I hear about “white privilege,” all I can think about is how my white daddy used to beat my ass and make me work hard to the point of exhaustion, while keeping me away from frivolous activities like “going out with my friends.”  When I see Black kids who have no father all I think about is how they cruised through childhood without any of the traumatic parental harassment that I went through.

    Yet I would not trade places with them for anything.  All my hardships and tribulations prepared me for the troubles to come in the adult world.  The kids without fathers would often have to learn the hard way, when they were older, often too late to be of much value, if they even matured at all.  I feel blessed to have the better part of my life nearer the end than in the beginning.  I can’t imagine how despondent it would be if it were the other way around.

    • #33
  4. Steven Seward Member
    Steven Seward
    @StevenSeward

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):

    I think the emphasis on IQ is a distraction. First, look at all the high-IQ, highly educated idiots in powerful positions –especially in DC. As Prager has said, the important thing for a functioning society and happy individuals is instilled values, not IQ. “Thou shalt not steal” is graspable even to people with IQs below average. As my father-in-law told his grandkids, even if you’re reading meters for a living, be the best dang meter-reader you can be.

    But, people who have taken the tests and qualified for MENSA just can’t seem to let it go. . . One of the things we used to value in Christendom was humility.

    I agree 100%.  In my opinion, people place too much value on IQ.  Prager is right that values are more important than IQ (assuming we are not talking about severely retarded people, but even then, maybe?)

    It is usually people on the left who place the highest value on IQ and formal education.  Maybe because they don’t know about wisdom?  Yet I’ve known so many people in my life who were absolutely brilliant in cognitive reasoning and learning, but couldn’t function as a normal human being, and were very unhappy.  Some couldn’t even make a living despite supposedly high IQ’s.  Granted, a high IQ is a big plus, but only if you can use it, and only if your personality or lack of wisdom doesn’t throw a monkey wrench into the works.

    • #34
  5. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Vance Richards (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat: I grew up on a hog farm

    So, even your livestock was privileged.

    Do you remember the short-lived campaign, “Pork – the one you love”?

     

    Update:

    I looked online for a picture, and found several.  However, all of them had some sort of copyright wording attached, so I didn’t download and post.  However, you can search for “pork the one you love” billboard and see them.

    • #35
  6. Red Herring Coolidge
    Red Herring
    @EHerring

    Stad (View Comment):

    Vance Richards (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat: I grew up on a hog farm

    So, even your livestock was privileged.

    Do you remember the short-lived campaign, “Pork – the one you love”?

     

    Update:

    I looked online for a picture, and found several. However, all of them had some sort of copyright wording attached, so I didn’t download and post. However, you can search for “pork the one you love” billboard and see them.

    I think the FFA created the term. You can get bumper stickers at the state fair.

    • #36
  7. Red Herring Coolidge
    Red Herring
    @EHerring

    We don’t have privilege but a gift , received when so many ceded their share of the privilege of being born in the USA.

    • #37
  8. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    • #38
  9. Randy Weivoda Moderator
    Randy Weivoda
    @RandyWeivoda

    Django (View Comment):

    I’m pretty sure there have been plenty of white people who have blamed their troubles on other ethnic groups.

    • #39
  10. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    Randy Weivoda (View Comment):

    Django (View Comment):

    I’m pretty sure there have been plenty of white people who have blamed their troubles on other ethnic groups.

    So? 

    • #40
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