What is privilege

[mrvmax]

All I've seen since moving here is a state filled with racists.

You’re painting with a broad brush, I’m sure you don’t like that being done to you so why do it to others? I’m sure you are exaggerating quite a bit. Let me share something that I have not before, I know quite a few people off this forum but have never shared this.

I appear white but am actually half Mexican with my moms side of the family immigrating to the US in the 1800’s. Since I appear “white” most people don’t know of my Mexican heritage. So you’d think with people assuming I’m white I would hear all the racism against blacks, hispanics, Asians etc. on a regular basis since as you state, this is a state filled with racists. You know most racists won’t say things to your face but will behind your back. The reality is that it’s just not the case, the people that do that are in the minority.

I lived a few years in a Mexican neighborhood in Corpus Christi, it was actually in “the projects”. With my appearance I was frequently taunted and cussed at for appearing white. I even experienced discrimination at a neighborhood bakery. I did not speak Spanish and walked in to buy something. The staff waited on everyone else, even those that came in before me, before even addressing me. I passed it off to me know knowing Spanish. When I told my cousin (who is also “half Mexican” like me and who grew up in the neighborhood she took off out the door and went to the bakery and had words with them. It turns out the waited on me last because I looked white and they did that to her when she was growing up. The difference is that she was fluent in Spanish and after that it never happened again. It was a tough neighborhood that was low income and most housing was low income government housing.

I moved up out of that neighborhood to a garage apartment owned by an illegal alien from Mexico. $200 a month with bills paid was all I could afford working my two minimum wage jobs at 70 hours a week. I had a girl friend and baby to provide for. That place had mice and bugs all over but it’s all I could afford and we just barely survived using WIC to buy food for my baby girl. I worked retail all day at the worst job I’ve ever had and cooked at a steakhouse at night. I had no help from anyone and I only had myself to count on. I ended up joining the Air Force and made more as an E1 as I did with both those jobs.

I’ve been pulled over three times by police due to profiling. Once I was in an old beat up car and the DPS officer said I had a license plate light burnt out. I was not speeding or doing anything illegal. Another time I was driving a new truck with dark tinted windows in an area known for drug running. I was pulled over by the DPS for following too close but I was doing nothing illegal. In reality he was making sure I wasn’t running drugs. The third time I was in my old Grand Marquis in an area known for running drugs. A new vehicle had just passed me and was doing well over 80 in a 70 zone. DPS came up on us from the other direction right as I was passed and he turned around and pulled me over. My cruise control was on 70 and once again I was doing nothing illegal. My wife asked hi how fast I was going and he said 71. All three times I did nothing wrong but they found probable cause to fish for something and once they found out I was a CHL holder (this was a few years back) they quickly let me go.

Those experiences didn’t shape my worldview and I’m sure since I appear white you’d think I would never have experienced them. I grew up poor, twice in my childhood we lived without electricity (not fun during winter in the Midwest). I spent most of my childhood hungry and looked forward to school just to get a meal. My parents were divorced when I was 8 and most of the kids in my neighborhood were into drugs (my neighborhood was mostly white and ranged from middle class to poverty level). We stood in line to get government cheese and butter to have something to eat with the day old bread we bought for .25 at the discount store.

Things happen and sometimes it’s racial and most times it’s not. I will tell you though that I’ve seen very few racists in my life but they do exist. Not everybody is what you think and most probably haven’t lived the life you think they have.

[Nickgibson72]

Let me apologize for some of the things I wrote. I will say that yes, Texans as a whole have been nice and welcoming people since I moved here. While I don't think everyone in Texas is racist, I do believe that this message board is filled with "closet racists" who refuse to educate themselves past "statistics" they see on Facebook. As a man in a mixed race marriage with mixed race children, I speak from experience, not from what I see on the news. Anytime BLM pops up in the media, there is a post bashing it in some way. Again, I understand that not everyone on here means harm and I apologize for lumping everyone together. But let's not all sit here and try to make it seem like there aren't a bunch of racists on this site. Let's have open and honest dialogue instead of back tracking and trying to push in back on the person calling them out.

[OneGun]

Let me share an experience with you and yes I will ramble a bit. I was riding with a co-worker in his car. It was a nice car, a Honda. My co-worker is black. We got pulled over by an officer. He said to me, now you get to experience driving while black. My co-worker was polite, answered the officer's questions. I answered his questions. The officer wished us a good day. The officer never really said why we were pulled over. Did I mention we were dressed in business casual?

My co-worker explained that we just experienced driving while black. He asked me how many times I have been pulled over for no real reason. Truth is, I have not ever been pulled over except for when my vehicle matched the description of a vehicle the police were looking for. He claimed that I have "white privilege" whether I knew it or not.

I understand my co-worker's point. Why were we stopped for roughly 15 minutes? I understand that it was not a big inconvenience, but it was an inconvenience. It was also annoying to have to explain ourselves to an officer for no real reason other than we were on our way to visit a client.

There is truth to the attitude that black people experience discrimination by the police and I don't know the answer to the problem. Yet again, blacks make up a disproportionate percentage of the prison population and the reasons that exist may color the perspective of police officers in general.

I don't know how to resolve all of these social issues, but a police free society and defunding the police will not lower crime and ensure peace in the general public. I won't feel safer and I don't believe that all people will suddenly live together in harmony either.

I do know that I now carry an extra magazine with all of the current social unrest and I avoid the protests like the plague. I disapprove of re-writing history. It is our history. The good, the bad, and the ugly. We need to remember it, so we never repeat it. We need to stop silencing people and perspectives we disagree with. I abhor this "cancel culture". If I don't like a TV series, you can't watch it. Really? I'm tired of everyone claiming they are "offended"
There is no constitutional guaranty against being offended. Everyone should have the freedom to choose, and not have their choices made for them by political and social justice groups. We have should the ability to share their opinions without being silenced or drowned out by a crowd. Everyone has a right to be heard. And everyone else has a right to agree or disagree.

[K.Mooneyham]

If some folks can't see that "Nickgibson72" is politically trolling, I really don't know what to say. In fact, it is a standard method for those with a leftwing ideology to come onto a forum or social media page, and launch an all-out attack. They will say whatever is necessary to get you to doubt yourself and how you have lived your life. They will then dial back somewhat, and engage in "dialogue" which is DESIGNED to help you "see the error of your ways". The tactic is right out of Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals". The attack is NOT about anything except politics. I will make no other replies to this post.

[03Lightningrocks]

If some folks can't see that "Nickgibson72" is politically trolling, I really don't know what to say. In fact, it is a standard method for those with a leftwing ideology to come onto a forum or social media page, and launch an all-out attack. They will say whatever is necessary to get you to doubt yourself and how you have lived your life. They will then dial back somewhat, and engage in "dialogue" which is DESIGNED to help you "see the error of your ways". The tactic is right out of Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals". The attack is NOT about anything except politics. I will make no other replies to this post.

[Nickgibson72]

Trolling? How am I trolling? Just because you disagree with what I am saying doesn't mean I was trolling. I am just making a point. You can disagree all you want, but I am certainly not being a troll. If you don't want to have dialogue on what I said, that's on you sir.

[Nickgibson72]

And I also said nothing even close to political in my comments. I stay far away from politics when I write stuff because politics are always misconstrued.

[The Annoyed Man]

Yes let's keep using images stolen off the internet to prove our points without actually doing the research. The ignorance I speak of is all over this website. Every thread on here has racial undertones throughout. And here I thought Texas was supposed to be this great state filled with the nicest people you'll ever find. All I've seen since moving here is a state filled with racists. And this thread is just proving that. The OP didn't outright say it was talking about the black community, but we all know that's exactly who it was aimed at.

I disagree with your claim that every thread here has undertones of racism. There are a few, but it is few. Texas is not filled with racists. There are some, but it is a small percentage of Texans. In general, since I moved here I found Texans to be among the nicest and friendliest people in the world.

If you perceive racism where it is not intended, the racist might be you instead of the person making the post. Yes, the OP in this thread was targeting the Black community, or at least the lower class Black community. I agree that was obvious because the word "privilege" is generally used only with the descriptor of "White" and the OP was responding to that. If someone is making racist claims (i.e. White Privilege) is it racist to respond? Is it better to just ignore it? I am a big believer myself that "White Privilege" is a made up thing that does not really exist. You may feel otherwise. And of course, that is your right. One of the great things about Texas, and generally about the US, is that we are all allowed to have our own opinions on things.

I don't know how long you have lived in Texas, but if no one has said it before, Welcome to Texas. As you travel around the state and meet people, I think you will find that as a general rule, Texans are among the nicest and friendliest you will meet. You will meet some you don't like and you will meet some I wish were not in Texas. It is a fact of life that people are not a monolithic group where everyone is alike. I have a personal rule that says in any group, there are 10% bad people. It can be Texans, Cops, Teachers, Whites, Blacks, Preachers, Kids, Politicians (well, that one is probably higher than 10%), Truck drivers, Pedestrians, Dog owners, or any other way you break people down into groups. You just have to learn to ignore the small minority and get along with the good people. It makes life much more pleasant when you do.

This ^^^^

There is a popular saying that goes something like this.... if you meet a [bodily orifice] in the morning, then you met a [bodily orifice]. But all you meet all day long are [bodily orifices], then YOU'RE the [bodily orifice]. Texas indeed has some racists, but nowhere near a majority of Texans are racist. And I can tell you as a transplanted Californian who moved here in 2006 at the age of 54 that California is chock full of left-leaning white racists whose primary racist expression is the particularly toxic racism of lowered expectations.

People of color are more often than not strong and proud. Weakness of character is not in them, and it is demeaning to them to expect something less than strength of character, and strong and proud behavior. That is why weakness of character and behavior should never be tolerated or expected BY anybody, FROM anybody.

I am old enough to remember when black unemployment, black children born out of wedlock, black single parenthood, black abortions, black drug use, and all the other ills which currently plague certain segments of the black community occurred at far lower rates than they occur at today....and this even goes back to the bad old old days of Jim Crow, when the face of specifically anti-black racism was far more overt and forward-facing. And that’s just the racism faced by black Americans.

I am old enough to remember when the term "underprivileged" included whites who were born into poverty too. And to anyone who actually studies these things with impartial intellectual honesty, poor whites lived in exactly the same conditions back then as did poor blacks, and poor whites today live in exactly the same conditions, with exactly the same social maladies, as do poor black people today.

How did any of LBJ initiatives help poor whites any more than they helped poor blacks? The answer is they did not, and poor white communities today suffer under the exact same oppressions of gang violence, drug addiction, single parenthood, etc., etc., as those which oppress poor black communities. If that is so ...and it manifestly IS SO... then how can that continued poverty and lack of social advantage be blamed on "systemic racism"? The painful truth is that it cannot be thusly blamed.

This does not mean that racism doesn’t exist, but it DOES mean that it is not systemically baked into American society. If and when it exists, it occurs at the individual level, and literally NOBODY is exempted from this accusation because of their race. Yes, there exist white racists. But there also exist Black, Hispanic, and Asian racists; and to DENY this is, in and of itself, racist.

Racism is not a racial trait, it’s a character trait. And constantly charging a man with racism, and accusing him of insensitivity to his own racism because of his privilege works EXACTLY like this.....

If you repeatedly accuse an innocent man of stealing your bicycle, repeatedly call him a thief, repeatedly demand compensation for the loss, repeatedly call for the passage of laws making it a greater crime if he steals your bicycle in the future than if he steals someone else's bicycle, call for his de-platforming because he refuses to bend the knee to your mau-mauing, and then you react to his refusal to bend the knee by burning out his business and beating him with bicycle locks, several utterly predictable things are going to happen .... exactly NONE of which are going to get you the result you want.

Why? BECAUSE HE'S AN INNOCENT MAN.

That does not mean that you give up the fight for social justice. There IS such a thing. But it DOES mean that you have to do two things: one is that you have to direct your energies against the appropriate target, and in EVERY case, that is the individual racist; and the other is that you have to own your part in things. The fact that there exist black Americans millionaires and billionaires is proof that the system is not systemically racist. It also proves that those individuals refused to be entrapped by the myths. Further, if you examine the lives of say, Will Smith's or Ben Carson's children (to pick one from the left and one from the right), or any other rich black entrepreneur, are they or are they not more privileged than say the children of any middle income white postal worker or truck driver? I would argue that they are FAR more privileged than those white children. They’ll never be one or two paychecks from the unemployment line. They’ll never face the decision of having to eat beans and rice so that they can afford new clothes for their kids at the beginning of the school year. They will always have access to travel and cultural events that even I, as the son of upper middle class white parents never had. Why? Because privilege is largely tied to financial status, and not to race.

Ben Franklin was extremely wise when he said:

“I am for doing good to the poor, but...I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. I observed...that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.”

Ben Franklin would not have favored LBJ's "Great Society", and for those looking for racism in every corner and under every rug, sometimes a cigar is JUST a cigar, and nothing else.

Don’t ever be a kafkatrapper.

And FYI, when I moved here from California, I sold my home in a black neighborhood that I loved, and moved away from neighbors that I loved, in a neighborhood in which my family were the only whites for a few blocks around. I’ve got nothing to apologize for.

[mrvmax]

If some folks can't see that "Nickgibson72" is politically trolling, I really don't know what to say. In fact, it is a standard method for those with a leftwing ideology to come onto a forum or social media page, and launch an all-out attack. They will say whatever is necessary to get you to doubt yourself and how you have lived your life. They will then dial back somewhat, and engage in "dialogue" which is DESIGNED to help you "see the error of your ways". The tactic is right out of Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals". The attack is NOT about anything except politics. I will make no other replies to this post.

I think you are a little quick to react, I do not see how he is trolling. We all know that liberals monitor this web site but like he stated, i do not see anything political in his posts. He even apologized for the generalization he made. I could be wrong but I do not see any trolling.

It’s alright for us to disagree and we need opposite views for good conversation. I would rather debate with someone with views other than mine, it is usually a good way to see another viewpoint that otherwise might not have been considered. It doesn’t mean I will change but I do not mind hearing other viewpoints. I am a very conservative Christian but I have one friend in particular that is a lifelong liberal. Heck, the majority of my family are liberals. At least with my liberal friend we can view our opinions and disagree and rib each other but we never get mad over it.

[Sport Coach]

My sister and step son were both born with economic privilege. One has a master's degree the other grew up on a golf course. They have amounted to a drag on society because they continue to choose to not work and one of them has used much more than his share of police resources. I won't mention their skin color as some people would be surprised but most would simply realize there is trash in every culture. I still love them and do my best to help them (not with money!) see/learn a better way of living so they don't have to claim to be victims of something and so they get good consequences for good behavior. You can lead a horse to water .... BTW I've been stopped in my car and while walking at the wrong time of night in my own middle class neighborhood. I did not resist. I stated my intentions. It was inconvenient. I moved on. I have educated my kids work hard, spend their money wisely, to avoid bad behavior and badly behaving people so they don't get bad consequences and I thank God they have been a positive force in this world.

[eyedoc]

Let me share an experience with you and yes I will ramble a bit. I was riding with a co-worker in his car. It was a nice car, a Honda. My co-worker is black. We got pulled over by an officer. He said to me, now you get to experience driving while black. My co-worker was polite, answered the officer's questions. I answered his questions. The officer wished us a good day. The officer never really said why we were pulled over. Did I mention we were dressed in business casual?

My co-worker explained that we just experienced driving while black. He asked me how many times I have been pulled over for no real reason. Truth is, I have not ever been pulled over except for when my vehicle matched the description of a vehicle the police were looking for. He claimed that I have "white privilege" whether I knew it or not.

I understand my co-worker's point. Why were we stopped for roughly 15 minutes? I understand that it was not a big inconvenience, but it was an inconvenience. It was also annoying to have to explain ourselves to an officer for no real reason other than we were on our way to visit a client.

There is truth to the attitude that black people experience discrimination by the police and I don't know the answer to the problem. Yet again, blacks make up a disproportionate percentage of the prison population and the reasons that exist may color the perspective of police officers in general.

I don't know how to resolve all of these social issues, but a police free society and defunding the police will not lower crime and ensure peace in the general public. I won't feel safer and I don't believe that all people will suddenly live together in harmony either.

I do know that I now carry an extra magazine with all of the current social unrest and I avoid the protests like the plague. I disapprove of re-writing history. It is our history. The good, the bad, and the ugly. We need to remember it, so we never repeat it. We need to stop silencing people and perspectives we disagree with. I abhor this "cancel culture". If I don't like a TV series, you can't watch it. Really? I'm tired of everyone claiming they are "offended"
There is no constitutional guaranty against being offended. Everyone should have the freedom to choose, and not have their choices made for them by political and social justice groups. We have should the ability to share their opinions without being silenced or drowned out by a crowd. Everyone has a right to be heard. And everyone else has a right to agree or disagree.

I have been pulled over by 6 cop cars while doing nothing wrong. When riding with my grandfather as a little kid, immigration pulled us over and ask for our papers. Mexicans can be treat just as badly as blacks. We just don't spend our time crying about it.

[rtschl]

If some folks can't see that "Nickgibson72" is politically trolling, I really don't know what to say. In fact, it is a standard method for those with a leftwing ideology to come onto a forum or social media page, and launch an all-out attack. They will say whatever is necessary to get you to doubt yourself and how you have lived your life. They will then dial back somewhat, and engage in "dialogue" which is DESIGNED to help you "see the error of your ways". The tactic is right out of Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals". The attack is NOT about anything except politics. I will make no other replies to this post.

I think you are a little quick to react, I do not see how he is trolling. We all know that liberals monitor this web site but like he stated, i do not see anything political in his posts. He even apologized for the generalization he made. I could be wrong but I do not see any trolling.

It’s alright for us to disagree and we need opposite views for good conversation. I would rather debate with someone with views other than mine, it is usually a good way to see another viewpoint that otherwise might not have been considered. It doesn’t mean I will change but I do not mind hearing other viewpoints. I am a very conservative Christian but I have one friend in particular that is a lifelong liberal. Heck, the majority of my family are liberals. At least with my liberal friend we can view our opinions and disagree and rib each other but we never get mad over it.

His apology said the forum is filled with closet racists. That's not an apology. I resent being called a racist or a closet racist.

[srothstein]

For those who think they have been pulled over for no reason, let me explain one possible reason that it was not so. I was taught to always use the seven step approach to a traffic stop and I find it works well to avoid arguments and this point of view. The seven steps start with a greeting, identify yourself, identify the agency or authority for the stop, and tell the person why you pulled them over. So, the standard speech went something like "Good afternoon, I am Off. Rothstein of the San Antonio Police Department. I pulled you over today for exceeding the posted speed limit. May I see your driver's license and proof of insurance please? This speech gave the driver a reason for being pulled over. There were people who disagreed with the reason, but it was there.

But other officers have found that this does not work for them. They may not give you the reason they pulled you over. This does not mean you were doing nothing wrong, just the officer did not explain himself. One well known reason for not telling someone the reason is to not get the problem fixed. If they tell you it was for a broken tail light, you will fix the light and then they will not be able to stop you again later if they really want to. I do not buy into that excuse nor do I like that style of police work, but I am pointing out that just because the officer did not give you a reason does not mean there was no reason.

And I freely admit that there are still officers out there, though fortunately it is dwindling in number, that do pull people over for no valid reason. We do need to get rid of officers like that. If you wanted an easy step in police reform, I would suggest mandating the seven step approach to all traffic stops. I think most cops, and especially most of the really good ones, would support that as a policy. To reform the cops who pull people over for defective equipment and do not tell them what it is, ask why we have a law that allows cops to pull people over for defective equipment. Or even further, why we have a requirement for half the equipment a car has to have for inspections. One of my pet peeves in our inspection laws is that windshield is not rquired (which allows for cracked or broken windshields) but wipers are. How does that make sense?

[Nickgibson72]

If some folks can't see that "Nickgibson72" is politically trolling, I really don't know what to say. In fact, it is a standard method for those with a leftwing ideology to come onto a forum or social media page, and launch an all-out attack. They will say whatever is necessary to get you to doubt yourself and how you have lived your life. They will then dial back somewhat, and engage in "dialogue" which is DESIGNED to help you "see the error of your ways". The tactic is right out of Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals". The attack is NOT about anything except politics. I will make no other replies to this post.

I think you are a little quick to react, I do not see how he is trolling. We all know that liberals monitor this web site but like he stated, i do not see anything political in his posts. He even apologized for the generalization he made. I could be wrong but I do not see any trolling.

It’s alright for us to disagree and we need opposite views for good conversation. I would rather debate with someone with views other than mine, it is usually a good way to see another viewpoint that otherwise might not have been considered. It doesn’t mean I will change but I do not mind hearing other viewpoints. I am a very conservative Christian but I have one friend in particular that is a lifelong liberal. Heck, the majority of my family are liberals. At least with my liberal friend we can view our opinions and disagree and rib each other but we never get mad over it.

His apology said the forum is filled with closet racists. That's not an apology. I resent being called a racist or a closet racist.

If you are not racist or a closet racist, then the statement would not be aimed at you now would it? If you are offended, there must be a reason you think it was directed at you. I was speaking to those who know exactly who I am talking about. If it's not you, you can keep it moving.

[KC5AV]

I'm just going to leave this here. I had the opportunity to attend this event at Wiley College last year.