Well said ...
 

And well done!

But that runs counter to those who are claiming that their head-start/privilege isn't because they were born with white skin...but because they had loving and caring parents.

Implying black families don't.

Never even dawning on them, that this is exactly the discrimination/stereotyping...that is at the root of our country's shame. :ohdear:

Quote"..................You have never had to leave your house to go to school or work, and worry that the police car driving up the road is going to stop and officers come out with their hands on the handles of their guns, questioning why you're walking on the sidewalk in your neighborhood.

You have never had to be followed by a store clerk who is worried that you're going to steal something.

You've never been in an elevator and when it opened on another floor, the young family about to get in, chose to wait for another elevator instead.

That is privilege. You enjoy things that black people don't get to enjoy, simply by virtue of your skin color........end quote


EXACTLY.....people not realizing this is why we are having problems. Having the misguided belief that we all start out our life in the same place. With the same advantages/disadvantages.

I am a 72 year old white man. Orange Blossom Baby is totally right and much more. The fact that people don't know that is most of the problem.

Thank you for your perspective. I don't think white people understand just how fortunate they are relatively to minorities. Protesting is necessary. Violence destroys community and that is destructive and senseless.

Thank you!
 

Thank you! Your mention of the "chip on the shoulder" attitude is one thing everyone has to get rid of or they spend their life fighting battles and making enemies instead of friends.

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Neither have most black people in reality, only in the media!

My opinion is that you are not privileged because you are white. You are fortunate, not privileged, because you had a loving mom and dad, as many people today (both black and white) do not. You have God in your life. That is a choice every man and women have to make. I have black friends who have elected to take the same path in life as you. God ?Bless them too. I only wish the family unit could once again be a vital part of our society. I also am fortunate, not privileged, as I also had a loving mom and dad and I have asked God to lead me in life.

You don’t know what you don’t know.

The only real thing that has changed and promulgated the situation today is the breakup of the black family, you have single kids raising kids all over the black community--police know who the frequent flyers are, and they react to situations on a daily basis we can only dream of--maybe the only benefit of the current situation will be the demise of urban centers

These riots combined with coronavirus, high taxes will exorbate urban flight.

I don't think that's the only thing. I see a lot more incidents of domestic abuse (wife-beating) in young white families. The kids grow up to see daddy beating mommy, and become numb to the violence. They grow up thinking just "it is what it is" and continue the pattern. Maybe if those families broke apart and didn't continue the cycle of violence our country wouldn't be so filled with violent angry white people so eager to blame someone for their ills.

The above was pure hyperbole. To demonstrate the hyperbole in Chatbrat's post, from the "other" side of the spectrum.

Black families breaking up is no more or less the "reason" for all this than white families refusing to break up in violent environments.

OrangeBlossomBaby You are so right. I know you are getting criticized because you didn't applaud the religious tone of the original post. Clap, clap. But you named only a few of the many examples of why white people do have an advantage. Not saying one asks for it, but it just is...you are born into it. You don't think about it day to day. Something else to thank God for.

How about having in tact households. The 70% out of wedlock births with no father in the home, holding up rappers with disgusting lyrics as role models and even inviting them to the white house? Are Asians also privileged or do they revere education and work there butts off? There are some blacks that "get it" and raise themselves up and succeed but they get called out for not being black enough. What a bunch of crap. You reap what you sow. My mother always said when everyone else is wrong it's time to start looking at yourself! I judge people by their actions not the color of their skin. I don't vote for gender or skin color but for who I think will get the job done. I'd be happy to vote for Condoeeziza Rice. Not because she is black or a woman but because of her work ethic
and abilities. This whole riot BS has been orchestrated. Not the demonstration but the RIOTS. THe rioters have set those neighborhoods back another 20 years. I could go on but I'll stop here.

Until we become solution focused it will continue. All sides need to stop rehearsing the problem.

Privileged or blessed
 

Maybe the word that we should be using is blessed.
Blessed that we have a loving home. Blessed that we have food in our bellies.
As whites, we are privileged. We have not even once had to be in fear of jogging down a road. Never once been in fear of going into a Starbucks and sitting.
We have never once been judged strictly by how much melanin is in our DNA.
All I am asking is to show grace. Don’t assume. Never assume.

Statements being made with general application connotations being treated as if a majority issue.....when they are not.

Continued examples of society being driven by special interests and minority (not race) representations!

I forgot to say. In an example where every single thing is the exact same such as attractiveness, IQ, money, upbringing values, religious values, mom and dad types, body type, abilities, etc.; you add the black skin and see what happens. No it doesn't hold you completely back where you will never have a chance but none of us here wants to share those equals and then add the black skin to us. That would scare the hell out of us. We would no longer have the totally equal chances even though we might be able to become the president of a company or whatever. As far as stereotypes. Not all country people are rednecks, not all Fl people are morons (our new national name this year), not all white men are bigots, not all women that cheat are whores, not all urban people are city slickers not to be trusted, on and on. Each one should be judged by his or her own behavior just like you would like done to you and that is just not happening at a fair rate.

The riots were led by, or manipulated by White Nationalists. That's been discovered and reported and confirmed. They've been doing tracing.

Agreed. These are all things we *should* understand. But until those who DO live with that white privilege and deny it, stop denying it, it will continue. "All they have to do is..." doesn't mean a load of nothing. A black man in New Haven was stopped, questioned, detained, and searched for going to an abandoned building. The police though the guy was a drug dealer, or going to visit a drug dealer. They thought he stole the car he arrived in. He was humiliated, publicly.

Turns out - he was one of the big-wigs of City Hall. Not the Mayor but someone up there, it was awhile back and I can't remember exactly.

They stopped him because he is black. They didn't recognize him because he wasn't AT the town hall in his suit in his office surrounded by his mostly white staff to vouch for him.

So saying "all you have to do is take what you're given and propel yourself up from it" - is basically saying "I have no idea what it's like, and I believe what I believe and no amount of proof will make me believe otherwise."

If only those blacks weren't so uppity! Am I hearing you correctly?

This whole issue is incredibly complex. There is no one root cause that if solved would correct the discrimination experienced by minorities. Until Americans can get past the issue that minorities, and particularly blacks, are sub-human, we'll never make sufficient progress towards "all men (and women) are created equal."

To close, I ran across an op-ed penned a few days ago by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the LA Times. It scratches the surface but provides a perspective worth considering.

George Floyd protests: People are pushed to the edge - Los Angeles Times

Yes Steve, it is. You saw what you wanted to see. You saw Christian references and it caused you to feel supportive. You forgot that the OP posted this specifically in reference to white privilege and current news events. As yourself how you react when a young black man is behind you at night. Do you notice his skin color or simply that he is young and male?

My son in law’s family came from Barbados. He was born in Boston. His Johns Hopkins Masters degree is in Electrical Engineering. He is a triathlete. His first run from our home during Christmas resulted in the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office being called because a young black man was in the neighborhood.

You and I are privileged. He is not. None of us had anything to do with this.

The next generation ... will NOT be "born white and priviledged."
Many/most government jobs going to minorities
Social security going to minorities and lots of whites being turned down. (yes, its true)
Scholorships available for minorities and less for white kids
Minorities are banding together against whites.
Ok for a black to be a racist - not ok for a white.
If you think your grandkids are going to have it EZ - U R asleep in the real world.

YEP...you nailed it. :thumbup:

You've nailed the root of the problem. :thumbup:

The white male reference tainted the rest of what could have been an uplifting message.

My thoughts on your post:

1. Social Security goes to people who pay into it. There are more white people employed in this country than there are black people. Unemployment is higher in blacks than in whites. People who don't pay into social security don't ever get social security checks. And people who have a lower income, will see a smaller social security check, than people with higher incomes. That's how social security works.

2. Maybe if you learned to spell, and learned to use actual words instead of chatroom shortcuts in an internet forum, you would've gotten a scholarship too.

Exactly that. And the scary part is that there are a few people in this community who don't think it's a problem. Those are the people who need to learn facts more than anyone else, but they refuse to because it doesn't fit their narrative of "everything is fine, those people just don't work hard enough."

The demise of the black family unit is a major cause of our current social problems. Children need fathers as well as mothers. IMHO our welfare system is a major cause of today's problems. 80% of the men in prison, black or white, were raised in fatherless homes.

Excellently stated! :thumbup:

And yet, we keep hearing from the usual suspects that it really doesn't make a difference...having black skin.

Funny (funny sad) thing is though, you don't hear a single one of those same people...saying that they wish they had been born black.

Why is that? :ohdear:

All about choices and decisions And yes we can and do make them. White privilege? What. A. Joke.

....seems like SO many decades ago. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
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This makes me sick . I was a policeman in a large city and never harassed any person black or white . It was always about who are the ones who commit the crimes . More often than not it was blacks who did it and often against whites . But you would never hear about that . Oh no !

If there is white privilege, then why does virtually every person with a smidgen of minority blood or affiliation identify as being minority or "of color," especially when applying for colleges, jobs, government programs, etc.?

People that know nothing other than always having been in the "I love the USA" controlling majority get really really scared when the population via birthrates and the resulting voters growing up are leading them into being in the minority themselves. That is why they attack the lowest, part of the opposition which is the most erroneous but easiest to attack and they want it to be a stereotype. Example; some blacks that really hate white people in a fight might call a white person a KKK member even though they know it is a stretch beyond belief. Some white people in a fight might eventually consider stooping to the N word which is also as ridiculous as well. Then we all float around somewhere in the middle of those extremes. Just be mature, learn to be in the minority. The majority is supposed to get their way here. It might not be our "turn" anymore. W are just scared it won't include us anymore, kind of like losing all of your riches. In a really free society the majority rules by fair and ongoing voting. Try to respect that even though you are scared of being a minority. Once again; I am a 72 year old white male, veteran, ex CFO, not a minority yet.

Please excuse me, based on the entirety of your comment...if I don't believe your first post. :ho:

Thank you. You are so right.

So you never went into an area and felt concerned for your safety? Whether real or perceived, anyone who says they haven't are not being honest.

And yes, all people have been judged by color at times. You, me, and everyone reading this. Not right or fair, but true.

Take your own advice.

Don’t assume. Never assume.

if you make a statement that black crime is higher then any one else and that's all you have to say you are a jive white racist chump and a idiot ( I am white )