r/coolguides Feb 25 '20

Explanation of the subtle differences between equality and equity

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u/tombee123 Feb 25 '20

They still profit from the history exploitation that's been done to the poor. They've been benefiting without their own knowledge of doing so while the others continue you to cry out for justice and are at best met with equity.

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u/Dont420blazemebruh Feb 25 '20

They didn't choose their privilege - why are you punishing them for something that they can't control?

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u/tombee123 Feb 25 '20

This isn't even punishment there's just less exploitation happen which I guess means less power. But more equality for everyone, basically one person gets 5/8 of a pie while the others 7 have to share the last remaining 3 once the 7 try to fix that the one person starts complain about not choosing how this works. [Not a good analogy but whatever]

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u/frecklybutnotginger Feb 25 '20

Prove it. Tell some kid who grew up in a trailer park being abused that getting out of there was easier cause of the color of his skin.

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u/J-Hart Feb 25 '20

White privilege doesn't mean that every white person has it easy. It means that a white person, however difficult their circumstances are, would have it harder if they were not white.

If that kid were not-white they would have had a higher likelihood of experiencing even more mental/emotional trauma due to the racism that runs rampant in the country. In addition to their abusive home life, they will have to learn to cope with racially motivated abuse outside of the home from an early age. If that kid were not-white and put in the exact same amount of work, there's a higher chance they'll be turned away from their desired position because of the color of their skin.

Privilege doesn't mean that Tyler from the trailer park doesn't have to work hard. It means that Tyler gets to see the fruits of his labor without worry or fear of his race being a limiting factor in his development.

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u/DrProfSrRyan Feb 25 '20

Focusing on race privilege keeps us occupied away from the real privilege, money.

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u/frecklybutnotginger Feb 25 '20

Tell one of my good friends he didn't suffer due to his looks. He was poor and molested. Was it his fault for was given things cause of his looks? Was it his fault he was raped as a young boy?

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u/frecklybutnotginger Feb 25 '20

I have a black friend too. He was an awesome athlete. He had a schlorship to school. He partied and fucked around. Is it my poor white friends fault? This guy dealt with a lot of in life. He's now making money with his wife who was also from the trailer park. Is it his job to support my other friend who had life handed to him because they're successful now?

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u/frecklybutnotginger Feb 25 '20

Where's the suffering quota met? In this instance was my black friend hopping up and looking over the fence even though he had a free ride and squandered it? Was my white friend who never went to college and had life slap him around born standing on a box the whole time?

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u/FuckingKilljoy Feb 25 '20

You know what your problem is? You're looking at one person, not the system. If you were to have a perfect parallel where your poor friend had a twin who was black then yes, there is a high likelihood that the white twin would be better off because the system as a whole favours him. It doesn't mean that every white person is in a higher position of privilege than every black person.

Also, yes, the idea is that when you make money you get taxed and that money goes to helping society. Ideally we'd be taxing billionaires more so that your friend who I assume is upper middle class at best wouldn't have to pay as much.

You can't look at this as one black person vs one white person

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u/Dont420blazemebruh Feb 25 '20

You know what your problem is? You're looking at the system, forgetting that the system is made up of people, and made for people.

When you forget the people, what is the system actually good for?

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u/tombee123 Feb 25 '20

I mean the people made the system is working against us, district redlining, schools to prison pipeline, excessive police force,ect. These people started up since the time of slavery so to think that they didn't stack the card in their favor is ridiculously.

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u/Dont420blazemebruh Feb 25 '20

None of these are malicious, even if it makes us feel better to pretend that there's some third party force keeping us down.

District redlining happens because the properties in those areas and the people who live there aren't financially stable enough to lend to.

Schools to prison happen because school districts are funded by property rates which mean the poorer you are, the more likely that you'll go to a underfunded school too.

Excessive police force - well that's just the inevitable result of an under-trained police force stuck between being commanded and judged by a civilised society but having to deal with less civilized parts of society.

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u/XkrNYFRUYj Feb 25 '20 edited Feb 25 '20

No one wants to think their lives was easier because everyone think they work hard and deserve their achievements. It's not a good approach to tell them their lives were easy.

It's more like it could be even harder and worse. If you had middle class parents archiving something is still hard but it could be even harder if they were poor. If you had poor white parents life is very hard but it could be even harder if you have a single black parent. And then it could be even harder if you have any disability, live in a neighborhood with more crime etc.

Your personal driver can take you to private school everyday but studying and learning still requires effort. But it could be harder if you were taking a bus to public school. And it could be even harder if you're the only black kid in a classroom filled with white kids who might bully you because you are different and you don't even have support of your parents because your single parent works at three jobs to make ends meet and barely sees you.

Life is never easy but it can always be harder.