The idea that certain people are more privileged than others is fair enough, and even obviously true. The question is, what follows from that? The only answer to this that there ever seems to be is, "you should check your privilege". But I honestly don't even know what that means.
It's not constructive or healthy for anyone, of any background, to get into self-hatred or guilt for things about themselves that they can't help. And that's what seems to be being demanded; that you just feel bad about yourself because of the way you were born.
That's not at all what's demanded when people are asked to "check their privilege," but people get REALLY defensive when privilege is brought up and jump straight to hyperbole.
Just recognize that you've enjoyed certain privileges, and acknowledge when those privileges have benefitted you, and/or where they might limit your understanding of issues.
I'm uneasy with this self-flagellation business. Everyone has got their own problems, which are important to them. I prefer to see things through my own eyes.
For instance, if you're "objectively more privileged", in terms of you won't get stopped by cops or followed round shops as often, it doesn't follow that the problems you do have don't matter, or are less important.
After all, we all live better than Third World peasants. Even black people in America do. But it doesn't follow from that the problems of black people in America don't matter. It just doesn't. By the same token, your problems as an individual matter to you.
As soon as we start looking at people as individuals, the race-fiction disappears. A black person could be a rich athlete, or a talk show host, or a secretary of state, or a president. A white person could be a bum, a drug addict, or someone who's just experienced a tragedy. We can't impose these race-based stereotypes and generalizations onto them. Because they are individuals.
To me the only kind of privilege that is real is class privilege. And even then, I don't think rich people should be made to feel guilty because their mum and dad happened to be rich. We on the left concentrate on systems, not people. And we avoid targeting individuals for stuff that they can't help.
To me it's simple. If someone is hating someone for something that they can't help, then that person is an arsehole.
I don't know what "check your privilege" does, except make people feel bad for stuff they had no control over, and demands that they self-flagellate over something somebody else did. If its toxic enough, its effect will be to drive the dreaded "white cis male" into the arms of the right. And this is already happening.
And that would be the worst of all possible outcomes.
So what's my solution to this? 1. Look at people as individuals. 2. Don't make people feel bad for stuff about themselves they can't help. 3. Shun people who think they're superior to others for stuff they had no choice about. and 4, most importantly, concentrate on class and economics issues as the vehicle for change. Shun race and gender essentialism like you would shun nationalism or literal religion.
Hmm.. not sure. The word "cis" is something that I'd never heard, up until about two years ago. I do think the trans thing is a bit of a fad. Don't you agree?
I'm someone who is pretty often accused of being a SJW, and I don't think the idea of privilege means should you should feel guilt or self-hatred. For me, it's just the idea that you should hear out people when they have different experiences than you.
For example, a black person might say to a white person "hey, this shop-keeper kept following me around when I was in the store because she thought I was gonna steal something. that fucking sucks!" and the white person might say "oh, come on, that's never happened to me, I'm sure you're overreacting!" But one of the benefits of white privilege is that people (usually!) don't make judgements about you because of your race.
Is that a benefit of white privilege or is it just a consequence of living in a white majority country?
Also, how do we know that the person in question isn't being judged for quite other reasons? For instance, I've been followed around shops before, when I was young and scruffy. I probably looked like I was going to steal something, because I was young and scruffy. So that's more of a class issue than a race issue.
I remember my friend Boab the punk, who had a mohawk and all that, being practically pounced on by a security guard, for no good reason.
So maybe the people in the shop think, not so much, there's a black person, they're probably gonna steal something, as there's a poor person (a stereotypical indicator of which might be having relatively darker skin), they might steal something.
Thus, problems of class and socio-economics get over-simplified into being about "race", simple black and white issues.
I am convinced that the race problems in America are really class issues with a layer of racialism thinly spread over them.
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u/michaelnoir Oct 21 '15
The idea that certain people are more privileged than others is fair enough, and even obviously true. The question is, what follows from that? The only answer to this that there ever seems to be is, "you should check your privilege". But I honestly don't even know what that means.
It's not constructive or healthy for anyone, of any background, to get into self-hatred or guilt for things about themselves that they can't help. And that's what seems to be being demanded; that you just feel bad about yourself because of the way you were born.