Quote:
Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers
I understand why this is said, but I don’t necessarily agree with this term either though. It just creates more division. Some people’s lives are horrible despite skin colour.
|
But that's not what white privilege is. Anyone can have a horrible life, but white people do not have horrible lives
specifically because of their skin colour. People get hung up on the term "privilege" because they think it represents special benefits, and a low-income, poorly-educated white person who came from a broken home with abusive parents certainly doesn't see him or herself as privileged. But that same person, as hard as their life is, doesn't have to deal with systemic racism in society that makes his or her life even harder just because of the way they look.
When white people aren't arbitrarily pulled over by the police, ordered to exit the vehicle, and patted down just because of their skin colour, they don't see that as a special benefit, that's just how everyone is in society is treated right? Except, as we know, that's
not how everyone in society is treated.
Much like how the phrase "defund the police" causes some people to draw incorrect conclusions about what people are really advocating for, perhaps the term "white privilege" could be more accurately described as "non-white penalization". Would that terminology be more acceptable to people?