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[voxprincipalis]

I don't get it.  Someone makes  a comment about the privileges associated with racial hierarchies and the discussion that ensues is about - baby strollers?   Please, someone fill me in on the joke.

Maybe it's
1> the equivalent of nervous laughter.

2>the equivalent of an uh, a pause for thought--to put thoughts together, collectively.

3> a red herring--a way act as part of the discussion without talking about the matter at hand.

4>Maybe this topic has been beat to death in several other threads.

5> Maybe past discussions have shown that it is impossible to have a constructive conversation with this OP, and so one is better off not trying. Darousseau's post is on target.

VP

[daniel_von_flanagan]

You'll just have to read my book about the granularity of real numbers if you want my opinion.

Can we read the book even if we don't want your opinion?  Other than the elementary fact that the set of reals can be extended to a set which is formally finite, I am curious as to what you mean by "granularity" here. - DvF

[daurousseau]

You'll just have to read my book about the granularity of real numbers if you want my opinion.

Can we read the book even if we don't want your opinion?  Other than the elementary fact that the set of reals can be extended to a set which is formally finite, I am curious as to what you mean by "granularity" here. - DvF

Just joshing. Can't say why since you don't want my opinion. (Being of a scientific bent, I only trust third-person descriptions of why I do anything.) (Being of a philosophical bent, I can say "Just joshing" because that explains nothing but soothes relations.)

[daniel_von_flanagan]

Just joshing. Can't say why since you don't want my opinion.

Strictly speaking, I never said I didn't want your opinion, I was just raising a conditional question. - DvF

[bewildered]

Just joshing. Can't say why since you don't want my opinion.

Strictly speaking, I never said I didn't want your opinion, I was just raising a conditional question. - DvF

I want your opinion.

[bewildered]

On another note, where I go to get me some "white privilege"?

(I'd be happy to get me some "non-white privilege" if I qualified, but since I don't I'll have to go for what I'm good for).

[dr_dre]

On another note, where I go to get me some "white privilege"?

Don't worry. It sounds like you have plenty already.

[daurousseau]

On another note, where I go to get me some "white privilege"?

Don't worry. It sounds like you have plenty already.

Or, you can just walk out the door into the street.

[grasshopper]

On another note, where I go to get me some "white privilege"?

Don't worry. It sounds like you have plenty already.

Or, you can just walk out the door into the street.

I do it all the time.  It really works!

[beacon1]

On another note, where I go to get me some "white privilege"?

(I'd be happy to get me some "non-white privilege" if I qualified, but since I don't I'll have to go for what I'm good for).

You have to schedule your meeting with "the man". He will give you the "white privilege" card needed to advance.

[rodentmind]

I don't understand what OP is looking for in this thread. Does anyone, including OP, really believe that "white privilege" doesn't exist? Even if having lighter skin might cause one problems one way or the other instead of being necessarily pos or neg (I'm paraphrasing OP, not expressing an opinion), that doesn't mean white privilege doesn't exist.

This thread confuses.

[sockgumbee]

When I posted the "musings" as John R described them--I thought that they might invoke discussion, not derision or personal attacks on my intellect, ability to write or take part in "constructive conversations". In the past I have asked questions or made cogent arguments for or against a particular issue and have gotten the similar responses, the most specific being that I must not understand what the other person was saying, when basically I just did not agree with them--although I do feel like they have a right to their position. But enough about that . . .

I thought by now people knew that I am Native American--so that when my nephew tells people he is Italian--when they ask him what he is--it's not a non sequitur --he does this because of shame of not-being-white and so that he does not have to deal with the prejudice that he would otherwise have to deal with--he's Passing so hooking into White privilege. What do I think about that? I think it's too bad he feels personally and because of outside forces that he needs to take on an identity that is not his.

Where white skin is not positive is often in communities of color, people make fun of folks with lighter skin--I know a family of Indians who teased the person who had the lightest skin (relative of course), calling her "White Girl". And on the other hand, sometimes those with the lightest skin get privilege--just as in larger US culture and the culture of other places.

Oh, I think white privilege is alive and well. Don't know about some of the other poster's positions though. But I don't think "white privilege" begins and ends with skin color. It also assumes that aspects of "white culture" are normal and natural and all other culture is ethnic/exotic and other. Like when I read in the New York Times that "we didn't grow up eating tortillas and chilis" Well maybe the writer didn't but I know many people in the US--including some white folks--that did.

For example, people don't even have to leave their homes to experience white privilege. If they watch TV or listen to the radio the bulk of what is created is by people who have 'white' skin and the people who perform this material are by and large people who have light skin. Magazines, unless they are specially geared toward a population of color, mainly they contain images of white folks. Advertisements, especially for things that a large part of the population needs like car insurance or cell phones are more likely to include images of people of color. What about the material culture around you in your home? Who designed these things? With the exceptions of electronics, more than likely a 'white' person--probably a male. I buy Ikea but they don't design from a Native American perspective.

Regarding the quote: Beacon1 and others have argued that AA will mean that mediocre people of color will be hired--yet as the quote in my OP states, how did all those mediocre white people get their jobs, if only the best and brightest are hired? And if mediocre white people can be hired, shouldn't anyone be, regardless of the color of their skin? And for anyone who wants to argue that there are not that many 'White' people who don't know what they are doing, these fora provide a plethora of examples in academia.

Okey, I guess I should not be pessimistic, but I expect the number of personal attacks posts and/or jokes to outweigh any substantial discussion, even if the poster does not agree with me. This makes, as She in the Spirit mentioned, posting to this section so frustrating. Since there are many, many other opportunities to post jokes, etc. I find it interesting that, and maybe a symptom of white privilege, some posters feel driven to derail discussions here. Of course it's the posters' right--but one might question the ethics of that behavior.

If I gave a lot of information that the average 'white' person couldn't follow, does that mean I posted badly or that I used a different reference point that most are used to, have different cultural capital? And isn't using a difference reference point about diversity as John R riffed on in a not so positive way?

[rodentmind]

If I gave a lot of information that the average 'white' person couldn't follow, does that mean I posted badly or that I used a different reference point that most are used to, have different cultural capital? And isn't using a difference reference point about diversity as John R riffed on a not so positive way?

I don't think it's a question of white people, average or otherwise, failing to follow a set of clear cues. I think your cues as to what your own point in starting the thread is aren't clear. I get that you wanted to just sort of spark discussion in a fluid way, but things will get more on track to your liking if you'll just say what your specific question/issue is in, say, 4 lines or less. You know, like when you give the capsule precis of your dissertation or book.

[sockgumbee]

Rodentmind,

If you read my dis abstract you'll see that I did not study a specific question/issue--I looked at a process/industry and I after i looked at it I drew some conclusions about how it worked. But that came out of the research, not prior to it. To make it clearer, perhaps, I didn't go about proving anything.
Abstract in a nutshell: I studied X. In my study of X, I found it worked in these ways. This is contrary to what others have written.

Different way to do things, and yes, I do think it does have to do with culture. For example most people of color would understand that light skin is not necessarily a good thing. And while I don't have any problem presenting information that is more understandable to, perhaps, the general readership of this forum, I don't think that anyone can say that there is one way that everyone will understand in the same way--regardless.

I don't have hope that I won't be attacked in this forum section. So far, if I mention anything that has to with ethnicity in this and other sections, I am attacked personally. Maybe it's because I'm dyslectic--I'm joking--although I am dyslectic, but that's about how absurd this is to me.

[trollhousecookie]

Rodentmind,

If you read my dis abstract you'll see that I did not study a specific question/issue--I looked at a process/industry and I after i looked at it I drew some conclusions about how it worked. But that came out of the research, not prior to it. To make it clearer, perhaps, I didn't go about proving anything.
Abstract in a nutshell: I studied X. In my study of X, I found it worked in these ways. This is contrary to what others have written.

Different way to do things, and yes, I do think it does have to do with culture. For example most people of color would understand that light skin is not necessarily a good thing. And while I don't have any problem presenting information that is more understandable to, perhaps, the general readership of this forum, I don't think that anyone can say that there is one way that everyone will understand in the same way--regardless.

I don't have hope that I won't be attacked in this forum section. So far, if I mention anything that has to with ethnicity in this and other sections, I am attacked personally. Maybe it's because I'm dyslectic--I'm joking--although I am dyslectic, but that's about how absurd this is to me.

Thanks for the clarification.