Racial Conflict

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by Alphagamuga

One thing I want to throw out into the debate on race and class is that there are a lot of white people who aren't invited to join the most exclusive clubs and groups. Being white, even if you aren't trashy or redneck, in itself doesn't get one all of the perks. You might be less likely to get hassled by the cops if you are white, but being white alone doesn’t get you an invitation to join the country club or SAE. So what I’m asking, I guess, is that the non-white members of the board don’t generalize too much about the benefits of white privilege. Some of us whities don't benefit that much.

True indeed, hence this discussion is about race and class. Courtesy of Elephant Walk. But that doesn't negate the fact that across contexts in this society wealthy people are more likely to be white and poor people are disproportionately nonwhite.

You don't have to playfully use "whities" when pleading to us for understanding. If the nonwhites that you speak to are to hear you, they can do so without that reference. BTW, you still have white privilege. It just doesn't benefit you in that specific instance, which pales in comparison to the many more socially significant instances that it will benefit you.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

BTW, you still have white privilege. It just doesn't benefit you in that specific instance, which pales in comparison to the many more socially significant instances that it will benefit you.

This is where I think you might be surprise to know what is was like to be the average white person. While it might be easier in many circumstance to be white than to be black, I think it's a mistake to conclude that the area of social significant instances is really as expansive as you imagine.

I think the value of being well connected cannot be underestimated, but just being white alone probably doesn't really work the magic that you think it does.

When you throw in the things we choose to project about ourselves culturally, ie, trashy whore like Paris Hilton VS. really rich rap star, white "culture" may seem to be privileged. But I don't think that privilege is as pronounced for the average person.

Shinerbock, I probably wasn't discriminating among you, Elephant Walk, and Macallan as much as I should have been. I have no idea if you are racist or not, but it seemed to me that the three of you were basically saying you couldn't include black members and be a top chapter. That seemed racist to me, but I'll take your word if you want to claim otherwise. I didn't mention Bush, but maybe that part wasn't addressed to me.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by Alphagamuga

This is where I think you might be surprise to know what is was like to be the average white person.

No, I won't. I already know.

If you don't juice your white privilege for what's it worth for whatever reasons, that's on you and I don't make it by business to account for every exception. My initial post stated that across social contexts, you have white privilege. Point blank. Being well connected isn't just about being in upper class social networks. Working class whites have used their networks/social capital to get ahead for generations. They've also used these networks to create a racialized split labor market and exclude blacks and women.