poet
Banned
On the contrary, I hardly ever use the Urban Dictionary, preferring Webster's Merriam to any other. But please, do go on about what I like or don't like.
According to Wiki:
In critical race theory, white privilege is a way of conceptualizing racial inequalities that focuses as much on the advantages that white people accrue from society as on the disadvantages that people of color experience. Most such theories focus on American and European societal condition, since inequality between whites and non-whites is a long-standing feature of these academic areas. White privilege differs from conditions of overt racism or prejudice, in which a dominant group actively seeks to oppress or suppress other racial groups for its own advantage. Instead, theories of white privilege suggest that whites view their social, cultural, and economic experiences as a norm that everyone should experience, rather than as an advantaged position that must be maintained at the expense of others. This normative assumption implicitly constrains discussions of racial inequality within the dominant discourse: such explanations are limited to factors specific to disadvantaged racial groups - who are viewed as having failed to achieve the norm - and solutions focus on what can be done to help those groups achieve the 'normal' standards experienced by whites.
History
In his 1935 Black Reconstruction in America, W. E. B. Du Bois first described the "psychological wages" of whiteness:
It must be remembered that the white group of laborers, while they received a low wage, were compensated in part by a sort of public and psychological wage. They were given public deference and titles of courtesy because they were white. They were admitted freely with all classes of white people to public functions, public parks, and the best schools. The police were drawn from their ranks, and the courts, dependent on their votes, treated them with such leniency as to encourage lawlessness. Their vote selected public officials, and while this had small effect upon the economic situation, it had great effect upon their personal treatment and the deference shown them. White schoolhouses were the best in the community, and conspicuously placed, and they cost anywhere from twice to ten times as much per capita as the colored schools. The newspapers specialized on news that flattered the poor whites and almost utterly ignored the Negro except in crime and ridicule.[9]
And: http://blogs.suntimes.com/mitchell/2008/09/what_is_white_privilege.html
And: ]http://youtu.be/w-ABYIkI2aA
As evidence, how many times have I gone into a department store, dressed nicely, and have been followed around by store staff, as if I was potentially going to steal something, while having an active Visa Card, in good standing, in my pocket? The presumption is that "blacks steal" and "whites do not steal", which is an illogical fallacy. How many times have I been passed over for housing, jobs, promotions, knowing at the core that it had nothing to do with qualifications but with my race? While whites are given "carte blanche", independent of their means, background, expertise or knowledge. It's not a case of sour grapes, but rather, one of "reality".
And please refrain from helping me...I do just fine, by myself, unassisted. Help yourself.
