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> That's how life works. Stop whining. No, life isn't fair. Deal with it. I realize that the context is different in the U.S. vs the rest of the world, but wou

by thedz 10y ago

> That's how life works. Stop whining. No, life isn't fair. Deal with it. I realize that the context is different in the U.S. vs the rest of the world, but would you say "life isn't fair, deal with it" to slaves in the South in the 1800s? Or to segregated blacks in the 1900s? Or to women who couldn't vote? Or, to use a more modern example, to Muslims who are facing prejudice and persecution because of the actions of extremists? Throughout history, "stop whining, deal with it" has tended to be the refrain of the privileged.

mhurron 10y ago
Dealing with it can include working toward change. Screaming 'White Privilege' is just complaining without action.
- sbov 10y ago
  Making people aware of the problem and recommending they help with it is part of working towards change. Which is all the OP really did.
BurningFrog 10y ago
The first three are examples of government regulations explicitly favoring some groups over others. That is fundamentally different from a society with legal equality for all individuals. Yes, some groups will be more popular than others. It's hard to see how that can ever be avoided. Of course, if you are a slave, you do really need to deal with that situation as best as you can. Does anyone dispute that?
maratd 10y ago
> but would you say "life isn't fair, deal with it" to slaves in the South in the 1800s? Yes, I would say exactly that. I would tell them to accept their situation, not whine about it, then break free and run to the north. Many did just that. When they got to the north, I would encourage them to work hard and make a better life for themselves through hard work. Many did just that. Yes, they would need to work harder than insert privileged example here to have a good life. Because they're starting from zero. And that's fine. Because that's life. Many of us start from zero or worse. Many of us were hurt or are being hurt by someone's unjust actions. That doesn't mean you try to rig the system. We are born with thousands of disadvantages and thousands of advantages. You simply can't engineer a system that will compensate for all of that to create some sort of utopia. We tried that before. It didn't go so well.
- JohnBooty 10y ago
  Recognizing privilege and inequality is not "rigging the system." In your examples, nobody would break free and run to the north if they didn't recognize the inequality in the first place. Also, is that really what you want to say on a public forum? You want to say that ending slavery was the slaves' responsibility? Interesting.
  - maratd 10y ago
    > Also, is that really what you want to say on a public forum? You want to say that ending slavery was the slaves' responsibility? Interesting. Not what I said, you need to buy new reading glasses. Doing anything starts with the individual. If you're a slave, that means resisting and running away. If you're a white dude in the north, that means supporting abolition. You get the idea. That's the only way to get anything done. > Recognizing privilege and inequality is not "rigging the system." Recognizing? You're not interested in recognizing. You're interested in discriminating against those you recognized as privileged to benefit those you recognized as disadvantaged. Which is bad enough, but really much worse because of the you part ... and the you part is always the privileged. This isn't the minorities standing up for themselves ... it's just the privileged stacking the deck again. The only way to make sure absolute justice and fairness is to make sure the deck is never stacked. Ever. For any reason.

by thedz 10y ago

mhurron 10y ago

Dealing with it can include working toward change. Screaming 'White Privilege' is just complaining without action.

sbov 10y ago
Making people aware of the problem and recommending they help with it is part of working towards change. Which is all the OP really did.

BurningFrog 10y ago

The first three are examples of government regulations explicitly favoring some groups over others. That is fundamentally different from a society with legal equality for all individuals. Yes, some groups will be more popular than others. It's hard to see how that can ever be avoided. Of course, if you are a slave, you do really need to deal with that situation as best as you can. Does anyone dispute that?

maratd 10y ago

> but would you say "life isn't fair, deal with it" to slaves in the South in the 1800s? Yes, I would say exactly that. I would tell them to accept their situation, not whine about it, then break free and run to the north. Many did just that. When they got to the north, I would encourage them to work hard and make a better life for themselves through hard work. Many did just that. Yes, they would need to work harder than insert privileged example here to have a good life. Because they're starting from zero. And that's fine. Because that's life. Many of us start from zero or worse. Many of us were hurt or are being hurt by someone's unjust actions. That doesn't mean you try to rig the system. We are born with thousands of disadvantages and thousands of advantages. You simply can't engineer a system that will compensate for all of that to create some sort of utopia. We tried that before. It didn't go so well.

JohnBooty 10y ago
Recognizing privilege and inequality is not "rigging the system." In your examples, nobody would break free and run to the north if they didn't recognize the inequality in the first place. Also, is that really what you want to say on a public forum? You want to say that ending slavery was the slaves' responsibility? Interesting.
- maratd 10y ago
  > Also, is that really what you want to say on a public forum? You want to say that ending slavery was the slaves' responsibility? Interesting. Not what I said, you need to buy new reading glasses. Doing anything starts with the individual. If you're a slave, that means resisting and running away. If you're a white dude in the north, that means supporting abolition. You get the idea. That's the only way to get anything done. > Recognizing privilege and inequality is not "rigging the system." Recognizing? You're not interested in recognizing. You're interested in discriminating against those you recognized as privileged to benefit those you recognized as disadvantaged. Which is bad enough, but really much worse because of the you part ... and the you part is always the privileged. This isn't the minorities standing up for themselves ... it's just the privileged stacking the deck again. The only way to make sure absolute justice and fairness is to make sure the deck is never stacked. Ever. For any reason.