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I think this mindset is part of what the poster is asking about. It seems like you are celebrating the pulling down of white men instead of being sad we cannot

by Veelox 9y ago

I think this mindset is part of what the poster is asking about. It seems like you are celebrating the pulling down of white men instead of being sad we cannot elevate everyone else to phycological safety.

pavlov 9y ago
I'm a white man too, and I don't understand what it means to "elevate" the rest of the population without white men having to change their ways. There's a strange Marie Antoinette quality to this discussion. The young queen just wanted everyone to be happy -- why couldn't the poor eat cake too? It's the same with men who sit on top of the present power structure and can't seem to understand why everyone else couldn't simply do the same.
- Veelox 9y ago
  My current understanding of the idea of white privilege is that white men have structural advantages so that it is easy for them to succeed. Part of this is being unaware of the privilege and having the luxury of not having to notice things. I like you cake example. I agree with your implied point that not everyone has cake. I think there is a spectrum of solutions to some people having cake and others not. On one side it is to make sure no one has cake (pull down), on the other, it is to make sure everyone has cake (elevate). A lot of cis white men feel that various equality movements are okay if cis white men end up with no cake. Some even feel like movements are actively trying to take their cake while telling them it is a good thing. While you might dispute if cake is being taken, that is how some men feel. With my previous comment, I was trying to highlight that the above statement reenforces that worldview. Cake is a gross oversimplification of a complicated problem but I think it works to get the point across.
  - Can_Not 9y ago
    The problem is that people who have millions/billions of cakes is convincing people who have one cake that when the distribution happens, they're going to take your only cake.

by Veelox 9y ago

pavlov 9y ago

I'm a white man too, and I don't understand what it means to "elevate" the rest of the population without white men having to change their ways. There's a strange Marie Antoinette quality to this discussion. The young queen just wanted everyone to be happy -- why couldn't the poor eat cake too? It's the same with men who sit on top of the present power structure and can't seem to understand why everyone else couldn't simply do the same.

Veelox 9y ago
My current understanding of the idea of white privilege is that white men have structural advantages so that it is easy for them to succeed. Part of this is being unaware of the privilege and having the luxury of not having to notice things. I like you cake example. I agree with your implied point that not everyone has cake. I think there is a spectrum of solutions to some people having cake and others not. On one side it is to make sure no one has cake (pull down), on the other, it is to make sure everyone has cake (elevate). A lot of cis white men feel that various equality movements are okay if cis white men end up with no cake. Some even feel like movements are actively trying to take their cake while telling them it is a good thing. While you might dispute if cake is being taken, that is how some men feel. With my previous comment, I was trying to highlight that the above statement reenforces that worldview. Cake is a gross oversimplification of a complicated problem but I think it works to get the point across.
- Can_Not 9y ago
  The problem is that people who have millions/billions of cakes is convincing people who have one cake that when the distribution happens, they're going to take your only cake.