9 ms·

Well I can share my individual perspective as a tall white guy. Sure, I've been through extraordinary struggles and life difficulties in my early adulthood, yet

by warent 6y ago

Well I can share my individual perspective as a tall white guy. Sure, I've been through extraordinary struggles and life difficulties in my early adulthood, yet life is still pretty much easy mode just from the privilege. If you've ever read The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan, the best way I can describe it is it almost feels like being ta'veren. Even if I'm having an off-day, not performing well, doing the wrong things, saying the wrong things, I still get the results I need/want and it all works out. If a company rejects me in favor of diversity, even my struggles are already relatively so easy to resolve that it's just like, good for them, I'll go to the countless other opportunities. Not saying it's right or wrong, but I feel like the last person who needs a champion.

cwperkins 6y ago
Are you also college educated? Under 30, middle-aged or old? Why treat "White Guys" as a monolith?
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- sudosysgen 6y ago
  Sure, that's true. But being tall, attractive, and white, lets you get away with a lot of things were being under 30 and college educated doesn't matter as much. For me, just growing out my hair and beard, which give away my ethnicity, result in drastically different treatment. Same for attractiveness, if I wear contact lenses and make an effort to look a certain way, life in general becomes significantly easier.
- warent 6y ago
  The comment opens with "I can share my individual perspective" There's no intent to negate other people's struggles at all. Here's the hypothesis. If life is like an RPG, then whiteness / being male (in America) is a passive buff you get in character creation, like "+10 Social Points" Truly, for many people, that still isn't enough to offset the many other debuffs life can bring.
  - cwperkins 6y ago
    The context of the original post is a hiring manager moralizing only considering candidates from underrepresented groups. I think many people have a deep sense of empathy for the struggles of people trying to climb the economic ladder and starting from a lesser point. I commend Apple for investing in the Propel center in Atlanta and creating a developer program in Detroit as creative ways to alleviate the social problem, but a hiring manager exclusively considering underrepresented minorities is discrimination and will lead to more racial resentment. If we are to work towards an inclusive future it means everyone is included and I really think we'd achieve more by working together than fighting. I think a lot more people have a deep sense of empathy than are given credit for. I'm concerned with the rent seeking behavior that I see and hear instead of a focus on wealth creation and growing the pie for everyone. I think its great to give personal anecdotes, but I never want to judge an individual person from their group membership. There will definitely be similar experiences across members of a given group.
jariel 6y ago
There are millions of 'Tall White Guys' in prison, earning minimum wage, living on the streets. It's really not that much of a privilege.
- warent 6y ago
  I was literally homeless and earning minimum wage at one point so this is something I'm familiar with.
  - edoceo 6y ago
    This is awesome! I'm glad you coming up, keep going, don't forget where you came from.
  - oh_sigh 6y ago
    So why is easy mode easy for you, but hard for other tall white guys? Is it possibly because there is no "easy mode"?
    - ajkjk 6y ago
      Do you really find it absurd that someone is saying they feel like they have a well-known, widely-documented privilege?
      - jariel 6y ago
        There's a difference between 'easy mode' - and possibly having an advantage. Being tall, or white, might give you an edge in some circumstances, in some places in life. It does not put life on 'easy mode'. It's tiring dealing with woke racism - this new world ideology is troubling. Privilege is having parents who give you $20M - that's 'easy mode'. Otherwise, it's not.
      - oh_sigh 6y ago
        So what do you consider all the tall white males who are in prison or making minimum wage at 30 years old? Are they just mega failures?

by warent 6y ago

cwperkins 6y ago

Are you also college educated? Under 30, middle-aged or old? Why treat "White Guys" as a monolith?

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
sudosysgen 6y ago
Sure, that's true. But being tall, attractive, and white, lets you get away with a lot of things were being under 30 and college educated doesn't matter as much. For me, just growing out my hair and beard, which give away my ethnicity, result in drastically different treatment. Same for attractiveness, if I wear contact lenses and make an effort to look a certain way, life in general becomes significantly easier.
warent 6y ago
The comment opens with "I can share my individual perspective" There's no intent to negate other people's struggles at all. Here's the hypothesis. If life is like an RPG, then whiteness / being male (in America) is a passive buff you get in character creation, like "+10 Social Points" Truly, for many people, that still isn't enough to offset the many other debuffs life can bring.
- cwperkins 6y ago
  The context of the original post is a hiring manager moralizing only considering candidates from underrepresented groups. I think many people have a deep sense of empathy for the struggles of people trying to climb the economic ladder and starting from a lesser point. I commend Apple for investing in the Propel center in Atlanta and creating a developer program in Detroit as creative ways to alleviate the social problem, but a hiring manager exclusively considering underrepresented minorities is discrimination and will lead to more racial resentment. If we are to work towards an inclusive future it means everyone is included and I really think we'd achieve more by working together than fighting. I think a lot more people have a deep sense of empathy than are given credit for. I'm concerned with the rent seeking behavior that I see and hear instead of a focus on wealth creation and growing the pie for everyone. I think its great to give personal anecdotes, but I never want to judge an individual person from their group membership. There will definitely be similar experiences across members of a given group.

jariel 6y ago

There are millions of 'Tall White Guys' in prison, earning minimum wage, living on the streets. It's really not that much of a privilege.

warent 6y ago
I was literally homeless and earning minimum wage at one point so this is something I'm familiar with.
- edoceo 6y ago
  This is awesome! I'm glad you coming up, keep going, don't forget where you came from.
- oh_sigh 6y ago
  So why is easy mode easy for you, but hard for other tall white guys? Is it possibly because there is no "easy mode"?
  - ajkjk 6y ago
    Do you really find it absurd that someone is saying they feel like they have a well-known, widely-documented privilege?
    - jariel 6y ago
      There's a difference between 'easy mode' - and possibly having an advantage. Being tall, or white, might give you an edge in some circumstances, in some places in life. It does not put life on 'easy mode'. It's tiring dealing with woke racism - this new world ideology is troubling. Privilege is having parents who give you $20M - that's 'easy mode'. Otherwise, it's not.
    - oh_sigh 6y ago
      So what do you consider all the tall white males who are in prison or making minimum wage at 30 years old? Are they just mega failures?