Princeton Prof Says Covington Kids Are Symbol of White Privilege
“Underneath this is that we give privilege to these white kids.”
What part of being privileged includes getting threats of violence from people who work in media and entertainment?
The College Fix reports:
Princeton prof: Covington HS kids symbol of ‘white privilege,’ a yearning for 1950s
A professor from Princeton University told an MSNBC audience yesterday that, despite the facts showing the Covington High School boys are innocent of “taunting” a Native American activist, they’re still a symbol of that dastardly “white privilege.”
As reported by Newsbusters, religion and African-American Studies prof Eddie Glaude asked “MSNBC Live” host Craig Melvin whether African-American high schoolers would have been given the opportunity to defend themselves in the media just as the Covington boys were:
I think more than anything, underneath some of the backlash against hearing the young man is this question, who are allowed the innocence of childhood, right?…Why do we always do this in these sorts of cases, when white boys are involved, and what do we do, how do we react when brown and black kids are involved?
So underneath this is this sense of hypocrisy. Underneath this is a double standard. Underneath this is that we give privilege to these white kids. He can sit down with Savannah Guthrie and redeem himself, but then there are all these other folk who we just presume, you know, who aren’t so innocent.
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The answer is yes they would have been given the opportunity to defend themselves* (*only if ascribing to the correct political beliefs).
As a matter of fact, there was a group of black MEN causing most of the problem at this particular event, and they were left completely blameless in the initial media reaction.
He’s got a point but it’s not quite as sharp as he pretends.
First of all, in this scenario if the kids had been black they would never have been harassed and defamed in the first place, so they wouldn’t have needed the opportunity to defend themselves in the media.
Second, supposing a group of black kids had been mistakenly defamed in the media for some alleged offense, you can absolutely depend on it that the moment the mistake was discovered, or even if there probably was no mistake but it was just possible that there was one, the media would be all over themselves to give them the opportunity to defend themselves — and those responsible for the original accusation would be crucified.
However, he’s not wrong either; white privilege definitely exists, though it’s not a factor here, but rich privilege is. Suppose the kids were white but poor. Suppose Nick Sandmann’s parents did not have the money to hire lawyers and a PR firm. Would the kids still get the justice they deserved? Very unlikely. They would still be the same innocent kids, but their name would still be mud. Most people would be unaware of their innocence. That’s not fair, but depriving them of the benefit of their privilege wouldn’t make it any fairer!
Think back to the Duke Lacrosse players. If they’d been poor they’d never have got justice either. Hundreds equally innocent students, both white and black but mostly black, end up in their exact situation and never get justice. They should be grateful for their privilege that got them what they deserved.
TLDR: Privilege exists, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of; those who have it should give thanks for it.
White privilege only exists in the form of class differences and jealousy of what others have.
Families of many other races and ethnicities, many of whom were also persecuted, have done much to raise their standards of living more frequently and in less time. They didn’t do so by claiming victim status; it was done with hard work, education, and a cohesive family unit.
No, white privilege definitely exists. This is not an example of it, but there are many examples. I acknowledge that in some situations I enjoy white privilege, and I’m very grateful for it. I see no reason to be ashamed of it.
It is what it is. The world is not a fair place. Some people are luckier than others; that’s just how it is, and it’s neither illegal nor immoral nor even fattening. Being ashamed of ones luck is just stupid.
And I’m pointing out to you why those things exist.
I’m not ashamed of the privilege I enjoy because of the good sense and forward thinking of my family.
You enjoy your privilege because you were lucky enough to have been born to such a family. Enjoy it but remember that it’s not your doing.
I think that’s what I just said before your sanctimonious lecture.
I thought you were saying that this is not unearned privilege, because your family worked for it. My reply is that you didn’t earn it. You didn’t choose to be born to that family, it was just your luck. You are right not to be ashamed of it, but the idea of “checking your privilege” is simply to be conscious of the fact that you could easily have been born without it, so be thankful for it. That’s all.
The sick and evil SJW twist is that since “you didn’t build that” it’s wrong for you to have it, and you should compensate by constantly apologizing and deferring to those who don’t. In other words, socialism applied not just to material possessions but to ones lot in life. If you were born a good runner you should hobble yourself, if you were born with good eyesight you should blindfold yourself, etc., so that everyone can be equal.
To Millhouse:
<blockquote<You enjoy your privilege because you were lucky enough to have been born to such a family. Enjoy it but remember that it’s not your doing.
Sounds like “You didn’t build that!”
Plenty of those born into families with future time orientation and a work ethic end up throwing it all away because they were born into it, but didn’t sustain it. This hard work and the forward thinking has to continue, or, it does away.
See my comment just above yours. You didn’t build that. Which doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enjoy it, or that you should be ashamed of it.
Milhouse, I’d be fascinated to learn more about your sense of “white privilege,” and I am very interested to learn of these “many examples” of white privilege you tout. Please share.
I’m grateful that this is unlikely to happen to me. I’m grateful that since I don’t bear an unfortunate resemblance to so many car thieves and burglars, people who see me trying to get in to my car or home won’t immediately jump to the conclusion that I’m a car thief or a burglar. I’m grateful that since I don’t look like so many shoplifters I don’t get followed around stores, and if I inadvertently do something that looks a bit suspicious I won’t be instantly nabbed. I’m grateful that if I’m ever in a confusing situation where the cops have to instantly sort the good guys from the bad guys they won’t be starting with a perfectly reasonable presumption that I’m more likely to be a bad guy than a good guy. Had I been the exact same person but with black skin those things would happen to me, not due to anybody’s malice but because that is unfortunately how it is.
To give another example, my male privilege makes it less likely that I’ll be raped. On the other hand your female privilege makes it less likely that you’ll be falsely suspected of rape. Neither of these are anything we should be ashamed of, but we should remember that we didn’t earn them, and therefore we should be grateful for them.
Thank you for your thoughtful response, Milhouse. Everything you say is true or at least true-ish. Isn’t a deeper question needed here? Why are you less likely to be surveilled in stores or in cars or on the street? Is it because you are white and therefore pristine with privilege or is it that crime stats suggest that white Jewish dudes aren’t running around shop-lifting bagels?
There’s a chicken and egg thing here, Milhouse, that you seem willing to elide . . . or that we are all-too-comfortable embracing? If most shoplifting is done by lovely–if no longer young–cat ladies, then I need to be profiled, followed in stores, and checked out for possible kitty kibble stuffed in my fake leg. And I’m pretty fine with that (but maybe that’s my “privilege”–in this case the knowledge that there are few middle-aged cat lady shoplifting gangs–speaking?).
Isn’t “privilege” just the idea that you aren’t being targeted because . . . you don’t meet the profile? And if you don’t meet the profile, shouldn’t you be “privileged”? If the feds are looking for white supremacists, anyone they don’t look at becomes “privileged” in this scenario, right? If the feds are looking for tax evaders, they aren’t hammering on doors in the inner city. If ICE is looking for illegal aliens, they aren’t hammering on my door, right? Does that make me “privileged” or just not likely to be an illegal alien by normal, logical deductive reasoning? You have to have some means of looking for criminals, and unless you can come up with something better than profiling (i.e. excluding those with the “privilege” of not meeting the profile), what do you propose? Blanket sweeps of everyone? Sound familiar? Sound wasteful, counterproductive, and ludicrous?
It is what it is.
This is not an adequate definition.
I can’t tell what the “Princeton prof” supra is grousing about. Maybe he postulates that Western civilization is built around institutions and methodologies that only white people are allowed to operate or navigate, and in that sense all our institutions amount to a exclusive privilege for whitey. Perhaps he even fancies that we all have secret handshakes, passwords, membership cards, and club keys, and we all conspire to see that nobody but other white people ever get them.
Which is childish twaddle. Worse, outright racism.
Or perhaps his thoughts aren’t quite so specific. More likely, he’s just spouting some of those “hey, have you stopped beating your white privilege yet?”—type questions. They’re not supportable accusations and aren’t intended to elicit honest answers.
He’s reminding us (though in this case incorrectly) that white people get treated fairly more often than black people do. This isn’t white people’s fault, and it certainly shouldn’t be “corrected” by deliberately treating white people as unfairly as black people are often treated, but it is something we should be conscious of.
White Privilege is the privilege of paying to support those who make long stream of wrong life choices.
The privilege of delayed gratification.
It is the privilege of raising our children well.
Some groups are short changed genetically, evolution passed them by.
All of humanity has the option of sacrificing so that their offspring have a better start in life. many do not and I see no reason to feel guilty or sorry for them.
How many of our social problems could be solved by delaying puberty to say 25 or 30 years old?
This thing is, black people don’t really treat other black people that well either. The media only notices when it is a white person treating a black person poorly, but as one who spent a number of years traversing the Balmer ghetto at all hours, I saw a whole bunch of teen moms who weren’t getting pregnant by whitey. Maybe that happened back in the 50’s, as in 1850’s, but it sure isn’t the case now. They are free to blame whitey all they want, but it sure isn’t going to fix anything.
I have dated young ladies of color. One was a exchange student teacher from Jamaica. She came from a good family, was exceptionally attractive, had a nice personality. She had absolutely nothing in common with typical blacks in our area. This was in the early seventies, so it was uncommon for a white guy to date black girls.
In the end, marrying someone with a poorer genetic background, even if they are exceptionally bright, does ones offspring a considerable disservice. That is the problem with bringing too many highly reproductive dull witted people into western countries. Competitiveness is driven by the smartest people in society. Will America be as successful if our average IQ falls to about 90?
That’s right. White privilege is not the “fault” of white people. It’s a fact that everything else being equal white people have an easier time than black people do; this is not a result of anybody’s conscious decision, it happens for a variety of reasons, some objectively reasonable and some not, and nobody is to “blame”. (Though “fault” and “blame” are the wrong words, since this privilege generally consists simply of being treated the way everyone would be treated in a world that was fairer.)