Talk About (White, Male) Privilege

[Soph0571]

This

[RAB910]

1. It's also a prime example of GOP/Right-Wing do as I say not as I do hypocrisy

[Initech]

18. Yup and I use Liberty University as a perfect example.

These people championed and cheerleaded Bush as a shining example of their morals and values. Now they are going full on for Trump, a guy who is literally the exact opposite of a moral human being. Trump has no morals and yet the evangelical crowd thinks he's like a god. That is the ultimate hypocrisy.

[erronis]

37. +1 - thank you for the reference to "liberty" U. Alma mater of the creeping crud

that wants to take over the US. Xian in name only.

[calimary]

2. Yep. That's about it.

If a Democrat were putting all that criminality up on the scoreboard, these bastards would be building a gallows in the middle of the Washington Mall.

[EffieBlack]

5. A white Democrat would be more likely to get away with this than a black Republican ...

A white Democrat couldn’t go this far, of course, but could still get away with a lot if other factors weighed in just right. On the other hand, no black person, regardless of party, could get away with even a infinitesimal fraction of such behavior under any circumstance.

[Autumn]

11. Worked out really well for white Democrat Bill Clinton. nt

[titaniumsalute]

12. Well let's be honest Bill did shove a cigar where the sun don't shine into an intern

While that didn't deserve an impeachment he was certainly very guilty of sexual misconduct. Obama didn't do any of that (as much as we know.) He kept his nose clean for the 8 years.

[Autumn]

13. There is also Hilary's emails 2016 and

Ivanka's emails 2018. Bill Clinton had a consensual affair in the White House that was nobodies business.

[titaniumsalute]

25. While I agree it becomes everyone's business whether we like it or not

Obama didn't do that and which didn't open that pandora's box.

[Autumn]

30. Hillary's emails didn't open pandora's box, Ivanka's emails got 3 minutes of coverage.

[titaniumsalute]

32. Your arguments are messy

I thought we were talking about white male privilege?

How did you slide into something completely different?

[Autumn]

34. I addressed privilege. You think only white males have privilege?

I guess things do look messy when all you have is a hammer. On the bright side you are free to ignore what I say.

[titaniumsalute]

40. I'm free to ignore yes...but it might help to have a solid point then to be all over the place

But hey it's DU. It is a messy place at times.

[Autumn]

42. Pointing out examples of privilege is all over the place? Yeah I guess so.

[GWC58]

56. IOKIYAAR!

That about says it all! Hypocrisy at its absolute, positively worst! 👿👺

[erronis]

38. Only if the RW and the M$M wants to make it everyone's business

And I'm surprised that you would promote that view.

Shenanigans have been going on since the beginning of time. Fixation on them is a problem with understanding what is important.

[IronLionZion]

20. And JFK, LBJ, plenty of Dems were screwing around without any trouble

[Autumn]

21. Yes they did it too. Republican are the family values people while Democrats are evil.

That all we ever hear. So let's give Republicans a pass on hypocrisy and their double standards and give control of the narrative and blame it on white privilege. When in reality their problem with Obama is nothing more than racism.

[IronLionZion]

24. Privilege and racism are closely intertwined.

Many people are racist precisely because they want to keep their privileges.

[titaniumsalute]

33. Or they don't like someone else privileges so they end up hating them

[erronis]

39. More likely: They engage in these same acts and want to mount a strong offense

So, just in case, they are blamed - "See the other side does this."

Seems like this about the only strength of the trumpists and repuglicons.

[Autumn]

35. Republicans in a nut shell.

[EffieBlack]

59. Funny how certain folk always jump in to push back against any reference to white privilege

You can set your watch by it.

[IronLionZion]

63. It's easier to maintain it if we pretend it doesn't exist

[EffieBlack]

65. And even better if we project blame onto those who point it out ...

"YOU'RE the problem!"

[IronLionZion]

67. She who smelt it dealt it!

same logic

[grantcart]

19. Since this has been known as an objective fact for 50 years you

Have to accept that there is something in the DNA of a significant part of the White culture that personally identifies with anything that happens that can be even remotely tied to race.

During the lunch counter sit ins I was around 12 and driving somewhere with my father who was one of the most decent people I have ever known. He told me that during WWII he was stationed briefly in Mississippi and it sickened him to see how "negroes" were being treated.

He said that I should never judge a person by their race and that he "always had an open mind and whenever he met a negro would give him the opportunity to show that he was a decent person".

When we arrived at the drugstore I said that when he met a white person he gave him the benefit of the doubt and assumed he was a decent person. Fifty years later I can still see the shocked expression on his face as he realized that he was in fact applying a different standard based on race. He said "that's an excellent point".

Forty years ago I was visiting from Asia and I was sharing stories with a bunch of college friends. I was telling 5 or 6 stories that shared a common thread about how open, kind and friendly people had been to me. When I finished one of my friends asked me if I still liked Americans. Saying something good about another culture or race wss taken as an insult to Americans.

None of these people were "racists". But there is a deep seated defensiveness among most whites (IMO) that creates a subliminal double standard that is carried invisibly but not recognized. I could give dozens of examples but you get the point.

[hostalover]

31. I do understand your point. I know I possess some innate

racism, and I don't think it will ever go away. It is very subtle and hopefully it is not noticeable. When a black person waits on me at my favorite QT store, I try to casually touch hands when he gives me my change, or if I arrive at the counter about the same time as a black customer, I step back a little and let him go first and say "Oh, go ahead. You were first." I'm a friendly person by nature, (much to my children's dismay) and frequently strike up conversations in stores, etc.. If it's a black person, I worry they may think I'm being condescending, and maybe I am. I will struggle with these feelings forever, I do believe.

[erronis]

41. I like the way you phrased this. It is my position too (whatever QT is...) nt

[hostalover]

46. Quik Trip!

[Beartracks]

68. I don't know, honestly. Repubs have been getting more and more...

... hypocritical, aggressive, and unhinged about stupid shit each and every year. Obama wasn't "presidenting-while-black" in a static cultural vacuum. This isn't the same political landscape that Bill Clinton tried to traverse after his actual improprieties. Even without the racial component of the crap Obama had to endure, a white Democrat would've still had all the other bullshit investigations, intransigence, stonewalling, scrutiny, pearl-clutching, hate-filled radio screeds, scare -tactics, and demonizing -- and the next Democrat, regardless of color, will probably get it even worse than Obama did, simply because conservatives under Trump have finally uncorked all their liberal-hate. AND racism, to be sure. Would any African American Democratic President get it worse than a white (male) Democratic President *during the same timeframe*? Certainly. But I don't think the white guy would be able to "get away" with anything. Not anymore.

===========

[EffieBlack]

70. You're making our point ...

"Even without the racial component of the crap Obama had to endure ... Would any African American Democratic President get it worse than a white (male) Democratic President *during the same timeframe*? Certainly."

A white politician doesn't have to endure the racial component that Obama had to deal with. A white Democratic president would have it easier than a black one. That right there is the privilege.

To paraphrase what I quoted earlier: "White privilege doesn't mean a white politician won't be subjected to bullshit investigations, intransigence, stonewalling, scrutiny, pearl-clutching, hate-filled radio screeds, scare-tactics, and demonizing. It means none of that crap would be inflicted on him because of the color of his skin."

[Beartracks]

71. Thx, Effie. I guess I did!

=========

[Fullduplexxx]

3. "They " being the right wing was pretty brutal to white male clinton

[EffieBlack]

6. That was 20 years ago

[lark]

16. ???

Are you nuts (in a nice way, of course?). They totally eviscerated him and his wife and are still doing it to this day, 40 years later. They never stopped. It's not white vs. color in this dynamic, but Democrats vs Repugs. Look how they treated Carter, he was as pure as Obama and got nothing but shit from the msm. Repugs can be treasonous criminals and president and it's ok, but Democrats are allowed no power at all without being totally cut to shreds by msm and all too often even by so-called leftist media like msnbc.

I do agree they used race against Obama and it was so stupid & unconscionable, but they would have treated him as badly for the sin of being a Democrat, regardless of his ethnicity.

[watoos]

7. For president Obama it was about male white priviege.

Your point in well taken though, other than president Obama it is more about rich v poor, about rich privilege.

The right wing corporate controlled M$M is complicit, is the reason that Trump rose to power and stays in power.
The corporate M$M controls the narrative.

[Fullduplexxx]

29. Thanks for me it's always been rich vs poor

The rich gets us to fight amongst ourselves so we dont see them stealing from us

[LanternWaste]

48. By making false equivalencies.

he rich gets us to fight amongst (sic) ourselves

And one effective tactic is by making false equivalencies.

[erronis]

43. +++ This (@watoos)

[LanternWaste]

47. Clinton wasn't called anti-American for his choice of mustard.

Nor was the country outraged he wore a tan suit to a press conference.

The GOP didn't throw criticism at everything Clinton did... only the things they though they could get away with.

The GOP did in fact, throw criticism at everything Obama did.

[Fullduplexxx]

49. Well I applaud your pursuit of a distinction by focusing on the little details

The gop threw everything they could think of at bill clinton . If bill wore a tan suit and the gop thought of bitching about it the fact that bill is a white male would mean nothing to the gop .

[EffieBlack]

60. If Obama had been caught getting oral sex from an intern in the Oval Office, he would have been

removed from office. And his wife would never have had an opportunity to launch a political career in the aftermath.

If there was even a whiff of a rumor that Obama had had extramarital affairs before he ran for president, much less any woman come out and tell the story of an affair, he would never have come close to being elected.

If even one woman had accused Obama of sexual harassment or assault (especially a white woman), he would have been prosecuted and he certainly would not have been taken seriously as a candidate.

[ck4829]

75. Remember when they tried to turn *low* gas prices under Obama into a scandal?

[treestar]

76. They didn't have a meeting the night of his inauguration

to declare he should be a one term POTUS and that they would block everything they did.

They had hearings on his appointees to the courts.

They didn't filibuster every single thing.

And he did do something stupid. They didn't make the scandal up out of thin air.

[Fullduplexxx]

77. If he had this congress they would have

[mountain grammy]

4. Our Constitution was written by and for wealthy white men.

27 Amendments later and we still don't have an Equal Rights Amendment. I believe we'll run out of time before we completely evolve from the original intent of the great and powerful US of A; slavery, servitude and sexism. After all, it's made so many rich and they like it that way.

[watoos]

8. Well said,

The role of the corporate M$M is extremely underestimated. The M$M propaganda gets poor people to vote against their own best interests.

Wait until tax time when Trumpers find out that pay raise they got from the Trump tax scam, came from their refunds.

[marieo1]

9. response to 'white male privilege'

And.........he has insulted people most citizens of USA respect and trust - 551 of them to be exact. Mattis, Comey, Obama, McCabe, LeBron James, Bernie Sander, Bob Corker,Adam Schiff, Katie Couric, Ruth Bader Ginsberg and there are a lot more. He respects people like Putin and the King and can only say good things about them. Even after the King murdered Kashhoggi, he still praised him. DO WE REALLY NEED SOMEONE LIKE DJT IN OUR WHITE HOUSE?

[erronis]

44. Thanks. And he's not just our normal white/male but a severely limited one with psychopathy

A large amount of megalomania, narcissism, lacking in empathy, etc.

Add a sense of privilege to the mix and a bit too much available cash and you can brew a perfect despot. Make some of that cash dependent on doing deeds for others and you have a loyal lap dog.

[NewJeffCT]

10. I'd also add in Republican as well

Bill Clinton (along with Hillary) was also put through the wringer back in the 90s - 6 investigations into Vince Foster, investigating Socks the Cat, the entire impeachment process, etc.

Al Gore was hammered in the media in 2000; John Kerry in 2004 and Hillary Clinton in 2016 as well.

[lovemydogs]

15. You forget the press also stalked the Clintons for any imperfection

[EffieBlack]

61. But they survived it

A black candidate never would have.

Link to tweet

[lovemydogs]

14. This guy hit it on the head

I think about what if Obama did one thing like Trump. If he acted the way Trump has or treated immigrants who are not from Europe the way Trump does, ect.
Obama would have been impeached right away.
Tons of investigations
And Trump does not know the words to our Pledge or Anthem. What if Obama did not.

[Locrian]

17. I can't name *any* president

who (except for Obama of course) have all been white males.
There has been some massive change that has come to head (hate, despair, revenge, crudeness, distrust, nihilism, immaturity, corporate/Washington bubble, greed, etc) in our society that trump is riding on. He's the chaos attractor exploiting it.

[lovemydogs]

22. My daughter and I were discussing this yesterday

I felt it was a combination of things. For some people it was one thing and for some it was something else.

I felt some were in belief of the man they saw on Trump's show. They forgot the real Trump and came to buy into the tv personality.

Some were looking for a hero. A Reagan or Kennedy. They wanted a President larger then life who would swoop down and fix everything and make things like it used to be. Morning in America.

For some it was Obama back lash. They were nervous about the immigrants that were no longer European but, from Latin America.
And they were scapegoating them. And Obama. They felt a white man would put things right and one that would stop the 'browning' of America.

Last. Alot of the problems for middle class people in many countries has been the rise of neo-liberalism. It is what is ailing Europe.
For 40 years it has ground down unions, the power of labor and began to heavily shove our tax dollars to the wealthy and Wall Street, by both parties, the professionals and abandoned the average person. Soon, jobs lost, people were working 3 jobs to pay the rent.
The whole Neo liberal agenda has been a disaster for average people

[erronis]

45. Good points. It'll take 2-5+ generations to get used to the real world

For all that rot about America being a "melting pot", it has almost never worked on the grand scale. Some neighborhoods and communities may have worked things out very well, but in the large most of the immigrants (and we're all immigrants) don't mix that well.

Of course inter-group marriages change the dynamics but only over several generations.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

23. Remember his tan suit?

[ck4829]

74. Oh my God, oh the humanity!!1!

[TheBlackAdder]

26. So true, but the ironic thing is history is starting to show Obama family to be the most respected.

[FakeNoose]

27. I'm sorry, it's not white male privilege - it's Repuke right-wing privilege

Don't forget they were just as vile towards Bill Clinton, and separately horrible (even more so) towards Hillary. The Repukes don't care about anything their side does. Reagan, Bush1, Bush2, and now Trump all got free passes and get out of jail free cards.

Yes the GOP were horrible to PBO but not because he's black. They behaved abominably towards Hillary Clinton but not because she's female. I'll stop there but there are plenty more examples for the last 50 years. We have to learn to turn a deaf-ear to their fake outrage because it's all just noise.

The rightwingers don't know how to do anything else. If they can't find anything to get outraged about in a Democrat, they'll invent something. It's their collective mental illness and we shouldn't be losing any sleep over it.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

28. Sure, Bill Clinton was attacked by the right wing. But white privilege means he hasn't lost any

status among society. White privilege doesn't mean you're not attacked if you're white. It helps determine what the result is -- how you're seen afterwards, what the attacks are, etc.

[Fullduplexxx]

50. Obama hasnt lost any status among society either

Sounds like youre trying define w.p. to serve your point

[WhiskeyGrinder]

51. More likely I'm just not explaining it very well. It happens.

[EffieBlack]

62. I think even Bill Clinton would acknowledge that Obama was treated much more harshly than he was

Clinton took a lot of crap. But Obama took exponentially more, from more quarters, on a more consistent basis day in and day out.

Clinton was beaten up for his politics, his positions, and his personal behavior. He would probably admit that some of that he brought on himself. But Obama was beaten up for all of these things AND had his intelligence, his nationality, his very right to BE questioned over and over and over, not just by the fringes, but by people in the highest levels of government, the media and society.

No Member of Congress heckled Clinton and called him a liar from the floor of the House. He was not portrayed in mainstream circles as a monkey, a witch doctor, a thug nor was his wife portrayed as an ape or accused of being a man.

Obama put up with more than any president ever had to and he had to do it BECAUSE HE WAS BLACK. So people need to spare me the "Oh, stop with the complaining about white privilege. He wasn't treated any differently than a white Democratic president would have been." That is pure, unadulterated bullshit. And it is disgusting to me to see Democrats behave so dismissively about racism in this country.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

78. THANK YOU. You said it much better than I was able to.

You didn't have to come in and do the work for me, but you did, and I appreciate it.

[Cha]

36. A big part of this is the US m$M trying

to normalize the pervert.

[trev]

52. The GOP doesn't care about morality or honesty.

It is all about money and power.

[Roy Rolling]

53. Oxygen breathing, 2-legged humans!

Oxygen-breathers Privilege. Sucking up the good air. I think it causes global warming by expelling too much CO2.

That's my theory, but you say it's also male Caucasian Privilege, too?

I guess there can be a causal link for anything if I'm overly broad.

I didn't get that from the tweet, Privilege is usually associated with the concept of wealth and being filth rich. I will broaden my understanding.

[ffr]

54. Despite exemplifying class & leadership, Conservatives STILL crucified him...

That's because conservatives are amoral hypocrites. Do as little business with them as you can. Once they have no money, they have no say. Alienate them on every aspect of your life, whenever possible.

[MadDAsHell]

55. What polls is this guy looking at?

Did he spend 2008 to 2016 exclusively watching Fox News? Sure, there's a small subset of our population that are conservative fools, and never supported President Obama, but that's not white privilege; it's idiocy.

President Obama's approval numbers were phenomenal, Trump's have been nothing but terrible.

[jimlup]

57. and the list is incomplete /nt

[treestar]

58. Yep

There it is right there.

[jcgoldie]

64. In all fairness...

There was that time Obama reached over the sneeze guard at Chipotle, oh and he wore a brown suit ... scandalous!

[oasis]

66. Kicking with much gusto.

[Blue Owl]

69. And fuck everyone who enables this shit

[whathehell]

72. Not totally true -- It's only "crickets" from his minority 32% base

Everyone else is rightfully appalled & freaked out about it.

[ck4829]

73. K&R