Gawker’s “Privilege Tournament” is all about white anger

[demmiblue]

Source: Salon

The most hurtful thing about Gawker’s “Privilege Tournament” (which invites readers to vote on NCAA-type brackets for who is the least privileged “category” of people, black, Hispanic, gay, etc.) is not its contempt for civil rights discourse, but that the prideful display of a white man’s humor is more important to a large liberal media outlet than compassion for people who suffer the dehumanizing effects of discrimination. Gawker, of course, presents the Tournament as an above-it-all humor piece, and this is exactly the problem: Gawker believes it is speaking from a place of objective remove, but it is, in fact, acting out emotionally. The site is either willfully naive about the daily pain experienced by people whom society devalues or, worse, resentful that white men are being wrongly denied equal sympathy. Either way there’s nothing objective in this perspective.

Not only is white male humility in discussion of race/gender/sexuality absent here, but in its place is a vicious, sneering resentment at the suggested need to be humble. When a white man decides that a conversation about privilege has gotten out of hand, gone to absurd lengths, and needs some comedic cutting down, he is reestablishing white, male dominance, plain and simple. Who is asking who to laugh? Whose experience is being mocked?

There’s no doubt that author Hamilton Nolan and Gawker will defend the piece as comedy, but let’s be more specific:Tthis is satire, ironic social commentary that mocks an idea by taking it to an exaggerated level of seriousness. Satire itself is deadly serious and it comes from real social critique. So let me offer a modest proposal — would Nolan or Gawker be willing to do this in person, I wonder? Would Nolan feel the gross absurdity of his game if standing face to face with people of color, women, LGBTQ people or those living in poverty? Would he be ready to say to them, as he writes here, “Privilege has its benefits, but the lack of privilege confers that sweet, sweet moral superiority.”

The “Privilege Tournament” is not just childish trolling. It is a shamefully racist, sexist, homophobic and classist attempt to silence large swaths of people. It is worth your criticism and it is worth your anger.

Read more: http://www.salon.com/2013/09/30/gawkers_privilege_tournament_is_all_about_white_anger/


"Privilege: so sweet to have. But even sweeter to not have. Privilege has its benefits, but the lack of privilege confers that sweet, sweet moral superiority. With that in mind, we have decided to determine who, exactly, has the least privilege of all."

[MadrasT]

1. Wow... that is really messed up. n/t