What is Systemic Racism?

[Guisslapp]

True, some of us have a Dad that worked his way through college after barely being admitted while living in an old run down trailer. He eventually made it big when he got married, had a baby boy, and supported the family in a 700 square foot 100 year old house on less than $30,000 out of college.

This same privileged white guy has seen 3 sons work their way through college and become productive citizens with good families.

After 40+ years of work, he has made a nice living, but it wasn’t handed to him.

He expects the same of his “privileged” white kids.

Yeah. Had that white guy living in a trailer been black, it may not have worked out as well.

[Guisslapp]

Not all white people have been "privileged". Implying so make you a racist.

Ceteris paribus, being white comes with privilege. So does being male. And heterosexual. And Christian. And born rich.

[techman05]

Yeah. Had that white guy living in a trailer been black, it may not have worked out as well.

So you automatically doom the guy because of his skin color. Sounds racist.

[johnnylightnin]

Not all white people have been "privileged". Implying so make you a racist.

The poverty that my dad grew up in would rival just about any on this board. No one handed him anything. He worked his way through high school, college, the army, and law school. He's as self-made as any man I know.

He has no hesitancy in admitting that his row would've been exponentially harder to hoe had he been black.

That doesn't take anything away from his accomplishments, it's just an acknowledgment of reality.

[Guisslapp]

So you automatically doom the guy because of his skin color. Sounds racist.

The system does, statistically, not me.

[techman05]

The system does, statistically, not me.

I will acknowledge that minorities have a more difficult road, but to put it all on white privilege is not logical. I work with an overwhelming majority of minority coworkers and clients. Just today, I had a client ask me why minority men felt it was appropriate to wear their pants around their ankles and speak in a way that no one can understand a word they are saying. Her comment was, “No wonder we can’t get ahead in life, look at what we have to offer this world.”

[PawDawg]

He has no hesitancy in admitting that his row would've been exponentially harder to hoe had he been black.

That doesn't take anything away from his accomplishments, it's just an acknowledgment of reality.

That's his opinion which does not make it reality. In what part of the journey did his skin color make the difference?

The system does, statistically, not me.

Statistics are manipulated and in this case ignore multiple factors. LBJ and 1965 seems to be a non-factor to those with white guilt.

[Guisslapp]

Statistics are manipulated and in this case ignore multiple factors. LBJ and 1965 seems to be a non-factor to those with white guilt.

Why was black fatherless homes twice that of whites before 1965 and LBJ?

I am not ignoring any factors - I acknowledge that being born rich, white, heterosexual, Christian are also advantages bestowing privilege. But why won’t you acknowledge that being born white also makes life a bit easier in America?

I don’t feel any guilt. Why should I? Is that why you won’t acknowlege white privilege - because you avoid guilt?

[Guisslapp]

I will acknowledge that minorities have a more difficult road, but to put it all on white privilege is not logical. I work with an overwhelming majority of minority coworkers and clients. Just today, I had a client ask me why minority men felt it was appropriate to wear their pants around their ankles and speak in a way that no one can understand a word they are saying. Her comment was, “No wonder we can’t get ahead in life, look at what we have to offer this world.”

Why do you think your coworker had “his pants around his ankles”? And in a society that wasn’t white dominant, would that matter?

[PawDawg]

Why was black fatherless homes twice that of whites before 1965 and LBJ?

I am not ignoring any factors - I acknowledge that being born rich, white, heterosexual, Christian are also advantages bestowing privilege. But why won’t you acknowledge that being born white also makes life a bit easier in America?

I don’t feel any guilt. Why should I? Is that why you won’t acknowlege white privilege - because you avoid guilt?

You've gone from being doomed because of skin color to being white making it a bit easier. The people you favor have made things worse, not skin color.

You think Jews and Mormons have struggled because of their faith? That's ridiculous.

Nobody is born "Christian".

[Guisslapp]

You've gone from being doomed because of skin color to being white making it a bit easier. The people you favor have made things worse, not skin color.

You think Jews and Mormons have struggled because of their faith? That's ridiculous.

Nobody is born "Christian".

If an oddsmaker who were to set the odds of you becoming a Christian versus Muslim, atheist or other at the time of your birth, what do you think would be favored and by how much?

Similarly, if they were to set the odds on how much money you would make, your life expectancy, or likelihood of being imprisoned at some point, do you think race would be a useful indicator on setting the line?

[DawgyNWindow]

Yeah. Had that white guy living in a trailer been black, it may not have worked out as well.

You must be young and spoiled. I am thinking maybe YOU have white privilege and nobody else here does.

The rest of us had parents and grandparents that worked their way out of poverty and gave us whatever advantages we have.

Your arguments have convinced me of that.

[Guisslapp]

You must be young and spoiled. I am thinking maybe YOU have white privilege and nobody else here does.

The rest of us had parents and grandparents that worked their way out of poverty and gave us whatever advantages we have.

Were your parents or grandparents black?

[DawgyNWindow]

Were your parents or grandparents black?

nope. They did not have it that good. One of my parents was born in a rented room (rented daily) in Wichita falls Texas to pare ts that lived nomadically while looking for work. The other was born in a company-owned two room house in the back hills of Kentucky and had no electricity, plumbing, education or healthcare given to them. My mother left home at 14 to work in a boarding school in an attempt to get an education, then spent two wars in the Navy.

You have no concept of what it took to give me my advantages, and it sure wasn't being white. All the roads they took are easier today than before...for all races.

[Guisslapp]

nope. They did not have it that good. One of my parents was born in a rented room (rented daily) in Wichita falls Texas to pare ts that lived nomadically while looking for work. The other was born in a company-owned two room house in the back hills of Kentucky and had no electricity, plumbing, education or healthcare given to them. My mother left home at 14 to work in a boarding school in an attempt to get an education, then spent two wars in the Navy.

You have no concept of what it took to give me my advantages, and it sure wasn't being white. All the roads they took are easier today than before...for all races.

Hey, that is great. I know lots of white people with similar stories, especially when we reach back to grandparent generations.

Still, black families in 1920s or so didn’t have the same upward mobility as white families. Buying a home in a safe neighborhood, taking out a loan, getting your kids into an average school, not being discriminated against are all things that would have been much harder as a black American at the time of your parents and grandparents.