Faramond wrote:Is the goal to take this privilege of not being treated automatically as a criminal away from white people? Of course not. The goal is for black people to have this same privilege. Except it's not really a privilege <snip>
This gets closest to the problem I'm having with the concept being discussed. We're calling what ought to be the norm for everyone, 'privilege', and that seems backwards. The deck is stacked against black people; that doesn't mean white people are privileged, it means black people are treated unfairly. The construct -- turning a negative for one group into a positive for another group -- is really bugging me. I think it's foundationally unsound (and therefore, will not lead anyone to understanding).
nerdanel wrote:Privilege is exactly the idea that you have something that others have too little of but that everyone should have. E.g., as a man you are free to walk down streets without certain fears for your physical safety that women experience.
I don't believe this is a correct notion of privilege. I don't believe 'privilege' is something everyone should have. Yes, everyone should be able to walk down the street without certain fears, therefore, this is incorrectly called a privilege. This is something more fundamental than privilege -- a basic element of human experience? That women are denied a basic element of human experience, does not turn that basic element into a privilege to those who are able to enjoy it. Women aren't routinely doused with acid in this country by disgruntled lovers. Does that make us privileged? I don't take a freedom from fear of being doused with acid to be a privilege. No one should have to live with this fear.
It would be a privilege to have tea with Prof. Tolkien. Is everyone, therefore, entitled to have tea with Prof. Tolkien? It is a privilege of the extraordinarily wealthy to go where they will and experience the rare beauties of the world, or to go to whatever place of higher education they choose. Does this therefore mean that we should all be entitled to such choices? No. Everyone should be entitled to further their education, but not everyone is entitled to go to Oxford. Going to Oxford is a privilege. Everyone should be entitled to live free from squalor, but not everyone is entitled to have 12 vacation homes in the most beautiful places in the world. That is a privilege enjoyed by a relative few. That black people are massively disadvantaged in this country does not mean that white people are privileged.
People would do well to come up with a more accurate construct, if they're interested in promoting understanding among whites, of the disadvantages of being black in America, and the inherent advantages of being white.