Why You Should Never Apologize For Your White Male Privilege

I am so tired of race discussions.

Third, the only way to fix race relations is to realize there is no such thing as race and stop bringing it up.....

I'm pretty tired of it too but it seems that for the most part, the people bringing it up are the ones who want to regulate race relations. Yes I realize I'm contradicting myself by even talking about it, but I think it's import to address it because it ultimately affects Wall Street in a serious way.

-Wall Street has been seriously villainized since 08 (mostly by liberals, but also by cons). -There's a significant correlation between race and income.

This equates to Wall Street being painted as a bunch of old white guys trying to screw over blacks and hispanics, which really isn't the case. As a result, everyone wants to overtax and over regulate, without a true understanding of how a mixed capitalist economy works, or what anyone on Wall Street actually does, which is bullshit.

Don't get me wrong, there are situations that warrant regulation, and anyone who intentionally discriminates based on race doesn't deserve the wealth they have. But I don't think people who literally have no fucking clue how to run a business, or what actually makes a person successful should be talking about what is fair and what isn't. It's great that everyone pretends to have a degree in sociology these days, but at the end of the day, our country is essentially one giant collection of businesses. Again, I'm sure there are plenty of exceptions, but the whole subject of race is becoming an emotional cheap shot for people who feel that they've been wronged because they can't find success.

I'm glad the decision against affirmative action in Michigan still stands. Anyone who has brains and isn't a social retard should be rewarded. And again, as a non-white, I realize more than anything that if I have the attitude that someone slighted me, I'm not going to find success either way because ultimately, no one wants to hear my sob story.

Freshman in college....peoples perceptions tend to change when they are out in the real world.

^ exactly. I don't blame the naive freshman, I blame Time magazine for proclaiming it as newsworthy.

I literally have never encountered someone who has seriously talked about white privilege. I think you are worrying about nothing. Just be successful and enjoy your life. But also realize that some people have an automatic leg up and others have a harder time. People shouldn't use that as a crutch or look down at others, but realize that someone not doing well as you doesn't mean they don't work as hard as you.

In short, humility.

I knew there would be a post on this on WSO!

I think a lot of this commotion has to do with the term "Check your privilege". It's reactionary and condescending, and of course someone is going to take offense to some snarky comeback. To be honest though, I've never heard anyone say it in real life, which makes me think that this kid is either a huge tool or that no one has ever said to him and he just wanted to make a point (in which case he's still a huge tool). I really like the top two comments in the original article, because they do a better job of explaining the issue than I can and don't attack the original author. "White privilege" isn't about you feeling guilty for your accomplishments because you're white, but simply recognizing the advantages that being white confers in a society with a deep legacy of institutionalized racism.

It's easy to say "work hard and success will come" but there's some black kid out there in the ghetto who was born into generational poverty, whose family was barred from buying a house in the suburbs before white flight due to discriminatory housing policy, who has to attend a shit underfunded public school where guidance counselors are more worried about dealing with kids suffering from PTSD than college admissions. That kid, if caught with weed, is much more likely to end up in jail and with a record than a white kid, is more likely to be profiled, etc. etc. etc. For all we know, they're working harder than anyone, but the odds were stacked against them before they were even born. Or even in a less dramatic example, the (alleged) racial bias in the SATs, or a very recent study where they pretended to be students reaching out to professors for mentorship roles and found a 25% gap in the response rate to white males vs literally any other demographic.

I think Beachbum pretty much hit the nail on the head. No one should feel bad for their accomplishments, but it's important to at least recognize how race plays out to this day. And I think these are discussions worth having, even if they're uncomfortable and inconvenient, because it's a reality of life and race in America that most people never have to think about. What's the solution? Fuck if I know.

I'm going to start telling people to check their privilege haha.

It's 2014, I don't see why we can't just all be judged as human beings. Period.

Policies like affirmative action and the ramblings of "social justice warriors" just ensure that bigotry is perpetuated and even institutionalized. We need to reset it all. My generation (and probably almost all of yours), the millennial generation, is the most tolerant by a large margin according to almost every poll and survey.

I seriously thought for a long time that "check your privilege" was just something that 4chan made up and didn't realize people actually said that.

If you really want to see racism, travel to a third world country.

It is all about your background and your parent's background. It is not about being black, white or brown it is just the privilege of having money. If your parents have money it directly relates to your success rate.

I saw this shmuck on Fox News a couple of weeks ago and the article is insulting. Family background has a huge impact on your earnings or success factor but race also does. Race can be the difference between getting a new account because your client only wants a good old boy "client / account manager" or having someone going to bat for you in the work place for the next opportunity to get a promotion. Why is there a decent proportion of asians and indians at investment banks at the analyst, associate and VP level but somehow you have majority frat star white guys (majority jewish guys) as MDs, directors, etc? It is difficult to make it in this country as a minority no matter how much education you have. Yes, you might be middle class but the odds of you making real $$$$$$$$ are slim.

I just find it funny/annoying that the author of the article essentially says this: "do you think my father was GIVEN admission to a top graduate school? No. He earned it."

just a littleee tone deaf.

Also this.

https://www.linkedin.com/pub/stanley-fortgang/8/90b/355

Pop's an MD at Jefferies. Fuck this kid haha

Actually, Tal you on WSO buddy?

My take:

-White privilege is fairly minor compared to "rich privilege".
-Successful, rich minorities in the media sure do a whole lot of yelling at middle-class kids who are trying to land $60K/year Big Four accounting jobs for their "white privilege".
-Tal Fortgang comes off as a douche. His story- rich kid who got into Princeton (perhaps as a development candidate) does not make an effective case against claims of "white privilege". His parents' story- growing up poor, going to City College and making it- that might. -If you go to Princeton, you're not allowed to whine about privilege, period. Whether it's white privilege, whether it's getting accused of privilege, whether it's not having enough privilege. Say you're lucky as hell and shut the hell up.

With that, "I am lucky as hell".

After the Wharton study idk how you can think it's still not a problem today. Not talking about it doesn't make it go away

Any system that judges or considers anything or any person on anything other than its (or their) own merits, attributes, and qualities is wrong, inefficient, discriminatory, and absolutely contributes to increased division. For example...affirmative action. That's really the only rule that should be followed. End of discussion.