Comments on: Privilege means never having to explain why it doesn’t work for Others

By: Apology for allowing privileged comment | What Privilege?

Apology for allowing privileged comment | What Privilege? — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 20:15:44 +0000

[...] nor the same opportunities. Oh, I’m not saying poor people never make silly choices. But rich people make ridiculous choices all the time, and that doesn’t even prevent them becoming president. If everything were a matter of merit [...]

By: Niceness privilege | What Privilege?

Niceness privilege | What Privilege? — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 05:14:18 +0000

[...] “Nice” in this context means “privileged” – nothing more, nothing less. It’s the mechanism that allows raging maniacs to declare that they’re super-nice guys and women are stupid, filthy hos for not begging to suck them off and get all sorts of sympathy. Being “nice” alleviates your responsibility to fix a system which benefits you at the expense of others. [...]

By: Blind Privilege » Blog Archive » Gee, thanks, but I’m actually not exceptional at all

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 06:01:30 +0000

[...] anyone can do to help them. Or, less offensively but still boiling down to the same ideas, they say anyone can get rich in this country, and if they don’t, it’s because they’re not t…. And you find yourself thinking of people you know or knew. People who worked two low-paying jobs [...]

By: Kailey

Kailey — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 06:58:34 +0000

Hello.

I just got into a fight with my brother over this very same issue.

He doesn’t seem to get that hyperbole and ad hominem arguments don’t counter the realities of the daily situations that plague many people in our own communities.

I hear the same old garbage, from him, from the religious right and from people who just don’t get it.

I was extremely disheartened until I randomly stumbled on this page. It made my day.

Thank you for showing me there are people in this world who do get it, and that care enough to fight for it.

By: William

William — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:51:18 +0000

Thank you for this. It’s what I’ve been wanting/trying to convey to so many folks who don’t seem to get why welfare, social security, et. al. exist.

By: links for 2009-07-19 « Embololalia

links for 2009-07-19 « Embololalia — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 18:05:41 +0000

[...] Privilege means never having to explain why it doesn’t work for Others The fact is, some poor people do make bad choices. But some of the most powerful, rich and successful people in my country have made the very same choices – drug abuse, running over pedestrians while driving drunk, gambling, wasting money like crazy, unplanned pregnancies. If these choices don’t have a consistent result in the life of everyone who makes them, they can’t be the cause of the effect that is poverty. (tags: class privilege society glibertarians) [...]

By: YK:n rasismin vastainen päivä 21.3. « Maailma feministin silmin

YK:n rasismin vastainen päivä 21.3. « Maailma feministin silmin — Thu, 07 May 2009 17:30:31 +0000

[...] Privilege means never having to explain why it doesn’t work for Others by Jennifer Kesler White Trash Blues: Class Privilege v. White Privilege by Jennifer Kesler [...]

By: Race or gender? How about neither? | Feminism @ the Hathor Legacy

Race or gender? How about neither? | Feminism @ the Hathor Legacy — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 01:28:01 +0000

[...] even though it doesn’t do much for them. No matter what race a man is, when he assumes the system that works for the gander must also work fine for the goose, that’s male privilege at work. The minister is assuming Clinton’s white privilege [...]

By: Jacqueline Homan

Jacqueline Homan — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 01:16:41 +0000

Dragyn, yes there are a FEW disabled people who eventually manage to get jobs. There are also a few people who went from rags to riches by winning the Powerball jackpot. And this, to be precise, is my whole point: the odds are overwhelmingly against you when you have more than just one thing going against you.

You mention ONE disabled person whom you know that was lucky to get a job. But there’s something missing from the equation. Did he luck out because of someone he knew, or perhaps because of having a casseworker that actually cared and helped with job placement? Does he live in a middle to upper-middle class neighborhood?
What you fail to realize is that our social networks (who we know), which are defined by our social class, make a huge difference in getting an opportunity. And money determines social class.

In the meantime, how are the other disabled jobseekers without any income supposed to live? What about disabled job seekers who are also middle-aged with a significant work history gap AND poor credit ( a result of being poor in the first place), AND who live in inner-city ghettos?

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, it’s fair to say exactly how the privileged classes expect the “have-nots” to live – able bodied or not.

While your occasional token disabled person lucks out in landing a job, many other people whether they are able-bodied or not, do not because no one wants to hire them and give them a chance. Especially not in a Serengeti job market where job seekers far outnumber jobs and employers can have their pick – for a song.

By: Jennifer Kesler

Jennifer Kesler — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 21:21:40 +0000

Actually, Dragyn, I was thinking of “sabotage”. Whether or not you call that determinism, I don’t know.

Health problems, class problems, race problems… sure, if you only have one of them, it’s far from insurmountable. Even if you have several of them it CAN be done… but it won’t always. Because someone MUST be on the bottom. Period. There is no alternative in the societal structure we’ve set up.

Now, abuse is a factor you’re completely leaving out. It doesn’t sound like you had a twisted parent who actively tried to keep you from succeeding. If you had, your story would be different. It doesn’t sound like you had teachers who intentionally gave you lesser grades than you’d earned because they didn’t like your skin color or whatever.

When the gatekeepers are against you, it doesn’t matter that you’ve got the key. It doesn’t matter that you did all the work to get the key and now you’ve brought it to them. That’s the societal structure we’ve set up.