Letters to the Editor
-
Who's in charge of deciding how privilege is supposed to feel?
Paul in KY:
"Any white male who claims he is being discriminated against & society has it in for him, etc. etc. is by definition a whining pussy crybaby."
I agree with Emily.
I don't know how it can be possible to claim that it's racist to refer to African-American's as "you people" or to make blanket statements about them as a group, while at the same time announcing what the definitive young white male experience is with such authority.
Everyone, everywhere, lives complex and confusing lives, permeated by all sorts of conflicting messages from piece-meal cultural influences. No one likes being generalized about or condescended to. (And yes, I know I'm generalizing here =))
IF you want to say "Your lot is so much better than that of (insert contrasting group here), whatever hurts your feelings doesn't matter, pussy - man up", then all I can say is, by that logic, given how much better off on average everyone in America is compared to developing countries, no one within American borders has any right at all to complain about anything ever, the bunch of pussies... right?
Most recent studies I've seen about isolation and dissatisfaction seem to indicate that the happiness people feel is strongly correlated to 1) their perception of their wealth, success, opportunities, and social standing relative to people they consider their peers or competition and 2) the strength of their support networks, families, sports teams, and other (hopefully) stabilizing groups in their lives. That's one model of the human psychology of happiness (or, conversely, isolation). If you think that model has any merit, clearly there is space for "privileged" people to be painfully miserable.
-
Right on, John M!
I have quoted a previous post in its entirety by John M because I think it best describes the MSM approach to this situation and is worth keeping in mind--
Making too much of this issue
I think these stereotypes reveal the desperation of the media to print anything they can come up with to keep the story going, to sensationalize the topic, and to sell more papers, magazines, garner more website hits, etc. There is always too little information to feed the maw. Whatever the circumstances of the event, there will be some pathetic pseudojournalist who will resort to whatever stereotype is at hand. In this case, it was Korean male jealousy (never heard of that one), the picked-on loner, Islam (!), whatever else I don't know. I wish they'd have also picked on Christianity (supposedly referred to a lot by the murderer), but that just reveals the difference between the sensationalism I want to hear, and what the pseudojournalist is serving up. This tactic is a great move for the psuedojournalist, because then the sheep come baaing after, for some reason taking it seriously. This results in extending the storyline, pro- and counter-argument articles, and blah blah blah - the papers and magazines get sold, the advertisements on the web sites get viewed, etc, etc, etc. Now that I'm done with my contribution, I'm checking out. Enjoy.
-
Race is Irrelevant in this
Cho didn't smother 32 students with kim chee. He shot them. His Korean-ness has exactly nothing to do with it. He was quiet. Should we profile quiet people? Are Trappists a threat? It's about easy access to guns, designed to hold clips with dozens of bullets (now exactly how is that relevant for hunting or self-defense?). Cho was a lunatic with two handguns. That he was Korean is no more to the point that how tall he was or how he dressed. Guns. It's about guns.
-
Some folks want it both ways
We see in America - particularly on college campuses, a near obsession with race and ethnicity and culture (in fact, we're told that without critical masses and balances of ethnicities, the dominant culture is cheated of ethnic and cultural perspective) - with an implication that assimilation is not only wrong as an expectation on the dominant culture - but a sellout by the minority culture: we see ethnic clubs and graduations and dining halls and dorms and a devotion to all things cultural, as well as advocacy groups, "safe spaces", undergrad and graduate degrees in ethnic studies - as well as a seeming rejection of mainstream culture - or at least a strong desire to maintain roots to the "old country" as it may be and to fight assimilation - and then - when we get a sensational killer of color, the same folks who maintain that ethnic pride trumps all now look shocked as race and culture and ethnicity take center stage!
But if he was white?
Remember, expressions of white ethnic pride are often condemned as racist. Whites don't express culture in terms of skin color - they do so in terms of ethnicity - you can bet that if this guy was a Greek or an Italian or a Russian or any particular variety of white - born in the old country nonetheless, there'd be gnashing of teeth amongst those of the community.
-
Ethnicity has nothing to do with murderous rage
Lack of poontang does. I can't help but notice that all "brilliant," "quiet," and/or "smart" killers tend to come from sexually repressed cultures or are sexually repressed themselves.
-
Emily
My point is that young white males who are not EXPERIENCING their privelege are shamed for complaining that they feel marginalized.
I think the whole point of racial privilege is that it's something that very many (if not most) whites *do* experience - that it's something so pernicious and ingrained into our culture that it isn't even noticed until it's pointed out. And it's something that's completely separate from economic issues (because people who are marginalized economically come in all kinds of skin colors).
As a white chick, does it bug me when I see thoughtless comments assuming that whites are all closet racists? You bet it does. But I've taken to thinking of it as a tax I pay for the privilege of not being treated with automatic suspicion at a routine traffic stop (as I might as a black person), or for the privilege of not having to worry about nasty comments every I step out of my house because I wear a hijab (as a Muslim woman might).
Racial bigotry sucks, no matter who's on the receiving end. But the truth of the matter is that, yeah, white people *do* have a lot of privileges in our society right now, and white males in particular. Saying that is *not* the same thing as saying that white males automatically have easier lives, because they don't. But there's something to be said for being able to pass unremarked on in the general sea of American society because you fit the physical characteristics of the people in charge of government, business, etc.
I'm sorry that there are men (and women) of any race who feel marginalized in our society. But when you can turn on the TV and see that the majority of the faces are members of your own race...well, that's part of the unspoken privilege. As whites, we have to recognize that and try to see it from the other side.