One of the Left’s favorite ways of attacking Whites in general and men in particular is to accuse them of benefiting from white privilege. Their only goal in doing so is the attainment of more power for themselves.
During the past few years, the concept of “white privilege” has taken hold of the Democratic Party and those on the Left. The idea is that all White people have enjoyed and still enjoy privileges and advantages by virtue of their being white, and this state of affairs leaves “people of color” at a structural disadvantage in almost all human endeavors—bringing up a family, getting into college, succeeding in work or business, buying a home and more. The concept of white privilege is used as a cudgel against the Left’s opponents, not to help Black people or others but rather to concentrate power in the hands of politicians, college administrators, woke corporate professionals, entertainers and the like. White privilege is a falsehood in more ways than one.
At the most basic level, the United States has such a mixed and diverse population that there is unfortunately no shortage of poor Whites, whether in Appalachia or in towns where the jobs moved out and fentanyl moved in. Additionally, there are many “people of color” who are wealthy or super-wealthy. Who has privilege—a millionaire Black businessman who grew up in a middle class family or a poor White man whose family has been barely getting by in coal country for generations? Beyond the fact that there are many Americans who do not fit into the patently false narrative of specifically white privilege, the concept itself is based on a falsehood antithetical to the “American Way.”
In the past, when America was a more religious country, one realized that his or her task in this world was to take whatever was given and make the most out of it in a lifetime. If one was born into wealth, then more was expected by society as well as by the person himself. This concept was expressed as noblesse oblige and for generations well-to-do Americans saw it as their obligation to use their positions and means to serve the country in the armed forces, charities, and/or government. Have you ever noticed that older hospitals tend to have religious names like St. Mary, Mount Sinai, or Lutheran General where I was born. Industrialist Andrew Carnegie used part of his wealth to build over two thousand libraries worldwide and Vannevar Bush left MIT to run the Army’s scientific war effort when his country needed his expertise. The president of Harvard joined him. It was expected that those who had advantages in this world would give back to those who did not and to their country that helped them to make it. Privilege brought with it responsibility and while not all wealthy people helped those in need, there are many examples even today of those who dedicate part of their wealth or time to advance others.
The last time I was at the Hadassah Hospital here in Jerusalem, I saw the new Bloomberg wing for mother and child. One may not like the man’s politics or his media empire, but clearly Michael Bloomberg feels that part of his wealth should be used to help others. Even as mayor of New York, he spent $12 million of his own money on city projects. Michael Bloomberg was born to a bookkeeper father and an at-home mother. Bloomberg believed that financial companies would want business-related information in real time and would be willing to pay for it. He took a large risk and could have failed with his news company if the market was not as he thought or if someone had done it better.
There was no guarantee that he would succeed, and had he failed, nobody would have come to help pick up the pieces. He took a risk and succeeded. For every successful inventor or entrepreneur, there are dozens whose bets did not pay off. Each of us is expected to use all that is available to us with our own effort and risk-taking to get as far along in life as possible. Guaranteeing outcomes means that people like Bloomberg would have no reason to take the risks.
There are two ways to get more even outcomes—help those in need to get ahead or to punish those who are successful by pulling them down. The Left’s goal of leveling the playing field by pulling down those who took that which they were given and made something out of it will not help the poor. Denying Whites admission or advancement will not make non-Whites more successful. Harvard admitted in court that without their denying many Asian students acceptance to the undergraduate college, the Black population on campus would be much smaller. Harvard’s goal should have been to help Black students become more competitive prior to applying. Harming Asian applicants who threw themselves into their studies and activities to be worthy of admission is a sign of a failed admission system. The lawsuit brought by Asian student organizations against Harvard was recently heard by the Supreme Court.
The goal of throwing white privilege at people who of no fault of their own were born Caucasian and of means or backgrounds not of their choosing will not help Blacks, Hispanics and others to succeed. The goal is simply to pull down those who strive so that we can all be mediocre together. Rather than demanding that rigorous standards be met for college acceptance, joining the SEALs or being accepted for pilot training, standards are lowered—even the SAT is being abandoned. Those who succeed are not lauded for their efforts and determination but rather are accused of being recipients of gifts and background conditions that were unfair as if their personal efforts in maximizing the usefulness of their starting conditions were meaningless. Claims of white privilege are based on the destructive idea that we should all have equality of outcomes (“equity”) rather than allowing each and every American to succeed according to his/her abilities and personal efforts. By demanding equality of outcomes and accusing Whites of having some privilege that gives them an unfair leg up in all of life’s activities, those on the Left are demanding mediocrity; they are effectively telling students not to push themselves, not to try their best, because whatever they do, the results are not theirs and that their successes have been at the expense of others.
Accusing Whites of having unfair advantage will not help “people of color” succeed. That which is needed is a focus on the family in Black communities. Black births out of wedlock in the US are greater than 50 percent. The most important factor in success is not money but rather family. Children study, learn to take risks, and push themselves because they know that their families have their backs. Stable and successful Black families will do more to advance Black men and women to success than all the efforts to punish Whites for being white. Tiger Woods’ son is already playing golf with his dad. There is no question that he has an enormous advantage over future golfers of his age. Should he be punished? Should he be accused of privilege and denied a professional golf career? Of course not. He should be encouraged to push himself to become an amazing athlete and golfer like his dad if he sees golf as his future.
One reads now and then of Whites being punished for no other crime than the color of their skin. Whether it is a sign-language translator fired from his job on Broadway or teacher candidates denied jobs because of their skin color, Whites are being told that because of a supposed privilege they inherited, they do not deserve to work or to benefit from their skills and efforts. United Airlines has made much noise about wanting to have a more diverse flight crew. My only concern as a passenger in the back is having the best pilots at the front of the plane; I could not care less if it is a man or a woman, or what color he or she is. Not for United. Will they sacrifice pilot quality to reach their minority pilot quota? Will anyone take responsibility if something goes wrong in the air? Of course not. In business and government, nobody takes responsibility for failure.
A person is charged in this world with using whatever skills, gifts, and opportunities he or she has with a personal drive to get as far along in life as possible. There is no question that for some the road to success is longer and harder than for others, but pulling down one group will not help others to succeed. I once heard an interview with the daughter of a very famous musician. She said that her last name automatically got her auditions, but if she could not perform on the piano at the highest professional level, her father’s name and reputation would not help her land a job. America needs to focus on encouraging and supporting those who wish to succeed, regardless of skin color or starting point. Success must be seen as what you did with yourself and not where you started.
Spurwing Plover says
The type who should wear Stupid and I’m with Stupid T-Shirts
Lethal says
There are lazy Blacks and lazy Whites. Those who are prepared to work hard will make a decent life for themselves and their families no matter the color of their skin or their ethnicity. Unfortunately many people expect the government to provide everything for them using the taxes of the hardworking. Here in Australia, the Aboriginals who were a very primitive society, have benefited from the arrival of whites. Some though, thanks to Leftist propaganda, believe they have been hard done by and sit back and complain and demand reparations. No gratitude for education, health, houses, cars, decent food, work opportunities etc., Sure there has been conflict that saw many of the blacks lose their lives, but their lives weren’t worth much in their primitive state: their women were treated abominably and there was plenty of inter-tribal warfare too.
john r butala says
Basically, blacks want to punish whites for dragging them into modern civilization. Blacks harbor under the delusion that because they’re not quite at the level of whites, then things must be racist.
The facts are some non-whites (east Asians) do better than whites in America as far as income and education. How could that happen in a white supremacist society?
Answer: it couldn’t.
Blacks are where they are because of what they did to themselves and not what someone else did to them.
Many of them are unable to understand how fortunate they are to live in a country like the U..S. rather than some third world pesthole.
Chief says
And many blacks don’t harbor delusions against white folk and aren’t racist, just as many white folk aren’t racist against black folk. The gubmint and media portray the scenario that they both hate each other, which is not true. Live not by lies! Read Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Most black people understand that life in the US is much better than it would be in some other place. Peace be with you, John r
Lightbringer says
Blacks were doing very well for themselves between 1865 and about 1965 or 70, even with the constant erosion of their rights by post-Reconstruction government. After that, the Democrats — the party of “S”, for Slavery, Succession, Segregation, and now Socialism — decided that they wanted their slaves back on the plantation. And the “great social reforms” of the Johnson administration assured that this would happen. When that son of a bitch signed one of those acts into law, he crowed, “We’ll have those n—–s voting Democrat for the next two hundred years!”
And this, in sum, is what happened and who is to blame. Black people themselves must throw off the shackles of the Democratic Party and take control of their own lives now. It’s the only way that they can ever be liberated, but they are quite willing to vote for any politician who will give them even more “reparations” than they have already had, even though those politicians fully intend to keep them in chains.
Kasandra says
I was privileged that my parents stayed together, gave me values, and made sure I got educated and loved education. I remember them walking me to the library when I was five and getting me a library card and having books in the house that I was encouraged to read. We were not wealthy and we didn’t “oppress” a soul. If that’s “white privilege” we need more of it.
Lightbringer says
I don’t know when you grew up, but when I was growing up in the 1950’s, upwardly mobile black families mirrored white families in terms similar to yours. They all raised their children with strict discipline and a love of G0d, and with a love of reading and education. Among the black families, that all fell apart when teachers and the media started telling the children that they were oppressed and it was The Man’s fault. The children ran wild. The parents’ hearts were broken.
rocco barbella says
” Black births out of wedlock in the US are greater than 50 percent.”
Are you kidding? Try upwards of 74%.
Let’s be real here, blacks as a group, can’t keep up. They don’t graduate high school, they have a 74% out of wedlock birthrate, commit crime disproportionate to their numbers, etc. The pathology’s that infect the black community are endless.
Generally speaking, black families don’t put any emphasis on education. So, instead of having to compete and strive for excellence, everything has to be dummy’d down for blacks to attain anything. If it’s not dummy’d down then positions are just outright given to them simply because they are black.
Affirmative action was an initiative that started in the late 1960’s to give blacks a chance to catch up from past discrimination. In the year 2023, we can safely say it’s been abused, and used as a weapon to discriminate against whites.
This garbage would never happen without the help and commencement from guilt ridden, virtue signaling liberal whites.
Chief says
And the majority of Planned Parenthood facilities are located in primarily black neighborhoods. Why is that?
rocco barbella says
Probably because most blacks have no problem with aborting their babies so they welcome PP.
What other business is going to invest in the black community. They all leave and run. They don’t want their stores looted, or burned to the ground.
Tom Kelly says
I was adopted into a hard working structured family. There is no more a privilege to working hard then those who set dreams to succeed. No matter what skin color were born as, character and goals don’t discriminate anyone.
Stan says
Actually the single parent birthrate for black is now 75% which is an astounding number. The rate for whites is about 30%. Every single Psychological and Sociological ever done says that children from single parent homes are more likely to drop out of school, do drugs, join gangs, commit crimes and end up being incarcerated. That, not the invented terms of “white privilege” or “systemic racism” is the real reason and root cause for the disproportionate number of under educated and incarcerated African Americans. And that has been ever increasing since Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” and welfare policies in the sixties began monetizing single parent homes. That’s what every politician in America should be talking about if they really want to improve the situation in black communities. But, of course, they don’t because it’s easier to play the “race card” and keep blacks and “browns” as perpetual victims so that the will vote for Democrats forever.
Rebecca says
White privilege is just a label that says it’s recepient must accept any abuse deemed appropriate.
Jessie Davidson says
“White” and “black”, when referring to races, should not be capitalized. These are descriptions, not proper nouns. Capitalizing them reinforces the leftist notion that these are somehow sacred designations