Nebulasaurus
2 min readDec 9, 2021

--

I think there's a "rule of thumb" you've exposed here. Namely: people don't like to be told they are privileged. White American's don't like to be told they are privileged, and American minorities don't like to be told they are privileged.

And it's not surprising. Because telling someone they have privilege largely amounts to chipping at their sense of pride. And people will do almost anything to feel proud. People are practically addicted to feeling proud.

Ultimately, it is good for people to be aware of their privileges. I think the real problem is that we don't do it thoroughly enough. Because if we really go down the rabbit hole (which we should), we'll realize everybody's success / wellbeing in life is dictated EXACTLY by their privilege.

We don't control where we come from, how smart we are, who our parents are, what we look like, what opportunities we are given, or what traumas happen to us. We don't even really control how much grit or drive we have.

Because, after all, the fuel for both grit and drive is hope. And because whether we respond to problems with hope or despair depends on what our life has taught us is the more appropriate response. And at an even deeper level, grit and drive are still just results of our brain and DNA, which we don't control.

So in the end, everything we have, everything we are, and everything we've achieved, are all the result of things we don't control. They are all the result of our relative privilege.

So what's the solution? I think the solution is to stop chasing pride. We don't really deserve to feel proud anyway, because we don't control our lives. And we really don't need it. All we need is to do our best, try to get along, and be as happy as we can with what we have.

Should white people take an honest look at their privilege? I think so.

Should white people try to redirect attention away from their privilege by calling American minorities privileged relative to people in other countries? Probably not.

Should American minorities take an honest look at whatever relative privileges they might have over others? I think so.

Should American minorities redirect attention away from their privilege by calling America a pile of shit in a Gucci bag? It seems to me that probably not.

--

--

Nebulasaurus
Nebulasaurus

Written by Nebulasaurus

I think most people argue for what they want to believe, rather than for what best describes reality. And I think that is very detrimental to us getting along.

No responses yet