The BS of The Privilege Excuse

[Weegle777 78]

Read the entire letter. Well worth it.

http://chicksontheright.com/posts/item/25782-white-privilege-in-its-full-glory

White Privilege In Its Full Glory

Written by Daisy

Meet Tal Fortgang:

He's 20 years old, a Princeton student, he's white, and so he's basically been preached to about how he's privileged. You know, simply for being white and a student at an ivy league university. Because welcome to the New Amerika.

In response to being told he's privileged because of his whiteness, he wrote this piece in response. It originally appeared in the Princeton Tory. Hat tip to thecollegefix.com, where I grabbed it.

And I'm posting it in its entirety, because I simply have to. It's freaking epic.

I officially love this kid.

There is a phrase that floats around college campuses, Princeton being no exception, that threatens to strike down opinions without regard for their merits, but rather solely on the basis of the person that voiced them. “Check your privilege,” the saying goes, and I have been reprimanded by it several times this year. The phrase, handed down by my moral superiors, descends recklessly, like an Obama-sanctioned drone, and aims laser-like at my pinkish-peach complexion, my maleness, and the nerve I displayed in offering an opinion rooted in a personal Weltanschauung. “Check your privilege,” they tell me in a command that teeters between an imposition to actually explore how I got where I am, and a reminder that I ought to feel personally apologetic because white males seem to pull most of the strings in the world.

I do not accuse those who “check” me and my perspective of overt racism, although the phrase, which assumes that simply because I belong to a certain ethnic group I should be judged collectively with it, toes that line. But I do condemn them for diminishing everything I have personally accomplished, all the hard work I have done in my life, and for ascribing all the fruit I reap not to the seeds I sow but to some invisible patron saint of white maleness who places it out for me before I even arrive. Furthermore, I condemn them for casting the equal protection clause, indeed the very idea of a meritocracy, as a myth, and for declaring that we are all governed by invisible forces (some would call them “stigmas” or “societal norms”), that our nation runs on racist and sexist conspiracies. Forget “you didn’t build that;” check your privilege and realize that nothing you have accomplished is real.

But they can’t be telling me that everything I’ve done with my life can be credited to the racist patriarchy holding my hand throughout my years of education and eventually guiding me into Princeton. Even that is too extreme. So to find out what they are saying, I decided to take their advice. I actually went and checked the origins of my privileged existence, to empathize with those whose underdog stories I can’t possibly comprehend. I have unearthed some examples of the privilege with which my family was blessed, and now I think I better understand those who assure me that skin color allowed my family and I to flourish today.

Perhaps it’s the privilege my grandfather and his brother had to flee their home as teenagers when the Nazis invaded Poland, leaving their mother and five younger siblings behind, running and running until they reached a Displaced Persons camp in Siberia, where they would do years of hard labor in the bitter cold until World War II ended. Maybe it was the privilege my grandfather had of taking on the local Rabbi’s work in that DP camp, telling him that the spiritual leader shouldn’t do hard work, but should save his energy to pass Jewish tradition along to those who might survive. Perhaps it was the privilege my great-grandmother and those five great-aunts and uncles I never knew had of being shot into an open grave outside their hometown. Maybe that’s my privilege.

Or maybe it’s the privilege my grandmother had of spending weeks upon weeks on a death march through Polish forests in subzero temperatures, one of just a handful to survive, only to be put in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp where she would have died but for the Allied forces who liberated her and helped her regain her health when her weight dwindled to barely 80 pounds.

Perhaps my privilege is that those two resilient individuals came to America with no money and no English, obtained citizenship, learned the language and met each other; that my grandfather started a humble wicker basket business with nothing but long hours, an idea, and an iron will—to paraphrase the man I never met: “I escaped Hitler. Some business troubles are going to ruin me?” Maybe my privilege is that they worked hard enough to raise four children, and to send them to Jewish day school and eventually City College.

Perhaps it was my privilege that my own father worked hard enough in City College to earn a spot at a top graduate school, got a good job, and for 25 years got up well before the crack of dawn, sacrificing precious time he wanted to spend with those he valued most—his wife and kids—to earn that living. I can say with certainty there was no legacy involved in any of his accomplishments. The wicker business just isn’t that influential. Now would you say that we’ve been really privileged? That our success has been gift-wrapped?

That’s the problem with calling someone out for the “privilege” which you assume has defined their narrative. You don’t know what their struggles have been, what they may have gone through to be where they are. Assuming they’ve benefitted from “power systems” or other conspiratorial imaginary institutions denies them credit for all they’ve done, things of which you may not even conceive. You don’t know whose father died defending your freedom. You don’t know whose mother escaped oppression. You don’t know who conquered their demons, or may still conquering them now.

The truth is, though, that I have been exceptionally privileged in my life, albeit not in the way any detractors would have it.

It has been my distinct privilege that my grandparents came to America. First, that there was a place at all that would take them from the ruins of Europe. And second, that such a place was one where they could legally enter, learn the language, and acclimate to a society that ultimately allowed them to flourish.

It was their privilege to come to a country that grants equal protection under the law to its citizens, that cares not about religion or race, but the content of your character.

It was my privilege that my grandfather was blessed with resolve and an entrepreneurial spirit, and that he was lucky enough to come to the place where he could realize the dream of giving his children a better life than he had.

But far more important for me than his attributes was the legacy he sought to pass along, which forms the basis of what detractors call my “privilege,” but which actually should be praised as one of altruism and self-sacrifice. Those who came before us suffered for the sake of giving us a better life. When we similarly sacrifice for our descendents by caring for the planet, it’s called “environmentalism,” and is applauded. But when we do it by passing along property and a set of values, it’s called “privilege.” (And when we do it by raising questions about our crippling national debt, we’re called Tea Party radicals.) Such sacrifice of any form shouldn’t be scorned, but admired.

My exploration did yield some results. I recognize that it was my parents’ privilege and now my own that there is such a thing as an American dream which is attainable even for a penniless Jewish immigrant.

I am privileged that values like faith and education were passed along to me. My grandparents played an active role in my parents’ education, and some of my earliest memories included learning the Hebrew alphabet with my Dad. It’s been made clear to me that education begins in the home, and the importance of parents’ involvement with their kids’ education—from mathematics to morality—cannot be overstated. It’s not a matter of white or black, male or female or any other division which we seek, but a matter of the values we pass along, the legacy we leave, that perpetuates “privilege.” And there’s nothing wrong with that.

Behind every success, large or small, there is a story, and it isn’t always told by sex or skin color. My appearance certainly doesn’t tell the whole story, and to assume that it does and that I should apologize for it is insulting. While I haven’t done everything for myself up to this point in my life, someone sacrificed themselves so that I can lead a better life. But that is a legacy I am proud of.

I have checked my privilege. And I apologize for nothing.

[TheBlueVue 177]

Thanks for sharing. That's a terrific piece.

[AUcivE09 582]

"I am privileged that values like faith and education were passed along to me. My grandparents played an active role in my parents’ education, and some of my earliest memories included learning the Hebrew alphabet with my Dad. It’s been made clear to me that education begins in the home, and the importance of parents’ involvement with their kids’ education—from mathematics to morality—cannot be overstated. It’s not a matter of white or black, male or female or any other division which we seek, but a matter of the values we pass along, the legacy we leave, that perpetuates “privilege.” And there’s nothing wrong with that."

My favorite part and also the part most people who have a problem with others success could truly learn. Unfortunately, many do not want to be the grandfather would started the wicker basket business but desire to start where this young man has begun. Even if given that opportunity would they appreciate it enough to work hard enough to maintain that level? Would they know how to manage their money wisely? Most of all, would they be willing to sacrifice themselves for the better of future generations? Too many areas in this nation had rather sit back - take a handout - and curse the "privileged" for their success demanding they "deserve" the same.

Hard work is losing its true meaning because of people looking for a "B" line from nothing to true success. I did not make it to Princeton, but AU wasn't too bad to me. I am fortunate not to have to be the wicker basket maker and it is not because of some "Great White Power" who bestowed me with good grades and automatic acceptance to college followed by a good job. I hope to leave my son in a better place than where I started. Rarely saw my mom growing up thanks to an alcoholic sperm donor. I intend on be better than him by being the person the author describes as his parents. That is hardly out of reach for anyone to gift their kids. Not to mention more than any politician will ever give someone.

[icanthearyou 4,468]

I wonder what compelled him to write this?

"I have checked my privilege. And I apologize for nothing."

Has someone asked him to apologize?

Should those of us who are privileged be scornful and pious or, grateful, humble, and benevolent?

[AUcivE09 582]

I wonder what compelled him to write this?

"I have checked my privilege. And I apologize for nothing."

Has someone asked him to apologize?

Should those of us who are privileged be scornful and pious or, grateful, humble, and benevolent?

From the 1st paragraph:

There is a phrase that floats around college campuses, Princeton being no exception, that threatens to strike down opinions without regard for their merits, but rather solely on the basis of the person that voiced them. “Check your privilege,” the saying goes, and I have been reprimanded by it several times this year. The phrase, handed down by my moral superiors, descends recklessly, like an Obama-sanctioned drone, and aims laser-like at my pinkish-peach complexion, my maleness, and the nerve I displayed in offering an opinion rooted in a personal Weltanschauung. “Check your privilege,” they tell me in a command that teeters between an imposition to actually explore how I got where I am, and a reminder that I ought to feel personally apologetic because white males seem to pull most of the strings in the world.

Its not scornful and pious - it is response to the racist divide this administration is building in our (everyone's) country. How everything is unfair to one group because another group has an unfair advantage. It is him reminding everyone that almost everyone has a tough story in their history. Many have manged to work and get past that without government stepping in the way. More importantly - success and privilege was not just handed to him because he happens to be a white male. It started with those who raised him. This was humble IMO. He did not lash out and bait a race/class war.

[icanthearyou 4,468]

But, that is where privilege starts, by who and how your are raised. I don't understand what he is looking for. Does he want sympathy? Is he trying to excuse himself from a higher responsibility? Does he feel persecuted? Is he trying to say that the poor and uneducated have no excuse for being poor and uneducated?

Those who are blessed by either privilege or God-given talent are very fortunate. Why would someone feel the need to pat themselves on the back and belittle those who have not achieved success?

Sounds too much like a BS partisan political stance. To me, it doesn't seem motivated by bringing out the best of the human spirit but rather, the worst in sense of self.

I never thought I would see the day that the cries of the privileged would drown out the voices of those in need.

I don't understand why anyone would applaud this young man for this statement. Should we feel no empathy for the less fortunate?

[Weegle777 78]

Seriously? You have missed the entire point of this letter. He is saying that he is sick of hearing these pompous hypocritical rich people whine about ALL white people being "given" everything because of their skin color. That white people never have to overcome anything.

[icanthearyou 4,468]

Sorry Weegs. You are correct. I don't get it, at all. I have no idea what he means by "his detractors".

[TheBlueVue 177]

Sorry Weegs. You are correct. I don't get it, at all. I have no idea what he means by "his detractors".

If anyone could work up an angle from which to criticize the author of that piece I knew it would be you. Apparently, context is never a consideration before you form your arguments. Did you even read the piece? I would guess that you did not and just capriciously took the position that the guy must have been seeking sympathy. You're awesome dude and I mean it...LOL

[ertrader 218]

You have to be familiar with the "Check Your Privilege" meme to understand the article.

[AUDub 12,272]

You have to be familiar with the "Check Your Privilege" meme to understand the article.

Good point. For the uninitiated.

[icanthearyou 4,468]

Thank you ertrader, Big. However, I still do not get it. What is this young man trying to say? Please explain.

[Weegle777 78]

You really don't understand what he is saying?

[eibua12 81]

Thank you ertrader, Big. However, I still do not get it. What is this young man trying to say? Please explain.

I don't understand what you are asking can you please elaborate?

[AUcivE09 582]

But, that is where privilege starts, by who and how your are raised. I don't understand what he is looking for. Does he want sympathy? Is he trying to excuse himself from a higher responsibility? Does he feel persecuted? Is he trying to say that the poor and uneducated have no excuse for being poor and uneducated?

Those who are blessed by either privilege or God-given talent are very fortunate. Why would someone feel the need to pat themselves on the back and belittle those who have not achieved success?

Sounds too much like a BS partisan political stance. To me, it doesn't seem motivated by bringing out the best of the human spirit but rather, the worst in sense of self.

I never thought I would see the day that the cries of the privileged would drown out the voices of those in need.

I don't understand why anyone would applaud this young man for this statement. Should we feel no empathy for the less fortunate?

From the sound of it he is talking about people like you. I do not know how to put it any better. It is almost like you didnt read the letter and responded and then didnt read my response to you and wrote this whiny mess.

[TheBlueVue 177]

But, that is where privilege starts, by who and how your are raised. I don't understand what he is looking for. Does he want sympathy? Is he trying to excuse himself from a higher responsibility? Does he feel persecuted? Is he trying to say that the poor and uneducated have no excuse for being poor and uneducated?

Those who are blessed by either privilege or God-given talent are very fortunate. Why would someone feel the need to pat themselves on the back and belittle those who have not achieved success?

Sounds too much like a BS partisan political stance. To me, it doesn't seem motivated by bringing out the best of the human spirit but rather, the worst in sense of self.

I never thought I would see the day that the cries of the privileged would drown out the voices of those in need.

I don't understand why anyone would applaud this young man for this statement. Should we feel no empathy for the less fortunate?

From the sound of it he is talking about people like you. I do not know how to put it any better. It is almost like you didnt read the letter and responded and then didnt read my response to you and wrote this whiny mess.

Ding ding ding. Here's the deal, ICHY just intuitively knows better(about everything)and doesn't have to actually have a clue to ask his idiotic hypothetical questions. Dude never ceases to amaze me.

[AUisAll 2]

We have to remember the difference between the mind of a conservative which works off logic and the mind of a liberal which works off emotion to understand the 'confusion' here. Logic is required to understand what the young man was writing about.

[Weegle777 78]

The liberal script for everything that they know is right, but would never agree with a conservative over:

"I don't understand, please explain again."

}}hushed{{

"If we keep asking the conservatives to explain, eventually they will get tired and just stop talking about it and will go away, and then we can claim victory."

[TheBlueVue 177]

The liberal script for everything that they know is right, but would never agree with a conservative over:

"I don't understand, please explain again."

}}hushed{{

"If we keep asking the conservatives to explain, eventually they will get tired and just stop talking about it and will go away, and then we can claim victory."

Meanwhile, when the touchy feely crowd is in power every govt faus pas is explained away as either ignorance or incompetence and they expect people to accept that and simply move on. All the while they cook up fever pitched righteous indignation over alleged conservative "racism", their "war" on women how they want to "poison" the plant and "kick" widows and orphans to the curb. All of which is designed to shut down any opposition to their agenda which they proclaim as superior but historically has never worked and will never work. In reality, their agenda is painfully obvious. Its all about acquisition of political power which, once they've secured it, they continually abuse it like clock work.

[icanthearyou 4,468]

The liberal script for everything that they know is right, but would never agree with a conservative over:

"I don't understand, please explain again."

}}hushed{{

"If we keep asking the conservatives to explain, eventually they will get tired and just stop talking about it and will go away, and then we can claim victory."

Gee Weegs. I did not expect that from you. I sincerely do not understand his point but, I would like to understand.

[homersapien 12,679]

The point is that many people, particularly those of a so-called conservative bent, have a compelling need to feel persecuted.

This self-perceived persecution justifies their self-rightousness, if not their outright selfishness. The Tea Party mindset is a perfect example. It's always focused on the unworthy members of society that are taking from us hard working citizens by accepting food stamps (for example). Never mind us hard working, morally upstanding civilians are perfectly entitled to our Medicare and Social Security, we must still bear the burden of supporting the less worthy. If you make enough money to pay income tax, you are a victim of those people.

It's a world view that requires a pathetic, self-serving victim hood.

ICHY is right. There is no point to this piece other than crying about poor pitiful me.

[Tigermike 4,084]

"For many, the facts only matter if they line up with their political prejudice" You prove that almost every time you post.

[TheBlueVue 177]

The point is that many people, particularly those of a so-called conservative bent, have a compelling need to feel persecuted.

This self-perceived persecution justifies their self-rightousness, if not their outright selfishness. The Tea Party mindset is a perfect example. It's always focused on the unworthy members of society that are taking from us hard working citizens by accepting food stamps (for example). Never mind us hard working, morally upstanding civilians are perfectly entitled to our Medicare and Social Security, we must still bear the burden of supporting the less worthy. If you make enough money to pay income tax, you are a victim of those people.

It's a world view that required a pathetic, self-serving victim hood.

ICHY is right. There is no point to this piece other than crying about poor pitiful me.

Its quite interesting that you don't take into consideration the unprecedented growth of food stamps or that the administration is advertising them in places like Juarez and Tiijuana. If this president had just stayed out of the way there would be more people working and 47% of the country wouldn't need food stamps. Its amazing to me how quickly you people mis-characterize the sentiments of people you hate politically.

I agree with George Will...it is an unbelievable accomplishment by this administration to hold the economy down like they have. Americans are generally pretty good at wealth creation if they're not strangled by incredibly intrusive regulatory policies that currently cost $1.86 trillion a year or saddled with THE highest corporate tax rates in the world! This president views corporate America as the enemy and his economic policies reflect that sentiment.

[icanthearyou 4,468]

47% of Americans are on Food Stamps? The administration advertises the Food Stamp program in Mexico?

[homersapien 12,679]

47% of Americans are on Food Stamps? The administration advertises the Food Stamp program in Mexico?

For many, the facts only matter if they line up with their political prejudice. He proves that almost every time he posts.