There have been two letters to the editor in response to this column: “Another perspective on white privilege“, and “In response to white privilege column“.
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Today’s America is a society of victims. In every corner of the Internet, you can find someone blaming someone else for having a specific sort of “privilege.” Male privilege, white privilege, you name it — these days, any sort of success or achievement is not attributed to hard work, but rather the uncontrollable circumstances in which someone is born into.
“Check your privilege” is a favorite phrase among the champions of the Oppression Olympics. However, this generalizes and makes assumptions about a person based on their successes in life, without ever getting to know the individual or learning their back-story.
Last year, during an on-campus demonstration, I was told to “check my white privilege.” This struck a nerve with me. Although I did grow up in a successful household, with all that my parents could provide for me and my siblings, this had nothing to do with my ethnicity or heritage. My parents worked incredibly hard throughout their lives to make sure that I could attend college — the same college as those who accused me of having too much privilege.
Many people tend to forget that the United States is a nation built from the ground up by immigrants. Why have so many people willingly immigrated to the United States in the past several centuries? Were they not satisfied with their cushy life in western Europe? Many college students nowadays might be surprised to learn that it wasn’t just racial minority groups fleeing from famine, war or oppressive governments.
My personal “white privilege” stems from my ancestors escaping starvation during the Blight in 19th-century Ireland. During this time, the people of Ireland were discriminated against for being, shockingly, Irish, and even more shockingly, being Catholic. The famine occurred largely because of political reasons, and Ireland was denied aid relief while 1/3 of the population starved to death.
After coming to America, my ancestors did not immediately settle into a cushioned lifestyle. Irish Catholics were still discriminated against, and could not easily find jobs other than those in coal mines. My grandparents, great-grandparents, etc. all lived in poverty until my parents’ generation, where hard work helped them find success and achieve the American Dream.
This is not to start a competition of “whose family had it the worst.” My purpose is to point out that every social and cultural group since the dawn of humanity has experienced some sort of oppression, and it is not exclusive to one race, gender, etc. To tell someone to “check their privilege” is insensitive to that person. You may be speaking to the descendant of a Holocaust survivor, or someone whose grandparent was in a Japanese internment camp.
One’s skin color or any other uncontrollable personal attribute does not define the individual nor their success. Blaming each other for terrible things that happened centuries ago — such as slavery — does not have any merit in our current American society set on equal opportunity. It is up to every individual to define their own success, despite the obstacles that may stand in the way.
Perhaps instead of “white privilege,” we should be using the term “American privilege.” We live in one of very few nations on earth where every group has the opportunity to be successful despite their possibly “unprivileged” background. Unfortunately, not everyone with their victim goggles on is able to see this.
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Collegian Columnist Megan Burnett can be reached at letters@collegian.com or on Twitter @megsbcollegian.
Sincerely • Nov 10, 2015 at 8:48 am
Thank you, Megan. Few people realize that the people of color here have infinitely more ‘privilege’ and power than a ‘white’ (I’m loathe to use the term, as color =/= ethnicity) person living in an underdeveloped nation. It’s economics. That’s not to say that there isn’t discrimination based on ethnicity or ‘race’ (again, I loathe that term) either here in the United States or elsewhere, but money is definitely the factor that equalizes us all.
Charles Utter • Nov 6, 2015 at 6:36 am
Ask Dr. Carson about privilege .
Roth Jackson • Nov 5, 2015 at 9:23 pm
just reading all the hates in this comments section proved it for me: racism is alive and well. privileges have been in existence ever since the first caveman/woman realized other people are shorter/smaller. no surprised.
what surprises me (during the past 7 yrs) is that how divided this country is becoming…
oh and hum…shame on you Megan.
Douglas • Nov 5, 2015 at 7:10 pm
The fact that this article needed to be written is quite demonstrative of the failure of CSU and US “education” in general. Regressive hate is all that is taught. Those that succumb to the indoctrination are zombies that come out of the system neither able to be productive nor think for themselves.
brownfeather • Oct 13, 2015 at 11:13 am
The problem is with getting caught up in the fact that we all come from different walks of life…. and acting like realizing that is a huge epiphany. It’s ignorant to pretend or dream of a world where privilege doesn’t exist, but reasonable to acknowledge that that’s just kind of the way it is. “Life’s not fair,” as they say… and to diminish one’s success or to be too caught up in the obstacles and “lack-of-privilege” one may have inhibits everyone’s ability to set their focus on achieving what it is they set out to do.
If we were to just acknowledge that, yeah, some people are better off than others, and then move on toward our own goals, we would avoid a lot of animosity and separation. We are too sensitive and label ourselves as victims far too easily.
This goes for those who ARE privileged as well, it is their duty to acknowledge, respect, and be grateful for the circumstances in which they were born, or in which their parents created for them, or for which their health allows and to not be blind to the fact that not everyone IS so lucky.
It’s a two way street for everyone, and the only way to get across it is to just accept it, and move forward in whatever manner you want that to look like for your life.
Squid • Oct 13, 2015 at 7:25 am
The “White privilege” narrative is simply a way to justify failure. One can’t be held responsible for not doing as well as someone else because the deck is stacked against them. It is far easier to scream “White privilege” than it is to work hard and succeed.
Steve Harris • Oct 12, 2015 at 7:14 pm
Blast Tyrant
Bill • Oct 12, 2015 at 4:37 pm
The thing about privilege is that it isn’t that privileged people haven’t worked hard or haven’t earned it, but oppressed groups don’t get the same opportunities to earn it and their hard work isn’t rewarded as strongly. Simply put, a white man is going to get more of the benefit of the doubt in a job interview or in school or simply walking down the street than a black man will. And sure, other groups have experienced oppression, including the Irish (I’m Irish too). However, the current structure of our society does not oppress Irish people or really any ethnicity that passes as white. Obviously it’s very complex as every individual has multiple identities and faces much pain in their life regardless of level of privilege. The thing about privilege is that it is conferred by others. The idea isn’t that you have to feel “guilty” for being privileged but that you should acknowledge it, learn how it works, and seek give the same benefit of the doubt to non-dominant groups that privileged folks enjoy.
John Hebert • Oct 12, 2015 at 6:34 pm
Bill,
Your claim regarding privilege is false mainly because you imply superlatives. There is no blanket privilege for all white people (but there is active discrimination against them under the name Affirmative Action). Sometimes people from all walks of life get breaks that others don’t. If somebody is a friend of friend, came from the same town, served in the same branch of the military, likes the same type of music, etc., etc., etc. …they get a break. Is that privilege ? Maybe, but it’s not privilege based solely on demographics, it’s based on personal interaction. Is it wrong ? Hard to tell, but your blanket implication that all white people are bestowed privilege that no non-white people are provided is simplistic and just wrong.
Bill • Oct 12, 2015 at 7:21 pm
Actually white people do get blanket privilege, for instance simply being more likely to get a call back for a job interview based on their names: http://www.nber.org/papers/w9873. Testing has much bias towards white students: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/06/21/sat. Black students also tend to be punished more swiftly and severely for infractions: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1021320817372. I realize these are behind a paywall, but if you’re a CSU student you can access these through the library system. Given the myriad barriers minority students face, they have to work harder to get to the same place such that a black student with a 2.8 and an 1100 SAT has likely had to work as hard or harder than a white student with a 3.0 and a 1200 SAT, hence the justification for Affirmative Action.
John Hebert • Oct 12, 2015 at 9:34 pm
Some of what you present is valid in fact, but not the result of white privilege. In the 80s the argument was made that white students had a testing advantage over black students because tests were written in standard English and many inner city black students spoke ebonics. This was used as justification to educate black students in ebonics. While a few schools actually tried this, it quickly became obvious that they may as well have been educating them in Ancient Greek because no university or business used (or would take in) graduates who spoke ebonics. The problem there wasn’t white privilege, it was that the schools that these black kids attended didn’t teach reasonable levels of English grammar and literature.
I do agree with your point that black students do receive harsher and more frequent punishments, but at least some of the punishments are self-inflicted wounds and none of them are due to white privilege. Whether in the school or legal systems, bad attitudes are usually rewarded in kind and a lot of black kids have bad attitudes. As a result, even though some black kids don’t have an attitude, they often get treated the same as those who do. That’s an unfortunate reality of human nature and a system that feeds itself. It is NOT due to white privilege. I think Chris Rock gave the best advice on that aspect of the problem. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pfkrw57VnAU
Lastly, in my opinion, having seen Affirmative Action in effect for 50 years, I can tell you that it’s run its useful course and is now just discriminatory. Originally, there was a reasonable argument for such a plan …for maybe a generation, but the justification of the 60s has become an institutionalized crutch today. I know average guys who couldn’t get into college AND couldn’t get onto either the Police or Fire forces because even though they passed the civil service exams, they were the wrong color and never got hired. Schools and government entities had quotas that let significantly sub-standard students into slots that others could fill. That bred animosity and exacerbated race issues instead of helping them. In 1978 Allan Bakke successfully won a Supreme Court case against University of CA when the Court declared that schools couldn’t have quotas, but even today they still do. That’s institutionalized racism against white people that could easily be declared to be Black Privilege. Ironically, in the wake of multicultural BS, Affirmative Action now discriminates against straight Black & Chicano men, in favor of gays, transvestites and women.
Bill • Oct 12, 2015 at 11:35 pm
Can you back up your assertion about Affirmative Action with any data?
Also, yes, the schools don’t do a good enough job with black students. A good school is part of white privilege. Black people were enslaved for hundreds of years and faced Jim Crow afterwards and still face barriers like the ones I cited. Schools aren’t funded equally, and given the fact that blacks have not been granted the same opportunities to develop wealth over generations like white folks have and can’t move to the neighborhoods that have nice schools. Having your basic educational needs met is privilege not afforded to all.
Can you blame black students for having an attitude? Like I cited, they are more quickly and swiftly punished than white students. Secondly, societal stereotypes, like that black kids have bad attitudes, weigh both on individuals’ psyche and is a self-fulfilling prophecy for teachers (or police officers, e.g. the results of stop and frisk policies). The basic benefit of the doubt that white kids generally get over black kids is privilege.
John Hebert • Oct 13, 2015 at 11:03 am
My assertion regarding Affirmative action is based on the specific experience of numerous friends of mine. Other than putting you in touch with them directly or researching public employment records from the 70s, I’m not sure what is acceptable or practical, so maybe you should stick with taking my word for it.
Regarding good schools for black students, it has been demonstrated that there is no correlatin between the money spent on education and the student performance levels. DC is a perfect example. That city spends 3 times the national average on their schools and have some of the most pathetic results. There are places where the schools are poor and the teachers suck, but even in those environments students succeed (may I suggest you read: A Hope in the Unseen – An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League by Ron Suskind). The common denominator for any student to succeed is the desire to succeed. Funding makes some better than others, but that’s not “White Privilege”. Nobody prevents black families from moving to locations that have good schools, but many white families change their lives and sacrifice their standard of living to do so because it’s important to them.
Past that, I don’t buy your claim that black families haven’t been given the same opportunities to develop wealth over generations. Numerous ethnic groups have immigrated to the US and become very successful w/I 1 generation. Also, I can blame black students for having an attitude. Nobody gets to be part of the system w/o conforming. However, the system and society has failed young blacks by perpetuating the lies that they’re owed something because of what happened to somebody else 150 years ago. The primary issue facing blacks today is the disintegration of black families. That’s been happening for decades and it’s at a serious point today. Black men father children, take off and leave the women to be supported by the state. Since the best that the state will ever offer is poverty, the cycle will continue until the black community pulls itself back together. That task will likely take 2 or 3 generations and will never be the result of government funding …and none of this is due to “White Privilege”.
Bill • Oct 14, 2015 at 9:31 am
I don’t doubt your friends’ experiences, but to generalize from your group of friends in the 70s to blanket “Black Privilege” is a humongous leap.
Secondly, I agree with your point about school spending, but that would have less to do with the quantity of money spent than how it’s spent. I’d point to the broken system of crony capitalism and the blatant public-private corruption rampant in our country, but that’s another discussion. The desire to succeed does not exist in a vacuum. If you have fewer resources, only exceptional students will achieve, like the ones in Suskind’s book.
Regarding your last paragraph, you simply can’t look at a handicapped race and say that people had the same opportunities. Like I pointed out with data, black folks get fewer call-backs for job interviews simply if their name sounds “black.” And if people are treating you as if you are lesser of a person simply because of your skin color, having an attitude is a product of how people are treating you. The Implicit Attitude Test has shown pro-white/anti-black bias in children as young as 6, and has also shown that people may state explicitly that they are not biased but testing implicit bias by using an instantaneous reaction test shows consistent anti-black bias: http://pss.sagepub.com/content/17/1/53.short.
Lastly, to point to the disintegration of the black family, you have to look at what disintegrated it. Slavery uprooted people from any shared value system that would lead to cooperation and better outcomes and forced them into a system where families were repeatedly torn apart. People were brutalized for 400 years and given no chance to build cohesive community values, and then afterwards continued to have significant strides destroyed, such as in the burning of Black Wall Street during the Tulsa Race Riots: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsa_race_riot. And honestly, you can’t take a whole people, enslave them and destroy their culture, and then ask them to embrace the culture of the people who oppressed them immediately and blame them when they don’t. It makes sense for black people to be distrustful of white values and culture given the significant traumas endured. Trauma is now being shown to be passed down through generations through what is termed epigenetic: http://www.nature.com/npp/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/npp2015247a.html.
Cantdecideonaname • Oct 12, 2015 at 3:56 pm
The word
ignorant is being thrown around left and right and it seems so many of you haven’t
stopped and considered that may she has been exposed to plenty of information
regarding the topic, however she has interpreted the evidence differently; that
is not ignorance. Thought police is out
in full force.
How does the
logic of making blanket judgements of a person because of their race
differ? Are you really saying that a white
child born into a home with no father and a strung out mother with no money has
more privilege than Sasha and Malia Obama??? Or most any black child born into
a two parent middle class African American Family??
What is the
end game with this whole white privilege shaming? What are you people trying to
accomplish? All this is doing is
magnifying difference and furthering divisions.
If your goal is really to have all people treated equally I would advise
you to take another look at your methodology.
Pointing fingers at people and trying to shame them when you have no
idea what their circumstance are does not seem like a very efficient way to
bridge the divide.
Does the
fact that Indian Americans and other Asian Americans enjoy higher income,
higher educational achievement, and lower incarceration rates per capita than
whites mean that there is Asian privilege? Isn’t it funny that when people cry about the
difference in racists they just so happen to ignore about how Asians are on the
top of every metric. Asians look
different, Asians have been treated dreadfully throughout this country’s history,
yet they seem to get by ok.
Isn’t
affirmative action institutional racism? Is it fair that a black student who
was raised in an upper middle class neighborhood could get accepted into an
institution of higher learning on the basis of racial quota in place of a white
student that has had to overcome parental drug abuse, poverty, low performing
skills, and the list can continue. No no no, affirmative action can’t be
racist, im racist for just thinking that, god forbid I think different.
On a side
note what is a law or statute that is actually racist, (you cant use different
outcomes as proof of racism) . There are racist cops yes, there are racists in
every field
Racism still
exists, however shutting down debate is the opposite of what society
needs. The conversation on race that so
many want seems more and more to be a lie.
It seems that one side of the debate wants to shout the other side down
and cry racism when they hear a perspective that differs.
To the guy
who said that freedom of speech doesn’t apply here… I pity you. Yeah “ freedom of speech does not apply in a
newspaper”, a public university newspaper.
Its disturbing that for as educated as you and you ilk believe you are,
you haven’t seemed to grasp the concept that free speech also means hearing
from those who disagree. So many college
crusaders who have very little life experience love to throw around buzz words
like fascism, and the irony just blows by you when you say “how does this get
to get published” or “free speech doesn’t apply here” . So many of you are
throwing the word racist around when it does not apply. When you throw words
around so loosely they lose their meaning.
Hate seems to be apt when it comes to many of the reactions of this
OPINION PIECE (I know a lot of you struggle with the difference between the
news portions of the paper and editorials).
Is there college
student privilege? Check your privilege college students, there are a lot of people
that cannot go to college because they have to take care of family members, are
suffering illnesses, etc.
It seems
like there’s a lot of misogyny going on here too under the left’s logic.
So many people are attacking a female’s intelligence; where are all the
brave feminists to her defense. A girl
throwing off the shackles of male oppression majoring in a science field, being
called names, being called ignorant, and there is a lot of silence.
So much
nonsense like cis privilege, white privilege, hetero privilege, etc….guess what
life is not fair. You people are nauseating. You will be constantly angry and bitter
because you are spending so much of your existence complaining about the cards
you are dealt as opposed to making your life better. You aren’t some special group of people that
are changing everything. You are a joke
to the majority of the world’s population.
You people are so self-absorbed with all of your issues that you don’t stop
to realize how lucky you are to live in a country where you don’t have to worry
about starving to death, or dying of dirty water.
The point of
the article is to emphasize that you do not know a person because of the color
of their skin. Everyone has different
privilege and to shut down input or disparage accomplishments because of some
stupid abstract idea as white privilege is actually ignorant. This white privilege idea is designed to
bring people down, it is counterproductive and stupid. Its not saying that
theres no racism, its not saying that many blacks don’t have the privilege that
many whites do. But a lot of black people in this country have a lot more
privilege than a lot of white people too. Our president is black, top law enforcement
officer is black, top dr is indian… its hard to take you people seriously.
Charlie • Oct 12, 2015 at 12:17 pm
Martin Luther King Jr. is rolling over in his grave. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Check you *insert race* privilege is nothing but blatant racism.
misadventures-of-Scatman • Oct 12, 2015 at 12:15 pm
“White Privilege”… what a scam.
John Hebert • Oct 12, 2015 at 10:50 am
Kudos to one of my alma maters for not succumbing to liberal suppression of free speech.
“——–“ Privilege is idiot-speak used by the socialist, political left to guilt people into thinking that they must sink to the least common denominator of society. The fact that some individuals work harder than others and end up more successful and more prosperous is NOT an issue to be shamed. What should be shamed are those individuals who try to denigrate the high standard of living that capitalism has allowed us to achieve and those individuals who mindlessly buy into this crap. You’re supposed to be intelligent college students, not idiot sheeple !
Morton Kowalski • Oct 12, 2015 at 9:34 am
“……… Privilege”. This is what happens when losers think they should be heard. Thanks internet.
Rick1941 • Oct 12, 2015 at 6:35 am
Working hard and making a living is a privilege that everyone has, except the liberal entitled who have gained popularity by their narcissist king from his throne in Washington.
LD_50_CAL • Oct 11, 2015 at 4:56 pm
White privilege? What a joke. Slavery went on in many parts of Africa until the 1930’s and 40’s. You think there is an element of black privilege in those countries? Just wondering…
Peter Boddie • Oct 11, 2015 at 12:49 pm
GREAT JOB by the way on your article Megan. Keep it up!
Peter Boddie • Oct 11, 2015 at 12:48 pm
As a victim myself of circumstances beyond my control, I abhor the idea of “white privilege”.
—Pigement-Challenged Pete
ChirpNowitzki • Oct 11, 2015 at 8:44 am
It is a privilege to believe that privilege doesn’t exist.
Try this if you believe privilege doesn’t exist: Volunteer to raise your children in a neighborhood polluted by a toxic industry, where the only food you can buy is from either 7-11 or McDonald’s, where police target you and your neighbors regularly, where crooked bankers target your neighborhood with predatory loans, and where the schools have enough money for metal detectors but not enough for quality teachers or for up-to-date textbooks. Watch your child struggle because they live in a polluted environment, eat a poor diet, receive a poor education, and are treated like a criminal without having done anything wrong. At that point, tell your child it’s 100% their fault they failed because they didn’t work hard enough.
THEN come back to the comforts of CSU and write an article about how privilege doesn’t exist.
taxpayer22 • Oct 11, 2015 at 7:50 am
Affirmative action is racist.
Shanon Cooper • Oct 11, 2015 at 12:15 am
SOOOOO WE HAVE A HECKLER ON BOARD!!!!! OR IS THIS A HOAX SET UP BY THE COLLEGIAN JUST TO KEEP CSU STUDENTS ENTERTAINED??? EVERYONE I WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE “JIM R” (JUST SCROLL ON DOWN EVERYONE!), A RANTING AND RAGING CYBER BULLY !!!!!
Steve • Oct 11, 2015 at 12:47 am
STOP YELLING!!!!!!!!!!
And yes, everyone please scroll down and read Jim R’s comments.
Shanon Cooper • Oct 10, 2015 at 5:07 pm
hmmm… “complicated” — but incorrect for a bunch of white people to sit around and decide what is or is not considered “Racism”… Ahora sigueme si entiende mi espanol acere — porque en ingles te podia atropellar y no es mi intencion. mi hijo, por parte de su papa, es americano nativo (apache) y mexicano. desgraciadamente era victima de discriminacion racial en su salon de 4to grado, y la explicacion que le dieron sus maestras de la situacion era de que esta “complicada” ….. (era el unico estudiante de su salon cuya fotografia era omitida de el de un muro dedicado al “Western Expansion”, osea “Pioneers”. Aparte tuvo que aguantar los comentarios de algunos de sus companeros de clase — for example that shouldn’t he be extinct by now, or that “Indians ate buffalo poop”, entre otras cosas que se hace uno pensar que las cosas no van muy bien). We are talking about 4th graders in Poudre School District. Entonces we filed a discrimination complaint with the US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights, among other documentation, but it has been a stressful process. Lo importante es que estamos platicando sobre estos asuntos como sociedad porque el silencio se mata. Addressing these issues collectively and recognizing the “complexity” of our society is an important step in moving forward as a community and as a nation. Talking about leveling the playing field of privilege is something that will need to be addressed as ours and coming generations define the future.
albarta • Oct 10, 2015 at 12:25 pm
Megan,
You are correct about being tired of being targeted just because you are white. Unfortunately, that attitude was already rampant on CSU’s campus when I attended college there 25 years ago. Then-president Albert Yates led the diversity movement, and The Collegian regularly featured headlines and stories about the topic. It was hard to avoid back then, and has unfortunately turned into an insufferable parade of victimhood over the last generation. Shortly after graduating, I found out firsthand what real discrimination was, when more than one Fortune 500 company with whom I had personal contacts refused to grant me a job interview because I was a white male. They cited the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and their targeting of large corporations’ hiring practices, and then began enforcing the implementation of hiring quotas based on race. They could not say this officially, of course, but this was a regular occurrence under the Clinton administration, specifically Janet Reno’s Department of Justice, with recent Governor of Massachusetts Deval Patrick acting as her quota czar. This problem will continue to get worse before it gets any better, and judging by many of the other comments posted here, the anti white sentiment has become institutionally ingrained into young minds as a preprogrammed response to anything that doesn’t go their way.
broimp • Oct 10, 2015 at 8:25 am
Congratulations Ms. Burnett for exposing a chorus of political correctness. Oh the insensitivity! Cultural blindness! Cruelty! Oppressive stereotypical triggering! You must be suppressed, shouted down, re-educated, and forced to conform to prevailing orthodoxy. Your speech is not free, not enlightened, not enabling, and can only inflict harm.
It’s so easy to make scripted umbrage. It almost sounds reasonable. To an idiot.
Shocked_and_Amazed8591 • Oct 10, 2015 at 6:32 pm
Right well said Bro…
Some of these comments appear to come right of liberal talking points.
I grew up poor. I had to borrow a suit for job interviews. When I got a job in sales, it was hard work and refusing to fail that created my success, not the color of my skin.
I am amazed at the staggering number of excuses people have invented for not doing well. Personal responsibility is seldom considered until you leave school and get a job. In the private sector, they don’t give participation trophies. But it does appear that the government sector does.
Elliot Fladen • Oct 10, 2015 at 1:52 am
Funny how the “check your privilege” peeps never investigate affirmative action. Just sayin’
Steve • Oct 9, 2015 at 10:31 pm
I have white privilege, male privilege, tall privilege, two-parent privilege, health privilege, grew-up-in-small-town privilege, athletic privilege, American privilege, clear complexion privilege, intelligence privilege…
What am I supposed to do about it?
I do feel fortunate, but none of those ‘privileges’ gave me a higher score on the SAT; I worked for that.
Kaitlyn • Oct 9, 2015 at 11:35 pm
To answer your question: You’re supposed to help people who don’t have those privileges live in a world where they too can succeed.
And maybe you feel like you’re intelligence has nothing to do with your privilege, but having two parent privilege meant you had more time with them to help you with homework. Having health privilege means that you didn’t have to miss a large amount of school. Having male and white privilege means that people didn’t immediately discredit your intelligence as being unusual.
You didn’t have to fight through those same barriers. Yes you worked for that SAT score, but people without your privilege have to work harder for that same score.
SO what you should be doing is advocating for better tutoring systems in schools, and better healthcare so that people don’t miss those days, and you should be stopping people from stereotyping women and POC as less intelligent. What you should be doing is advocating for better schools in poor neighborhoods, and noticing when people are being treated unfairly, and pushing for diversity in non-diverse spaces.
Use your privilege to your advantage, but more than that use your privilege to OTHER people’s advantage. Stand up for them, and help pull them up to your level.
If you want privilege to not matter, you have to fight so that in the future it WON’T matter.
Steve • Oct 11, 2015 at 12:36 am
Did I mention my handicaps (or whatever you call anti-privileges these days)? How do you know anyone had to work harder for that same score?
I support better schools, better healthcare, less stereotyping, etc.
I teach kids, coach kids, tutor kids & adults, volunteer and give to charities, etc. – because I want to, NOT because I ‘should’ because I’m white. Off hand, I can’t think of anyone who should be telling me what I ‘should’ do.
Btw, how ’bout not stereotyping me?
Shanon Cooper • Oct 11, 2015 at 1:12 am
OMG people like you should NOT work with kids.
Steve • Oct 11, 2015 at 1:29 am
Okay, I’ll bite… Why shouldn’t I work with kids?
John Hebert • Oct 12, 2015 at 11:24 am
Kaitlyn, sorry but I’m not buying. Your privilege argument is BS !
For starters, in this country you really have to work hard to not have a comfortable life. We have the richest poor in the world and when the economy isn’t run by idiots (as it has been for the last 15 years), it’s easy to find opportunities. For all intents and purposes, the poor have had very cheap healthcare and free education available for decades. The issue is that nobody holds them accountable for their actions. That’s a problem.
You want better tutoring systems ? Get rid of the teacher’s union that prevents the firing of bad teachers. Push for vouchers so that independent schools can hire & pay for excellent teachers without union interference. In this age, you could even set up excellent schools on the Internet with very few teachers and no large buildings. In case you are unaware, the genesis of vouchers was in inner city Milwaukee in the early 80’s. It was a huge success that gave young black kids a great education. 60 Minutes did a piece on it. Shortly afterward the national teacher’s union realized what it would do to their power base and started their now 30+ year fight against vouchers. There’s another problem.
You talk about overcoming barriers. Try the barriers of being refused entry into law or medical school because you’re a white male, even though you scored significantly higher on all the entrance exams. Try being refused high-paying government opportunities because you’re a white male, even though you scored significantly higher on all the acceptance tests. Those barriers have been in place since Lyndon Johnson and in spite of the equalization that has taken place over the years, white men who never did anything but live like everyone else are still being discriminated against …and in spite of all those barriers, white men are still finding ways to succeed.
The issue at hand is that you want the government to substitute what many white families have had for decades: A stable family environment that cares for each other and helps each other succeed. That’s not a privilege, that’s available to every family. All it takes is to have adults with the compassion to see past their own needs and desires.
Rachel Vernon • Oct 12, 2015 at 2:43 pm
You have a pretty poor understanding of history. You should probably take a history class.
Kevin Snyder • Oct 12, 2015 at 2:57 pm
Yeah, and he’s just mansplaining anyway, huh.
Kevin Snyder • Oct 12, 2015 at 2:59 pm
You have the floor. Educate away.
Rachel Vernon • Oct 12, 2015 at 5:35 pm
I was speaking to the first post, but a good understanding of history serves us all. There are many classes available to you, to understand why people start, in such disparate positions. I am not your teacher, but you have the ability to educate yourself.
Kevin Snyder • Oct 12, 2015 at 5:55 pm
Yes, I took some history classes when I was in school. Do they not teach that subject now? Anyway, everything John H said is fact. Now, if you have DIFFERENT facts you’d like to bring forth, go ahead. But I don’t think you can, because I don’t think you ever learned to think. Your entire thesis appears to fit on a bumper sticker.
Here is a fact: White Englishmen persecuted White Irishmen. They attempted genocide, in fact. Now, here is your challenge: Since you say John and I need a history lesson, tell us what REALLY happened in the Famine.
Rachel Vernon • Oct 12, 2015 at 7:53 pm
Fact, not really; interpretation maybe; most likely its misinformation.
We can work through some of these if you like:
“Push for vouchers so that independent schools can hire & pay for excellent teachers without union interference”:
The disparate education people receive in the US is a relatively complex problem that in no way could be boiled down to this statement. One of the larger problems being that schools don’t receive equitable funding; and are often not able to attract quality teachers in an equitable way. Therefore many students in the US receive a poor education, because of where they live and what they have access too. Often, these students are students of color.
“Try the barriers of being refused entry into law or medical school because you’re a white male, even though you scored significantly higher on all the entrance exams.”
This actually hasn’t been proven to be true ever. College and Graduate school admissions are based on a myriad of accomplishments. Race, for some schools, is taken into consideration. Almost all the court cases against affirmative action have been brought by white people with relatively unimpressive resumes, accomplishments, and experiences. Many Universities have found that diversity: in race, class, gender, experience, opinion: creates a better learning experience for all students involved. If a white man isn’t accepted to a school, he’s probably just not good enough.
“The issue at hand is that you want the government to substitute what many families have had for decades: A stable environment that cares for each other and helps each other to succeed. That’s not a privilege, that’s available to every family.”
Caring for each other may not be a privilege; however the ability to do it in a healthy way, very well may be. There are numerous studies on historical trauma, that have discussed the way that decades of racism have effected those families and their ability to function in a healthy way in regards to supportive environments. Many families are however able to provide this support, despite this reality. Caring for people however, is not enough to overcome structural realities of disenfranchisement.
Helping one succeed, implies the privilege of being able to help someone. Whether that be monetarily, with time, with education, etc. For example, if one does not have an education, must hold down two jobs to pay the rent, and has no extra cash to buy books for their child- Their child is left to do what they can. Many succeed despite this reality, but the question is, as a society is that the world we consider just?
In terms of your attempt of bringing up the Irish. It is true the Irish have been discriminated against in the United States, its even true that they were slaves. What isn’t true is that they are discriminated against today, or have been subject to structural racism. Structural racism being the kind of racism that has worked its way into institutions and laws.
John Hebert • Oct 12, 2015 at 10:00 pm
“Push for vouchers so that independent schools can hire & pay for excellent teachers without union interference”:
The disparate education people receive in the US is a relatively complex problem that in no way could be boiled down to this statement. One of the larger problems being that schools don’t receive equitable funding; and are often not able to attract quality teachers in an equitable way. Therefore many students in the US receive a poor education, because of where they live and what they have access too. Often, these students are students of color.
>>>It has been demonstrated that spending levels alone do not ensure a quality education. That said, there is no justification for the NEA to fight so vehemently against new educational ideas like vouchers that have been proven to work.
—————————————————————————————————————————
“Try the barriers of being refused entry into law or medical school because you’re a white male, even though you scored significantly higher on all the entrance exams.”
This actually hasn’t been proven to be true ever. College and Graduate school admissions are based on a myriad of accomplishments. Race, for some schools, is taken into consideration. Almost all the court cases against affirmative action have been brought by white people with relatively unimpressive resumes, accomplishments, and experiences. Many Universities have found that diversity: in race, class, gender, experience, opinion: creates a better learning experience for all students involved. If a white man isn’t accepted to a school, he’s probably just not good enough.
>>> Actually it was proven to be true. In 1978 Allan Bakke sued University of CA and won at the Supreme Court. They said that institutionalized quotas were discriminatory. Many of those quotas still exist today in the form of diversity requirements.
>>> “Structural Racism”… What a crock of shit ! How racist is the idea of convincing someone that they can’t succeed because of “Structural Racism”. If that’s your basis for White Privilege, then you’re not worth talking to.
Rachel Vernon • Oct 13, 2015 at 7:34 am
This will be my last engagement with you all.
But yes John, it has been proven that spending alone does not ensure a quality education. Which is why I said ‘complex’ and ‘one of the larger problems’. Those two statements alone, imply that I don’t believe that spending alone would ensure a quality education.
Bakke, its been awhile since I read that one, however if I recollect correctly that was about quotas, which since that time have not been legal. So I assumed you were talking about contemporary realities. Diversity requirements: I’m not sure what you are talking about. However, like I previously said, diversity is one of many factors that gets people accepted to school. Considering race/experience as a part of acceptance is not the same as quotas- they also consider gender, whether you play a musical instrument, initiative all kinds of things. But regardless, your statement was incorrect, you implied he was denied because he was a white male, really he got denied in that case (if it was about quotas) because he was not as good as the other white males who did get in.
Structural racism, is not the idea that you can’t because of structural racism- that doesn’t even make sense. Structural racism is about how racism has worked its way into institutions and structures, making individual lives disparate when interacting with these structures and institutions.
One such example would be Redlining. There are many however.
John Hebert • Oct 13, 2015 at 11:21 am
Rachel, one can only hope that this is your last engagement with us.
To clarify your misconception regarding Affirmative Action, Bakke was about quotas that specifically denied open seats to qualified students even when they didn’t have minority students to take the seat. Diversity requirements are the new form of quotas. By creating a list of “diversity requirements” (race/experience, gender, whether you play a musical instrument, etc.), discrimination against whites can still be maintained by requiring a broad base of other requirements that are subjectively evaluated.
As for structural racism, the only places where I see that in play is in the institutionalized blocking of equally qualified white people from high paying or power oriented opportunities. What this is doing is destroying one of the last bastions of stability in our culture, which if left unchecked will pull our entire society down to the least common denominator in the near future.
Rachel Vernon • Oct 13, 2015 at 12:32 pm
LOL
Kevin Snyder • Oct 13, 2015 at 4:57 am
“If a white man isn’t accepted to a school, he’s probably just not good enough.” Structural racism gives preference points to non whites – because whites just aren’t good enough. I see.
Were you raised to be a racist, or did CSU teach that to you?
Rachel Vernon • Oct 13, 2015 at 7:36 am
You clearly don’t understand structural racism.
In terms of racism, you should probably be asking more questions to yourself about that.
Kevin Snyder • Oct 13, 2015 at 1:01 pm
Huh. Preference is not racist? Perhaps you should ask yourself “Why not?”
You know – I understand gaslighting. I will not let you get away with it.
Kevin Snyder • Oct 12, 2015 at 2:59 pm
“All it takes is to have adults” AND…you could have stopped right there. The millenials have been raised as perpetual Peter Pans who think that everything they want is without cost, and everything they do is without consequence.
Malik Taylor • Nov 4, 2015 at 11:20 am
LOL… White men are being discriminated against by whom? Other white men? The power base is white not black or brown or yellow or red… If you were not admitted into a school based on your color then guess what? We are in the same boat. That’s the point. In your very own argument against privilege you site… Privilege. Can’t have it both ways.
Kevin Snyder • Oct 12, 2015 at 2:55 pm
It’s not a privilege, dear (hear the microagression?) It’s called LIBERTY. If you are not treated with LIBERTY, then you need to demand you are treated with LIBERTY. See, white men COULD be on your side – but you keep insulting us, and blaming us, and frankly at this point, we all just wish you’d get a damn job and shut up.
Sincerely • Nov 10, 2015 at 8:48 am
Okay, I agree with you on principle, but you could try to be less condescending. Civility is the key to a successful argument. Doesn’t mean that you have to treat your opponent like a princess, but you could at least have some class.
Douglas • Nov 10, 2015 at 9:04 am
There was nothing condescending Mr. Snyder’s post.
You, however, ARE condescending. This drivel about “civility” is NEVER used by regressives, only bantered about in a blame game.
Sincerely • Nov 11, 2015 at 9:05 am
I merely want to maintain an open platform. An audience tends to think less of someone who insults or belittles one’s opponent (even if it is both true and justified). Maintain your composure and a level of politeness, and you’re already head-and-shoulders above the competition.
Squid • Oct 13, 2015 at 7:15 am
I get it. Equality of outcome…….not equality of opportunity right?
Shocked_and_Amazed8591 • Oct 10, 2015 at 6:20 pm
Don’t confuse them Steve. They seek equality of outcome with equality of effort.
Shanon Cooper • Oct 10, 2015 at 7:32 pm
Take EDUC 275 – Schooling in the United States. That will give you a clearer understanding. We are taught White History in school, not American History. It is not your fault that you don’t have all the information, but we have a responsibility to educate ourselves as a society if the public school system has failed to do so.
Steve • Oct 11, 2015 at 12:43 am
I’m probably not smart (or patient) enough to deal with a propaganda class at CSU.
Your condescension oozes through many of your posts here, so I won’t take it personally.
Patrick Donovan • Oct 9, 2015 at 9:12 pm
While opinion pieces are essential to a news publication, it is the responsibility of the writer to do research so they may gain an informed opinion. An article in an opinion section should make an opinion claim that is backed up by credible sources. Both sides should be weighed. Ms. Burnett wastes the paper of the collegian whining about how hard it is to be white, almost being proud about her ignorance of the world around her. Hell, the collegian’s weekly “Roastin with Rick” is twice as thought out as Burnett’s article.
mad • Oct 9, 2015 at 5:03 pm
Sign up for the one at the top of the list plz: https://sociology.colorado.edu/course-info/undergraduate-courses
Megan Skeehan • Oct 9, 2015 at 2:40 pm
Educate yourself before you continue to embarrass yourself, Megan. After the minimum wage opinion piece you wrote it was quite clear you have an inability to challenge yourself to look at other perspectives before you go full on rant on a topic. I suggest that you stick to opinions on topics you might understand, perhaps a opinion piece on why people should wash their hands after using the bathroom.
http://everydayfeminism.com/2014/09/white-privilege-explained/
John Hebert • Oct 12, 2015 at 6:55 pm
Megan,
You are the embarrassment. Your patronizing stance is a perfect example of how narrow-minded your perspective is. I suggest that you take your own advice and educate yourself, but also figure out how to open your mind to understand points of view that you don’t like.
Anonymous • Oct 13, 2015 at 11:31 am
It is surely a shame on your inability to look past what narrow minded professors teach in the classroom. And such mindsets have lead you to (I am assuming one of your favorite websites) everydayfeminism. The feminist movement has turned into a joke, it wasn’t always, but now the only goal is to look and seek out anyway possible to complain about anything and everything. You fail to see reality as you sit in your sorrowful hole of self made oppression.
I do find it ironic how you are supporting the feminist movement but then make smart remarks about a female student studying in a STEM field which feminist claim is run by males. How does that verify and help reach your goals?
Dubs Walkertron Williams • Oct 9, 2015 at 1:57 pm
This kind of irrational, defensive response to a well-documented reality has been well studied, you might find it interesting: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103115000852
Rachel Vernon • Oct 9, 2015 at 1:53 pm
You should probably take an Ethnic Studies class if you are having a difficult time understanding White Privilege.
Megan Skeehan • Oct 9, 2015 at 2:31 pm
Yes!
William Patterson • Oct 9, 2015 at 1:06 pm
This article is extremely miseducated and problematic. I will not go into detail of why it is miseducated, as most of the previous comments have made those details clear. However, I will say that the comments you make about slavery and America being a “society of victims” are especially troubling. Megan, I would urge you that next time you write an opinion piece on the topic of race, sexual orientation, disability, gender, or any other topics regarding marginalization and privilege that you actually take time to educate yourself on the issue. We have many resources on campus including the Black/African-American Cultural Center, the Asian/Pacific American Cultural Center, El Centro, the GLBTQQA Resource Center, the Women and Gender Advocacy Center, and many other diversity programs that you could have talked with before you wrote this article. I just transferred schools from a university in Toronto, Canada, statistically one of the most ethnically diverse and LGBT-friendly cities in the world. Since my transfer, I have been astonished by the amount of prejudice I have heard at this school. I have heard racial slurs, misogynist slurs, homophobic slurs (including a friend of mine and her friend being brutally beaten in Old Town while being called “fags”), slurs against Muslims, and many misconceptions about sexual harassment and rape. I know that you are not necessarily writing about all of these topics, but all of them have overarching themes of marginalization and privilege. Articles like this trivialize and undermine these issues that are very real for some people and do nothing to bring social justice to campus. You are a person on the outside looking in, and if you want to make a formulated opinion that is published in the school’s newspaper, it is your responsibility as a journalist to educate and enlighten the student body. How can you educate people if you yourself are not educated on the topic? I am a journalism major here at CSU, so trust me I understand the battle of trying to keep opinion and fact in balance. I hope you take these comments as constructive criticism/education and not as just “internet trolling.” I thank you for at least bringing up this discussion, and I hope it helps create a platform where more students can talk about this. Please be more careful in the future about how you represent people who you do not identify with, because it makes a difference on campus. It’s up to you if that is a positive difference or a negative difference.
jb • Oct 10, 2015 at 2:33 am
Nice anecdote about how canada is so awesome http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/out-of-sight-out-of-mind-2/
It seems ” miseducated”
William Patterson • Oct 11, 2015 at 5:29 pm
Nowhere in my comment did I say Canada is a country without racism. In fact I only talked about Toronto, which is just one city, and how it is ethnically diverse, not without racism. I do realize now that the way I worded things may have come off that way, and I apologize if it did. I’m not saying Canada or Toronto is without issues of privilege and marginalization. Canada has many issues of racism especially surrounding Aboriginal rights. It’s just an observation of transferring from a school that had a lot more pride in diversity and programming surrounding diversity than here at CSU. The newspaper at my other school would have never okayed an article like this.
Also, I’m not sure what you mean regarding check my privilege as a male regarding sexual assault. I completely acknowledge that I have privilege as a male and try to be conscious of that everyday. In fact, I was trying to point that out as an example of privilege, which this author does not understand. I was referring to a discussion we had in a class about sexual assault and rape and many of the men in the class didn’t understand that consent consists of a clear and sober yes, which was very concerning. I also identify as a gay male, and I have had many gay friends that have been assaulted or sexually assaulted in Fort Collins or on campus. So in that aspect, I need to be careful, because that is an issue my community faces, which is another way the author disregards privilege.
jb • Oct 10, 2015 at 2:34 am
Also please check your male privilege when it comes to sexual harassment william
Shocked_and_Amazed8591 • Oct 10, 2015 at 6:22 pm
Miseducated isn’t a word
William Patterson • Oct 11, 2015 at 5:09 pm
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/miseducate
John Hebert • Oct 12, 2015 at 11:49 am
Megan’s piece was spot on !
William, I’m surprised that you can walk with the weight of so much social injustice on your shoulders. Boogiemen everywhere you look ! How does the world function with such a problem ?
When you’re not weighing down Megan with suggestions of how she needs to improve her objectivity, I’d suggest that you pull your head out of that dark place and do the same. You’re so entrenched in your brainwashed perspective, that you have no idea of how the world really works. You think you’re objective, but you’re so far from it that you’re clueless. How can you educate people if you yourself are not educated on the topic ? I am NOT a journalism major at CSU, so trust me I understand the battle of trying to keep opinion and fact in balance. I hope you take these comments as constructive criticism / education and not as just “internet trolling.”
William Patterson • Oct 12, 2015 at 12:30 pm
This comment doesn’t even make sense. If you’re going to try and “troll” at least back it up with some evidence and intelligence. I am a white male and I have lived most of my life thinking that privilege didn’t exist because that’s what I was brought up to believe in my predominantly white community and church. That is until I got an education from school, diversity programs, and professors that have years of experience with the issue. My objectivity is coming from education, fact, and personal and friend’s experience. Hers is coming from opinion on an issue is far more objective than that. This issue has years of historical and social context that play into it. Seriously, take a freshman level sociology course. You’re comment made me laugh, though.
John Hebert • Oct 12, 2015 at 6:16 pm
William,
It’s hard to tell where you’re more full of it. Your condescension from your misguided belief that you’re educated is laughable. Regurgitating biased opinions may get you grades, but it doesn’t pass as intelligent thought in the real word and it makes you sound like a putz.
The straw-man claim of “———“ privilege might be accepted by the ignorant masses, but it only bears truth in your imagination and it reveals how little you’ve traveled and actually know about History and other cultures, including ours.
Lastly, your redefining of the word “prejudice” in order to villainize all behavior that you don’t like may be an effective tool to shut down opposing points of view, but it also exposes the hypocrisy of your claim of objectivity.
It’s obvious by reading your comments that you came from a sheltered life and naively went to a school where you became a tool for those who spread hate in the world. That should make you a good Journalist, but you’re far from understanding what an objective viewpoint really is.
Megan’s piece was spot on !
William Patterson • Oct 12, 2015 at 6:46 pm
Once again a comment that has zero evidence and merit and is merely meant to troll. I am willing to listen when people have something intelligent to say. Even someone who opposes the idea of white privilege would see the flaws in Megan’s argument. Also hilarious that you think I am spreading hate when I am simply arguing that people should take time to understand others to gain perspective on how our differences/privileges play into society. Seen your other comments and obviously you’re not worth arguing with.
John Hebert • Oct 12, 2015 at 7:00 pm
Then why are you arguing ?
William Patterson • Oct 12, 2015 at 7:07 pm
Good response.
Juliet Letteney • Oct 9, 2015 at 12:24 pm
You might want to do more research into the systemic power and privilege that is at play in our society that has less to do with how you feel as an individual when it comes to white privilege and more to do with the realities that certain marginalized groups experience TODAY. History lessons aside, privilege is about unfair treatment today. If you’re feeling attacked for your skin color because of the principle of white privilege (no quotation marks because it’s a real thing), try thinking about how it has nothing to do with you as a person. You’re right, we cannot choose our skin color but that does not mean we are void of responsibility when it comes to the societal implications. I didn’t choose my skin color, I didn’t choose privilege but I have it. Where we do have choice in is how we address that power and understand our perspective of the world is unique to our experiences and privileges instead of pushing back with denial and being a part of the problem.
James • Oct 9, 2015 at 11:22 am
Say what you want about what this article is about, but this is just poorly written. If you’re not getting rid of her because she is incredibly ignorant, self-obsessed and borderline moronic, please just get rid of her because of how shit of a writer she actually is.
Shocked_and_Amazed8591 • Oct 10, 2015 at 6:36 pm
Wow, an illiterate complaining about someone’s writing style
Renee Davis • Oct 9, 2015 at 10:17 am
Megan,
Thank you for sharing this perspective via social media! It’s seriously such an important one. As someone who loves looking into why people say, do or think the things they do it article has been great for me to read. However, some of the main points of privilage are missing. I apologize if “privilage” was presented to you in the way that you explained, but a google search with a few specific terms will give you a different story. The concept of privilage isn’t necesarrily this age old story that your family grew up with money, therefore you have the opportunity you have. More often the concept is focused on phenotype. It’s the idea, that even though your family worked hard to be where they are, a family of color could’ve worked just as hard and never have had the same success, because of the color of their skin. A simple google search, or reading a relevant book will show you the bias that is present in our systems. That is data, that you cannot explain away. As a potential medical professional I want to encourage you to look critically at American history. It honestly will behoove you to know more than what you were taught. To deny privilage and oppression is offensive to the original inhabitants of this country. Finally, we live in a generation of world changers, not victims. A generation of people who are refusing the whitewashing of their history, who are refusing to be silenced.
Shanon Cooper • Oct 10, 2015 at 8:21 pm
YEP. She needs to at LEAST take EDUC 275 Schooling in the United States. Maybe that should be a prerequisite before writing an opinion piece for the Collegian? Just a thought. I wonder what the requirements are for that. Letters of recommendation? Hmmm. Anyway, we are taught White History not American History and ADVOCATING FOR ONESELF AND IDENTIFYING THE PRESENCE OF WHITE PRIVILEGE DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU ARE PORTRAYING YOURSELF AS A VICTIM, RATHER IT MEANS THAT YOU ARE REFUSING TO BE A VICTIM. DO NOT LET ANYONE TELL YOU OTHERWISE. Let’s get that straight. This generation will not be silenced, and everyone knows that.
So, I am perplexed by this author’s statements, because I would imagine that people with family heritage coming from any group of people that have been marginalized or been the subjects of mass genocide throughout history would think would be able to empathize and recognize the need to stand up as a society and demand that the equality of privilege be established. The article comes off as defensive, ignorant, uneducated and confusing because it seems like the author is actually portraying herself as a Victim. She obviously feels the need to ADVOCATE for herself and White Privilege by demonstrating that she refuses to be a VICTIM meanwhile others are fighting for equality. Estoy completamente de acuerdo — esta generacion no sera silenciada y todos lo sabemos. Rezando pa todo uds.
Y mucha suerte con el dia de manana. Cambiare de escuela y me ire del estado si fuera ella. Que clase de verguenza total. Lo siento.
JT Rager • Oct 9, 2015 at 8:33 am
As an educated white male, I rarely see anyone blaming me for having privilege so much as pointing it out. It’s rare that anyone thinks you’re wrong simply because you’re privileged. Rather, it’s pointing out that your perspective is such that you’re likely have blinders to other peoples’ experience.
I have no doubt that the author’s parents likely worked hard to provide education, but this is hardly evidence that race-based discrimination doesn’t exist. Other families of color can work just as hard and receive the short end of the stick due to discrimination. There are many links between racial demographics and poverty, resumes without traditionally names of European heritage tend not to get callbacks for interviews, black people tend to get charges due to marijuana use even though the rate of use between white and black people is roughly the same, etc. If someone is going to deny that racism still exists in today’s societies and can work against POC, that person might be a lost cause. The point is, plenty of people can work hard or harder than others and still fail because they lack privilege.
I fail to see this being true for my own case. Even if I accept that my ancestors were oppressed (they weren’t), nowadays I don’t have to worry if I didn’t get a job because of my race, I don’t have police officers unnecessarily harass me for minor violations, I don’t have to worry about being assaulted at night because I’m a male, and I don’t have to worry about being bullied in the classroom because I’m browner. I also don’t suffer from minority stress, which is a thoroughly documented psychological phenomenon that specifically targets those without it.
Everyone reading this article is privileged in some way or another anyway, because they have access to the internet, which is not something afforded to just anyone.
From what I can tell here the author is a woman in a STEM field. Has she never been scoffed at for working in microbiology as a woman? Or being told she should be building a family instead of trying to go to Med school? Has she ever been harassed on the street? Or been told sexist things in class by her professor and worried about her grades since the grader wouldn’t take her seriously? In my C programming class, the professor described the final project as being something that would “separate the boys from the girls.” If women have had this situation happen to them but have been dismissed by men as not being a factor, then they might have an idea of how POC feel when white people say that racial privilege doesn’t exist.
Jada • Oct 8, 2015 at 11:42 pm
This is by far one of the most offensive articles I have ever read. It’s not because it is an opinion, its because it is an extremely uneducated ignorant opinion. It is similar to when a kid argues they don’t need to sleep, her opinion simply just does not make sense. Her ending statement actually PROVES white privilege. NO everyone does not have equal opportunity, especially not to education. Some people grow up in better economic situation. She doesn’t understand that some people aren’t hired at jobs based on their skin color or their heritage. Her background about her ancestors is a moot point simply because no one can tell that you are catholic by looking at a person nor can they tell that you have an irish heritage. Also, now being a catholic irish is considered just simply white. She doesn’t know what its like being on the other side and the fact that she is arguing against white privilege just proves how ill informed she is. Even I myself understand I grew up in circumstances that are better than some of my peers and experience privilege. But I am able to empathize with those who didn’t. The thing she fails to see is that she may never experience people following you or staring at your family at a Best Buy because the workers think you are either going to steal something or that my father is a professional athlete. Or having a higher probability to get loans from a bank because she is white, therefore, more “trustworthy.” Does she know anything about systemic racism? She has no statistics to even validate her claims. In the form of Toulmin’s model where is her data, warrants, backing, support, validation? She literally has zero evidence for the claim that she is making. All this piece has is an opinion and a drawn out story to say “my ancestors had struggles too.” How about lets talk about the majority of people who are incarcerated, not because they commit more crime but because they are convicted of crimes more? The answer: minorities. I truly can’t believe the collegian had the audacity to even put this for lack of better word “trash” in the paper. This piece actually made my blood boil a bit and made me sick to my stomach. This is actually part of the problems we have today, but maybe it’s a good thing so we know who to target when it comes to educating about these types of topics. The collegian should really consider maybe publishing pieces that actually have facts to base their claims on, because I believe opinions should be educated, thoughtful, and based on fact;. or at least have facts to back up the opinion.
Bob • Oct 8, 2015 at 9:34 pm
The fact that there is no wide spread racism on Irish is prime example of why white privilege is real. You assimilated quicker into the status quo. How long have Hispanics and African Americans been here and still oppressed? Sure your grandparents might have suffered but you aren’t anymore. That’s the whole point. Now that you’ve achieved a privileged life you cant see what your grandparents saw
Vanessa Kouakou • Oct 8, 2015 at 8:14 pm
This article was written from a position of privilege and you showed that when you wrote an article that has absolutely nothing to do with white privilege. White privilege has nothing to do with socio-economic status. Take an intro to sociology class, they’ll cover white privilege in a way that easy for you to understand
P.S- the discrimination of Europeans in America for a couple decades was terrible, yes, but it isn’t comparable to the 400+ years of oppression and systemic racism that blacks have faced. Irish and Italian people were treated terribly black then but they are considered to be “just white” now. Blacks are still looked at as second class citizens. So, in your own words, check your privilege.
Maes Hughes • Oct 8, 2015 at 7:51 pm
One thing the privileged (the author of this article) will never understand is what it means to live in the margins of society. She sees no problem with the conditions of minorities in this country, because she is standing at the top, with her head in the clouds.
Racism is a system of oppression that hinders minorities economically, politically, mentally, and socially. There are an extremely wide variety of ways the American government and lawmakers have assured this, and no oppression didn’t end with slavery (1867-1940, the South regains its legislation, enacted the Prison Peonage System: a new form of slavery). Throughout history, there have been a number of laws and policies that discriminate against Black people (housing discrimination, loan discrimination, job discrimination, etc.) all of which are still in place today. I suggest the author learn American history from the margins of society.
Zariah Waiters • Oct 8, 2015 at 7:28 pm
Prime definition of white privilege. Being descriminated against is not the same as being structurally and systematically oppressed. Idc how many times you try to compare your struggles to mine, and white struggles to black, you have privilege. Point blank period. Are you still suffering the affects of what your Irish ancestors went through? Because as a black person I’m still suffering the after affects of slavery. IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH RACE. The fact that you this it doesn’t shows how ignorant you are. Check your privilege. Because it’s exactly what allowed you to write this foolishness in the first place.
Shanon Cooper • Oct 10, 2015 at 7:20 pm
YEP. ASI ES.
nickarama • Oct 10, 2015 at 7:44 pm
You are not being oppressed by any legal action in this country. So to say you are being structurally and systematically oppressed is demonstrably untrue. There is no one alive who was a slave and no remnants of slavery still extant. Indeed, as a student who is a person of color, you do stand a better chance of getting into many colleges than does the writer of this article with the same record otherwise. That is a demonstrable fact. Indeed the University of California doesn’t even hide that they specifically will take people based on race, i.e. favor poc. Perhaps you need to check your privilege.
What would facilitate real productive discussion is not acting like everyone who thinks differently from you is ignorant or racist or should be attacked and shut down.
Zariah Waiters • Oct 10, 2015 at 9:05 pm
First off. No remnants of slavery? Not being oppressed? Explain the wage gap with blacks, the loan, job, & housing descrimination, unemployment and poverty rates with blacks, mass incarceration rates of blacks, the fact that white with criminal records are more likely to be hired than a black person without one. The fact that even poor whites do better than poor blacks. Whites with high school diplomas do better than blacks with college degrees. But we aren’t being opressed? Even homeless white men have shorter period of homelessness & are more likely to be hired than blacks. Speaking of homelessness, is extremely high with our race too. But we aren’t being opressed? And yes I can get into a school but non white people only receive 33% of all scholarships. I can go on and on how slavery is still affecting black people. With facts, data, and charts to back me up. And the fact that you’re a person of color and your completely ignorant when it comes to these facts is astonishing. Lol. So next time you try and say I’m wrong have facts to prove me wrong. My original statement still stands. Thank you.
Shanon Cooper • Oct 10, 2015 at 10:56 pm
looks like he posted his actual foto, and he does look pretty white, although he is probably too scared to use his real name, and he probably should be. Props to you Zariah — Ashe .
Kevin Snyder • Oct 12, 2015 at 6:00 pm
Most of the “explanation” you are looking for can be summed up in one web page. FBI Table 43.
https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2013/crime-in-the-u.s.-2013/tables/table-43
You’re not going to like what you see there, but it contains the facts you asked for.
Kevin Snyder • Oct 12, 2015 at 6:04 pm
College enrollment levels for black women are 7 percentage points HIGHER than for white men. Check your privilege. “(B)ut non white people only receive 33% of all scholarships.” Whites are 77 percent of the population, but only get 67 percent of the scholarships? Check your privilege.
Shanon Cooper • Oct 10, 2015 at 10:47 pm
if you want us to take your comments seriously, start by using your real name, nikorama that is just ridiculous hiding behind a user name like that. #whiteprivilegematters dale acere intenta todo lo ke puedas jajaja estas equibocado . If I explained that to you in English you probably wouldn’t understand. Another example of the problems we have.
ChirpNowitzki • Oct 11, 2015 at 9:11 am
How about this for oppressive legal action: Illegal drug use rates are nearly identical between white & black populations, yet blacks are 3x more likely to be arrested for illegal drug use.
To what do you attribute this disparity, if it is not systematic?
Don-gorgon • Jan 10, 2016 at 11:03 pm
Black women are 5 to 6 times more likely to receive subprime mortgages than whites.theyre also three times more likely to have higher rate loans compared to whites with the same or even higher credit scores.black preschoolers only make up 18 % of preschoolers but make up nearly half of all suspensions I’m talking 4yr old kids.even the kerner commission a government think tank said America is moving into two Societies one white and one black.research the millennium breach report sponsored by the Eisenhower foundation these are prominent white people that are stating these facts
Shanon Cooper • Oct 10, 2015 at 10:45 pm
yep. spot on.
Jim R • Oct 12, 2015 at 6:53 pm
Zariah will you please answer me this question regarding your allegations of Structural and Systemic oppression. Do you believe whites don’t have obstacles??? I’m going to tell you a little story here so bear with me. My brother in law was born into a fairly poor white family. He grew up in a trailer park as a small child and had a deadbeat absentee father that was and still is a total jerk. His mom struggled with severe depression and wasn’t able to parent much. However in spite of this he worked very hard at school. He went to high school in an inner city school where in fact as a white person HE was a minority. At a very young age he knew he wanted to be a pilot luckily he was a fairly gifted athlete and played sports which kept him out of trouble. He got involved in student government at his school and built his ENTIRE time in high school around getting an appointment to the US Air Force Academy. He studied relentlessly with very little help from his mother while his sister got into drugs and all manner of trouble. He applied tested and was accepted as a candidate for the Air Force Academy. Part of the last step in that process is to interview with the US Congressperson from the district that you live in. They approve for recommendation a certain number of candidates from High Schools in their district each year. In this particular year there were two slots and three candidates. After this interview process my Brother in Law was told by this congress person that even though he was the best candidate on paper, Had the higher GPA at 4.35 than the two other candidates, had been involved in more clubs and student government activities and had higher SAT scores she was going to give the recommendation for the two available slots to the other candidates. Her reason for this was that she was trying to gain more diversity at the Academy and the other candidates were Almost as highly qualified as my brother in law and one was female and the other was Hispanic and as minorities they deserved a chance more than him. When he questioned the fairness of this decision this congresswoman told him not to worry as a white male he had plenty of opportunities. How the hell was that fair? He was the best candidate… he was TOLD he was the best candidate but he was passed over because in her eyes his White Privilege was his built in advantage. Bull!!! Now he could have said…. the system is stacked against me… I’m the victim of reverse discrimination… that will be my EXCUSE to quit and fail but it won’t be my fault because the “System” oppressed me. Do you know what he did after the quota system in affirmative action screwed him out of what he had earned? He went into ROTC… went to CU boulder since using ROTC was THE ONLY way he was going to get a college education. He qualified for a couple private academic scholarships that amounted to about 10% of the cost of his education. He never became a pilot. He instead got his undergrad and a masters degree and retired after 24 years of active duty at the rank of Lt Colonel as a military attache working in the Foreign service at us Embassies. Along the way he went from an artillery officer slogging through the jungles of south east Asia and Korea and getting shot at in Panama as an artillery officer. His hard work and talent was spotted by a commanding officer in Korea who by the way was black and this officer helped him get in to command college and the FAO area and out of artillery. Being a FAO (Foreign Area Officer) assigned as a foreign intelligence attache to an ambassador is a post normally reserved for those privileged Academy graduates from Annapolis or one of the other military academies. That’s how the “System” works in the DOD (dept of defense) Perhaps you should spend less time worrying and making excuses about how bad the system is and worry about setting goals and getting what you want regardless of the obstacles like my brother in law did after he was born without any privilege or money and the “system” screwed him over. Just food for thought.
Bria • Oct 8, 2015 at 7:13 pm
I am desperate to understand why this was “okay’d” and published.
A critic • Oct 8, 2015 at 8:03 pm
Because freedom of speech. Its amazing to conceive, but people have different opinions.
JT Rager • Oct 9, 2015 at 8:08 am
“Freedom of speech” doesn’t apply. The author is certainly allowed to give her opinion and not be infringed by government as a result of it. She isn’t entitled to a platform, even a platform by a public school, especially when newspapers have quality standards they have to live up to.
A critic • Oct 9, 2015 at 11:42 am
You’re right she isn’t entitled to a platform. And freedom of speech does have its limits when pertaining to the private sphere. But like you said…”public” school so yes the 1st amendment does protect her speech here, not to mention this is an “opinion” article. All this opinion does is express someones view point and there is nothing wrong with that no matter how much you or I disagree with it.
JT Rager • Oct 9, 2015 at 12:03 pm
If it’s a shitty article the school doesn’t have to publish it. Free speech doesn’t entitle a public platform to just anyone. Even public school newspapers have editors. I’m pretty ok with having a shitty opinion like this in the “opinion” section of a newspaper, but if it wasn’t okay’d and published it still wouldn’t be a free speech issue.
Shocked_and_Amazed8591 • Oct 10, 2015 at 6:12 pm
My what a vocabulary. I suggest you ask for a refund, that is if you graduated
Shanon Cooper • Oct 10, 2015 at 9:11 pm
increible la verdad
Jim R • Oct 10, 2015 at 10:40 pm
JT… Before you expose your total ignorance please read the following verbatim copy of the first amendment to the constitution of the united states.Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
You will notice is states quite clearly there shall be no law “ABRIDGING THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH OR OF THE PRESS”. The press … Any press… Is the public platform for free communication amongst a free people and SHAL NOT BE ABRIDGED. PERIOD!!! it doesn’t say except if its at a college… Or except when it rubs you the wrong way… Or if its on yellow damn paper in Detroit on a Tuesday when there is a full moon!!!! Get it???? Get your ass back to remedial civics class and study the history of government and geopolitical structure so you have a clue the massive importance of those words and why our founding fathers carefully chose each word and wove them into the fabric of our Constitution. Your comments reek of an attitude of despotic censorship practiced by the likes of Joseph Stalindolph Hitler, Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro and Mao’ Tse Thung in China. You should probably also read the Federalist Papers so you have some concept of the reasoning, debate and mind set behind the crafting of our Constitution and the Bll of Rights. Until you do that you onky serve to further lay bare your ignorance of the history and purpose of the founders and how they created the best form of societal self governing structure in human history. Barring that your comments are inconsequential, uninformed and simply rude at best.
JT Rager • Oct 10, 2015 at 10:45 pm
Editorial quality control equals fascism now. Color me totally convinced.
Jim R • Oct 10, 2015 at 11:10 pm
Editorial colrol is exercised over misstatements of fact or statistic. Slander or publishing of outright falsehoods or acts of plagerism you blithering idiot!!! There is no editorial purvue over opinion providing said opinion is factual in nature providing it quotes statistical or empirical data that is presented as factual and is not libelous or slanderous toward another person. This article is an OPINION and is clearly labeled as such. It does not quote others or misquote them. It dies not quote statistics or quotation passages that need to be editorial and factual accuracy. It nsmes no other person individually in a libelous or slanderous manner accusing any idivudual by name of anything. As such this a personal opinion column written in the first person. And is definitely free speech. There is no editorial purvue at all. Otherwise I could argue the paper should have editorial review rights over your idiotic comments and ask they be removed since I don’t agree with them. News flash dude… I don’t have that right nor does the paper. Just like you don’t have the right to force the article to be taken down because you don’t like it!!! Put down your kiddie spoon and your bowl of Cap’n Crunch and move into grown up land. Along the way you might want to take a basic journalism class so you understand the powers and responsibility of an editor and the difference between editorial review and censorship.
Shanon Cooper • Oct 10, 2015 at 11:31 pm
Watch those TYPOS makes you look like a dweeb.
Jim R • Oct 11, 2015 at 12:26 am
At least you have one thing going for you. You are consistent in your juvenile emotional outburst responses. I just typed a short masters thesis summary on forms of representative governments an political structures on a phone for you and you focus on a few typos? I bet mommy and daddy are super proud of all the money they pissec away on whatever education you attempted to complete. Tell them they should demand a refund post haste!!!
JT Rager • Oct 10, 2015 at 11:31 pm
I love how you think this is what I’m saying.
Jim R • Oct 12, 2015 at 6:06 pm
Really JT you are very confusing… ? Here are your previous posts. 1)” “Freedom of speech” doesn’t apply. The author is certainly allowed to
give her opinion and not be infringed by government as a result of it.
She isn’t entitled to a platform, even a platform by a public school,
especially when newspapers have quality standards they have to live up
to” 2) “If it’s a shitty article the school doesn’t have to publish it. Free
speech doesn’t entitle a public platform to just anyone. Even public
school newspapers have editors. I’m pretty ok with having a shitty
opinion like this in the “opinion” section of a newspaper, but if it
wasn’t okay’d and published it still wouldn’t be a free speech issue.”
You say she isn’t allowed a “platform” for her opinion. That seems pretty clear to me… If she can’t use the “public platform” that she is not entitled to then it logically follows you want her material removed. Please tell me what you are saying then??? What quality standards?? the school paper gets to decide who’s opinion matters and who’s doesn’t? That sir is censorship. How can it be okayed? You are contradictory of yourself in your own posts. You say you are ok with Shitty opinions in the opinion section but then you say this woman’s opinion Isn’t entitled to a platform however her article was an OPINION PIECE???
JT Rager • Oct 12, 2015 at 7:08 pm
No, that’s not what I said. I essentially said she isn’t guaranteed a platform for her position, not that she isn’t allowed to express her opinion via print. Almost all of your accusations of me have been straw positions. I am not censoring her. I do not think that people who hold similar positions should be banned from expressing them in the school newspaper.
I also said I’m ok with her shitty position being in this paper, so you clearly aren’t paying attention. You may also be confused by me stating that it’s a shitty opinion. Perhaps I shouldn’t have said that because it confuses people who don’t know that my opinion has absolutely nothing to do with whether it should be allowed or not.
It likely varies from school to school. This doesn’t mean school newspapers have a blacklist of what opinions are ok and who is allowed to write for the paper or not, I’m quite certain that that isn’t the case. However, I’m not someone who joined a campus newspaper, so I don’t quite know what standards are generally used.
That being said, all of this ignores the fact that quality control for campus newspapers definitely exists. It is also quite true that campus newspapers reject articles all the time. If you would like to know what standards this newspaper uses, there is contact info at the bottom of the webpage you are reading.
If you think that this is a violation of free speech, then you may have found one of the biggest court cases in history, and you could be a major hero for champions of free speech. You could submit an article and file suit if it’s rejected. You could overturn journalism standards across the country if you’re right! It would be so great. But really, I don’t think it’s censorship, since plenty of campus newspapers post a variety of opinions all the time, and if they had an interest in censoring people they’re doing a pretty poor job of it.
Shanon Cooper • Oct 11, 2015 at 12:05 am
R U 4 Real??? I think that you are secretly on the Collegian staff, posing as a Heckler. I cannot believe that people like you can actually survive and cope in today’s day and age. You must have to live in an actual Cave and hunt squirrels for your sustenance. I thought that Donald Trump was bad.
Jim R • Oct 11, 2015 at 12:41 am
Haa the collegian doesn’t have the budget to pay me what I make. I’m quite sure I was running businesses creating jobs and building several businesses before you even crapped your first diaper. Secondly your assumptions about me once again show your immaturity and juvenile mind set regardless of your age. Thirdly, Donald Trump is a blow hole and an idiot. He inherited family money and has pissef much if it away being a stupid business person. I earned every penny of what i have after starting from scratch. I’ve created more jobs and supported more families than you have Facebook friends. So until you have done those things in the Real world you can shut the hell up. Free school is over you self entitled childish brat!!! Good luck… You’re going to need all you can get!!!
Shanon Cooper • Oct 11, 2015 at 12:48 am
well, I never said that they were paying you. maybe you volunteered? or do you not believe in that. also, can you please define “pissef” ??? are you jealous about my face book friends? anyway, what is a successful person like yourself wasting time trolling students and commenting on a college newspaper site? Hulk need take on person own size. Also, I think that mind set is actually one word, mindset. FYI. I actually hope that they do not block you. You are quite the relic.
Jim R • Oct 11, 2015 at 1:04 am
Wow. Another immature catty response… You are consistent… That’s not a good thing here in case you didn’t catch the sarcasm. Here’s an idea… When you grow a functional brain stem let me know. Ok?? Clearly my description of what consututes a representative republic as a form of self government was way over your head since all you can respond with are personal attacks surrounding trivial things like typos and why I’m not typing on a computer. When your brain becomes functional let me know. Until then I have no more time to waste with your foolishness.
Shanon Cooper • Oct 10, 2015 at 11:13 pm
before you expose your valuable opinions and knowledge you should really consider using your real last name if you want any of us to take your comments seriously Bro, Just Sayin — stop playing Hide and Seek, Get Real, or get off the front lawn before the real soldiers step in.
Jim R • Oct 10, 2015 at 11:24 pm
My last name is none of your business Shannon. Secondarily I could care less what a dim bulb such as yourself thinks of my opinions. Unless you can make a cogent and intelligent argument for the repeal of the first amendment and every Supreme Court decision over the history of our nation defining and codifying the concept of free speech and freedom of the press you have nothing to say to me. If you want make your logical argument for the abandonment of one of the founding principles upon which our very Republic stands please do so.
Shanon Cooper • Oct 10, 2015 at 11:27 pm
hahaha so you believe that there is actually a Republic upon which we stand??? Define it, I dare you to be coherent! Just hope you are not my neighbor, in fact, cyber bullying is a crime, were you aware of that? Maybe you should take down your comments and your personal photograph just to be on the safe side. You don’t know who you are talking to buddy.
Jim R • Oct 11, 2015 at 12:09 am
OK I will. Please read the following. Declaration of independence, The Federalist papers. The us Constitution and Bill of Rights. Our founding fathers defined it. No need for me to try to improve upon their work. That would be futile as they did an excellent job … Much better than you or I could. The difference between us is that I’m wise enough to know that unlike you. Clearly. I doubt you could grasp the difference between a democracy and a representative republic which, by the way, us what we have. In short a democracy is more of a centralized form of government over a single state or area usually a parliamentary type legislative system much like the hybrid tyoe democracy England now operated under now that the royals are simply figure heads and have no governing authority. A Republic by contrast is a confederation or association of independent states that form a union by the independent stated joining or uniting for purpose of certain limited government functions such as national defense and interstate commerce. Pay particular attention to the wording of the separations intended in the Commerce clause of the Constitution in this regard. Which by the way was violated by Obsmacare. That us why the administration had to switch gears and change the penalties written into the legislation from being called a fee as congress originally passed to a tax enforced by the IRS and not health and human services or the department of commerce. You see in a republic the intent is for the bulk of the power and control to remain with the member States . This is why each state in a republic also has it’s own constitution . so im Answer to your question. Do we still have a republic. Yes we do because the federal government has not yet completely voided the individual constitutional separation of each state. The lines however are getting blurry due to half assed and poorly crafted legislation coming out if both parties in congress … That’s right I said BOTH!!! And presidents that want to legislate from the executive branch. Still as if now the republic does stand. Each member state still has its own Capitol, elected governor by ONLY the citizen’s of THAT State and its own elected state legislature with unique state laws written by said legislature. Was that dufinutive enough??! Constitutional law and givermental structures class is over for today… Now run along and do your homework like a good girl. Ive grown weary of educating the unintelligent and Ill informed. You have your reading assignment.
Jim R • Oct 11, 2015 at 12:17 am
My apologies for some of the typos. This was done from my phone and my eyes are getting tired in case you’d want to make another immature juvenile response along those lines. Enjoy your reading no tuition payment for the education is needed
Shanon Cooper • Oct 11, 2015 at 12:38 am
You better just get some sleep baby. Wouldn’t want you texting and driving, you could end up in a ditch along a frontage road and then where would we be. Tomorrow is a new day. I am not going anywhere sweetheart, so go back, take your time and edit on a computer, so that you don’t come off as being completely unintelligible, which significant amounts of TYPOS can do to an otherwise seemingly intelligent person, write that book you have always wanted to write — remember — it is not your fault that you are having trouble understanding what is really happening because you have been systematically brainwashed just like so many other intelligent young people with tons of potential. You can and have the power to turn your life around and find real meaning in it. And have eye-drops and a laptop on hand if that is what will make things easier for you. I never like to take advantage of anyone’s disability such as dry-eye or lack of privilege, such as having to utilize a phone instead of a real laptop. I can only imagine how tired you must be at this point, probably close to delirious after all of that texting. Take a break. Eat a Kit Kat. Chocolate is good for the heart, did you know that? We can continue our discussion on the existence or extinction of “The Republic”, which is a fascinating topic, but let us schedule that further out so as not to leave out the rest of the group. I think we need to give things a few days for people to catch up. Enjoy your weekend. Que disfrutes tu fin de semana. Echale ganas acere, tu si puedes!!!!! By the way, why do you assume that I am a girl, BRO? Peace Out LOL.
Jim R • Oct 11, 2015 at 12:48 am
Whsts the point?? So you can engage in more childish behavior? I have much better things to do.
S. Jacob Stern • Oct 12, 2015 at 5:56 pm
State universities are considered government entities. And the First Amendment applies both under freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
JT Rager • Oct 12, 2015 at 6:02 pm
Then why do state university newspapers reject opinion pieces all the time? Obviously, this doesn’t sit well with people who think that universities are liberal bubbles that brainwash everyone into being politically correct social justice warriors, but it’s the truth. But there are plenty of differing opinions you’ll find in newspapers, they simply aren’t obligated to present every single one.
Let me put it another way. Free speech is allowed on campus, but not at every time and in every instance. I’m not allowed to get up and interrupt my professor and hijack a classroom to rant about whatever I want. And of course, to be thorough, you probably already know that free speech is not absolute, no yelling “fire” in a crowded theater, so on and so forth.
Douglas • Nov 6, 2015 at 8:01 am
JT, that’s quite possible the dumbest statement on this page. You must be a rabid communist then.
CSU is no longer ‘public’. It has been bought and paid for by corporations and special interests.
bfit58 • Oct 10, 2015 at 2:33 pm
Since when is it okay for one side to be heard and not the other? Bria, you need to grow up and learn a thing or two about life. Not everyone agrees with you and whether or not you succeed in life is SOLEY your own doing, not anyone else’s.
Shocked_and_Amazed8591 • Oct 10, 2015 at 6:17 pm
Since the liberals took over higher education. Instead of debating a position, the left vilifies positions they disagree with and very often resort to personal attacks when confronted with facts that make the liberal’s position untenable.
ChirpNowitzki • Oct 11, 2015 at 9:37 am
I haven’t seen conservatives acting any different.
Kevin Snyder • Oct 12, 2015 at 3:00 pm
You obviously didn’t read this opinion piece, then.
ChirpNowitzki • Oct 13, 2015 at 6:51 am
Your comment is a prime example of what I mean: You made something up about me, and then used that as your evidence that I am wrong.
Kevin Snyder • Oct 13, 2015 at 12:59 pm
Not all all, my dear Derpster. The opinion piece above is filled with solutions – the very solutions you deny conservatives offer. Therefore, I know you either didn’t read it or you assumed that no-one else did.
DerpDaDerpski • Oct 14, 2015 at 3:59 pm
Her solution is for people to shut their mouths, and to ignore their realities. That is why it is not a solution.
Here is a simple expression of modern systematic oppression:
African-Americans make up around 13% of the total American population. Despite the fact that whites & blacks use illegal drugs at roughly the same rates (with whites actually using more on average) there are more black men than white men in prison on drug charges.
http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Race_and_Prison#sthash.mfPEoAoG.dpbs
Of course, this is only one example, but I’ve found it easier to deal with one thing at a time in these forums. So how do you, Kevin Snyder, explain such disparity if race does not play a part?
Shanon Cooper • Oct 10, 2015 at 9:05 pm
um, bfit58: CSU has walk in counseling at Hartshorn Health Center — you may need to use their services very soon. 🙂 Keep up those interesting statements that make us go, “hmmmmm” !!!!! Good luck with your education because it is obvious you are going to need to study a lot !!!
ChirpNowitzki • Oct 11, 2015 at 9:38 am
“You need to grow up and learn a thing or two about life”…spoken like a true toddler.
peggy6824 • Oct 10, 2015 at 2:35 pm
Because it is true.
nickarama • Oct 10, 2015 at 7:29 pm
Truth is difficult for some people.
Shanon Cooper • Oct 10, 2015 at 9:14 pm
is nickarama your real name??? jajaja what is up with all these people hiding behind an alias??? JUST SAYIN, BRO !!!
ChirpNowitzki • Oct 11, 2015 at 9:49 am
Yes it is. Some people are dense enough to believe we live in a post-racial, colorblind world. Mostly because the truth is difficult for them to swallow.
Shanon Cooper • Oct 10, 2015 at 9:12 pm
try posting your opinion as yourself and not hiding behind your username jajaja are we a coward???
Shocked_and_Amazed8591 • Oct 10, 2015 at 6:07 pm
Let me guess… You believe in free speech ONLY if it agrees to your world view
Shanon Cooper • Oct 10, 2015 at 9:16 pm
shocked_and_amazed8591 is that your real first and last name??? Let’s stop playing Hide and Seek. Get Real or Get Off My Front Lawn Kiddos.
ChirpNowitzki • Oct 11, 2015 at 9:34 am
Shocked_and_Amazed8591: You are putting words in Bria’s mouth. She did not say CSU should not have the right to publish this piece. Just that it was poor judgment on their part to publish it.
Shanon Cooper • Oct 10, 2015 at 7:27 pm
Maybe to showcase another example of the problem and the ignorance. I actually cannot believe this has not been taken down already, given that the identity of the author has been made public. CSU sure is taking a risk by allowing this to stay up online — perhaps the Collegian is playing “Devil’s Advocate”… or someone is doing a little “Research Project” … ???
At any rate, props for not censoring this discussion because it is pretty interesting. Dialog like this needs to happen and is enlightening when it does. GO RAMS!!!!!
John Galt • Oct 12, 2015 at 7:51 pm
Yes. “desperate” is a good description.
smashabasha • Oct 8, 2015 at 2:47 pm
she needs to watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KlmvmuxzYE
Michelle • Oct 8, 2015 at 2:14 pm
How can you not realize that it was only possible for you to write this article from this perspective because of your privilege. Minorities face oppression that people like you will likely never face simply because you have the PRIVILEGE of being born into the circumstances you were. Nobody is saying you have to be constantly ashamed of it, but to simply deny its existence to make yourself feel better and less guilty is not only naive, it is incredibly selfish and insensitive. You need to realize and acknowledge the truth of your circumstances to understand that just because you don’t understand or have never experienced something doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.
Steve • Oct 9, 2015 at 8:38 pm
What is it that you think the author should be ‘ashamed of’; even if not constantly?
What is it that you think the author is ‘guilty’ of?
Michelle • Oct 10, 2015 at 2:55 am
She was born into circumstances that give her privilege other people don’t have. I’m saying that although she shouldn’t be ashamed of it, she shouldn’t pretend that she doesn’t have that privilege just because she doesn’t understand it. People in a position of privilege often feel guilty when they realize their wealth (not just materially) in comparison to others, it happens. My point is that she has an advantage over others which she got simply because she was born into it. It is insensitive for her to act as though people who have not achieved what she has are just not as ‘hardworking’ as she is. That is what she is guilty of. I hope I explained this well enough for you.
Kevin Snyder • Oct 12, 2015 at 5:56 pm
As I said above – it’s not PRIVILEGE, it’s LIBERTY! Read the freakin Constitution – if you can.
Shanon Cooper • Oct 10, 2015 at 9:23 pm
The author should be ashamed of having written a piece without having a proper education, which is not necessarily her fault since curriculum is a huge problem within the public school systems. This is just another example of how the US Department of Education needs to analyze their infrastructure because public schools are perpetuating problems for all sectors of society at this point by using the same 1970’s textbooks or teachers that were educated using those 1970’s (or earlier) textbooks. OK so maybe the “new edition” came out in the ’90’s but really, who do they think they are fooling? We learn White People History, not American History. By the way, why are you afraid to use your last name???