I've never once ever stated that I have the right way or the only way. I've only said that tellling people to be quiet about how they've been hurt is not the answer and will never bring about equality - which seems self-evident and hardly controversial. Other than that, I'm open to suggestions. You sound all rational and reasonable now (except for that accusation), but where was that person when this story was being written? You tell me now that you made plans to have a further conversation with that woman, but you didn't say that in your story. Instead you used that as an opener, as an example of how out of touch Black people are with what privilege actually is (even though you've said that most white people actually understand it). And you see no issue with that? You see no race-baiting in that, no disingenousness? 🤦♀️
I didn't say you were blowing a dog whistle for racists because I disagree with you. You've never heard me use that term before and I've disagreed with you plenty in the past. I used that term because it's exactly what you did in this story, and I have already quoted to you the various ways that you did it, as well as what I just noted above.
Trying to be "raceblind" is incredibly offensive and won't work because it seeks to erase the experiences of BIPOC that they've had due to their race. It's telling them that stuff doesn't matter, but it does matter to them because it's a part of their life experiences. Trying to whitewash that so we can all get along is destructive and speaks to white comfort more than anything. Trying to be "raceblind" is not how you bring about equality.
"Colorblindness creates a society that denies their negative racial experiences, rejects their cultural heritage, and invalidates their unique perspectives."
How can you with a straight face say "I'll make the economic argument because that's what I think" and then the next minute talk about how privilege is a multifaceted thing that all white people recognize as such? You're talking out of both sides of your face yet again! Is privilege primarily about economic status or is it a lot more complex than that? Which one is it?! And what about what you said to me about how the poorest white child still has privilege over Black millionaires? Where does that fit into this continued justification of talking about economics as the main attribute of privilege?
And if most white people already understand the complexities of privilege but some don't, doesn't it make more sense for other white people to help them to understand than it does to validate their fears and stoke the fires of hatred and division by throwing out inflammatory statements about Swiss houses and champagne socials? I know that's a lot more fun and gets a lot more claps, but it's not exactly moving the ball in the direction that you say that you want to.
There's a huge difference between what someone like Marley K writes and what someone like me writes, and if you don't recognize that, it's because you don't want to because it suits your own purposes. The fact that you have a hard time responding to what I've actually said and not lumping me in with all kinds of other people speaks volumes about your ability to be rational on this topic.
Socialism is an economic system. Patriarchy is a social system. They intersect to be sure, but you can't solve social problems with economics alone. And you sure can't impact it for the good when what you are doing is stoking the flames of division and hatred by blowing racist dog whistles and enoying the claps and affirming comments of those you claim to be concerned about going further to the right. How the fuck are you going to reduce racism by appealing to racists and reinforcing their beliefs while telling marginalized people to stop talking about their negative experiences?
You have yet to explain to me how that is actually going to work. Financial empowerment doesn't address deep-seated beliefs about the inferiority of certain demographics and even if it did, that for the most part isn't what you were talking about in this story. Instead, you were mostly giving examples of how Black people and their allies are despicably confused about what actual privilege is. Those are the dog whistles I've been talking about.
Sociologists in the US say that about 20-25% of Americans are still overtly racist, and many others have subconscious views about the proper place of minorities in the pyramid of power even if they hold conscious beliefs about equality. I'm going to guess that the UK is probably around the same. So, in the face of that, how will equality suddenly manifest if we just stop talking about it and pretend that everyone has had the same life experiences and cell memory (science now recognizes that trauma is passed down via DNA at least from grandparents and perhaps earlier)? Most of racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. is unconscious bias. How is that going to be addressed if we aren't allowed to talk about it? As it stands right now, people with identical CVs are much more likely to be called for an interview if they have a white male sounding name. How will economic empowerment address that?
Unless you can answer that for me, I don't think there's a lot more for us to say to each other.
