Friday, March 18, 2011

Tales from The Book: Privilege, Contempt


Louis CK makes a very funny bit out of metacognition about white privilege, and in doing so hints at the greatest impediment to final, or even provisional, acceptance by the vast majority of White folks of the reality of "white privilege." Which is this:
Once you acknowledge the existence of it, NOTHING that you are or believe yourself to be does not become diminished, somehow an unearned, undeserved benefit accruing to me at the EXPENSE of someone else.

Racism does not consist solely, or even mostly in individual acts of bigotry and/or discrimination. Racism is a systemic inclination to actively privilege the interests of a "superior" group over those of "inferiors," where all contribute to the commonweal, while also actively reducing benefits due as equal participants to the despised others.

In a racist culture (which no one denies the US STILL is, and ALWAYS was), any "good" you gain aas a member of the privileged group is at least in some--and not a small--part the result of your appearance; NOT yours due to your intelligence, drive, virtue, self-sacrifice, honor, loyalty, hunger, and desire, honey, but the color of your skin.

It's a jarring thought. Folks have difficulty with the concept.


Contempt
Woody wonders if those to whom Markey is addressing his remarks realize that Markey is coming as close to naming them ALL knuckle-dragging, ridged-browed, prognathous-jawed, dumb-ass, turd-gobbling, worthless, throw-back, mother-and-sister-fucking troglodytes as the decorum of the chamber will permit. I hope so, though I have my doubts.
And the italicized bit may be my best test-string of the day, though "The Faceless Drones of Fuckerberg" is in close contention.

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