It isn't white privilege

[L777]

AIBU to think white privilege should be BAME disprivilege?
I think the majority of the time, white people are treated as everyone should be treated, and BAME are treated badly. So white aren't privileged, BAME are disprivileged?
I of course think everyone race/demographic should be treated equally. This should be achieved by treating BAME better, not white worse? If it was white privilege, we would have to treat white people worse for everything to be as it should... for example, I don't think people get job offers because they're white. I think black people dont get job offers because they're black.


I know this isn't very significant or going to change the world, just thinking out loud

[L777]

Bump

[Popc0rn]

I don't understand what you mean to be honest.

[Waffles80]

Is this your shitty way of saying all lives matter? Like the PP I do not get what you’re saying.

It’s a privilege to have every single system skewed in your favour.

[Popc0rn]

Sums up what I understand to be "white privilege".

Your comment of "I of course think everyone race/demographic should be treated equally. This should be achieved by treating BAME better, not white worse? If it was white privilege, we would have to treat white people worse for everything to be as it should." - this doesn't make sense to me.

[sophiasnail]

This seems sensible. Being treated fairly and equally should be a right not a privilege.

[KylieKoKo]

From the point of view of BAME people being white is a privileged existence compared with not being white. We need to think about racism from the viewpoint of the oppressed rather than white people if it's going to change.

[FlossieTeacakesFurCoat18]

I get what you're saying op. The way white people are treated should be the way everyone is treated so anything less than that is a disadvantage.

Is just catchier to say white privilege

[L777]

White privilege = white people are treated favourably.
BAME disprivilege = BAME are treated unfavourably.

White people are undoubtedly treated better than BAME. I think this is because BAME are treated badly, not because white are treated particularly well.

Nothing at all to do with black lives matter / all lives matter?

[AintOverUntilTheCatLadySings]

I've 100% been treated more favourably because I'm white in certain situations (rather than not being treated badly for being BAME). I've had people offer us discounts at a car rental for being white, neighbours saying they're glad a white couple moved next door, and someone from freecycle saying they chose me to receive an item because I'm white. (Black) Midwives have spoken in earshot about how I need different care than a black woman would.

I have no doubt that I've benefited in many more ways that I'm unaware of for having a white sounding name, without taking my white sounding voice and white skin colour into consideration.

[nanbread]

Same difference. Privilege just means to have an advantage or benefit. To get rid of privilege you can either take those benefits away, or give the unprivileged those benefits.

[safariboot]

Speaking as a white British person.

One, "BAME disprivilege" is awkward to say.

Two, by referring to white privilege as such, I think that's much better for raising awareness of the issue. It makes it about the experience of white people and how it compares to other ethnicities. It just might make us stop and think for a moment and realise that no, not everyone has it the same way as we do. Not everyone can walk down the street without fear of police harassment, not everyone can email their CV and have the recruiter read past the name line, and doubtless a thousand other things I haven't thought of right now. The things we take for granted are not universal, not even in our own city and country.

By calling it BAME disprivilege, or indeed racial discrimination, it makes it that much easier for a white person to ignore as irrelevant to them without giving it a second thought.

[AintOverUntilTheCatLadySings]

I do understand what you mean - bame people are treated unfavourably, but it's naive to think that white people dont get an extra leg up for being white.

Same as men, good looking people and the rich get treated more favourably than women, the less genetically blessed and poorer folk.

[Sparklfairy]

I get what you mean. How white people are automatically treated shouldn't be a privilege but a basic right for everyone.

[L777]

@Popc0rn the middle picture you posted. IMO this perfectly described the absence of BAME disprivilege, not white privilege. Those are basic things that everyone should be able to do. Doing them doesn't make you privileged, not being able to do them makes you disprivileged (I think)

[nanbread]

You could argue that you seeing white people as the "standard" is in fact white privilege in action!

[Popc0rn]

But white people are treated better than BAME people in general?

Collins Dictionary definition of privilege: To privilege someone or something means to treat them better or differently than other people or things rather than treat them all equally.

Sounds apt to me?

[nanbread]

Those are basic things that everyone should be able to do. Doing them doesn't make you privileged, not being able to do them makes you disprivileged (I think)

I know what you're getting at but I think it's just a different interpretation of what the word "privileged" means. See my post at 21:02

[Pipandmum]

Semantics. No one is saying white people should be treated worse.
The issue is it is so ingrained within society that just saying all should be treated equally doesn't make it so.

[Buttercup77]

I understand what you mean OP. It’s the same way of saying exactly the same thing mathematically (Group A having an advantage from a standard deviation point is the same as group B having a disadvantage from a standard deviation point as an effect cause ) but perhaps more people might understand the term. I think it’s semantics for a lot of people. The word advantage instead of privilege might be more helpful to some

[L777]

@Waffles80 is every system skewed in the favour of whites? Or is it skewed against BAME?

[AIMD]

No one is suggesting treating white people worse though are they. The term white privilege is useful because it places the onus on white people to recognise the ways in which being white has afforded them an advantage.

Its not just about black people being treated worse, it’s about white people actively benefiting from being white.

[Popc0rn]

"is every system skewed in the favour of whites? Or is it skewed against BAME?"

It's both. If you favour one group then you put others at a disadvantage.

[L777]

@safariboot the recruiter not reading past the name line is 100% IMO black disprivilege, not white privilege.

[GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat]

I can’t get over bumping your own thread after two minutes!!

[NailsNeedDoing]

I know what you mean OP, I’ve thought along the same lines as that when reading threads on here and thinking about children who are said to be disadvantaged. It doesn’t sound right to me because it comes across as if others have real advantages when they often don’t, and it implies that someone or something is actively holding the disadvantaged back while benefiting and helping others.

Of course disadvantage with the meaning we know it to have exists in the same way that white privilege exists.

You’re right really in that it shouldn’t be called ‘privilege’ when it’s really just the basic standard of how people should treat each other. But that’s what it’s been called and it’s going to stick, so you may as well get used to it.