AIBU to think that everybody should watch this? It opened my eyes

[almutasakieun]

As for where I'd be in the race, I'd probably have gotten a couple of headstarts, but by no means all.

I just thought it was interesting.

It is very powerful and sad also - I hope it shows people not to judge others so quickly but to realise that lots of people fight a lot of battles and not everyone has the same opportunities or upbringing

The video is a short clip of a study looking at all of the factors mentioned - the state of state education in inner city schools with higher ethnic minorities

In London they are very good. It’s schools in the English and Welsh regions which have problems. And white working class boys and girls are the worst attaining educational group, boys by a country mile.

I think I liken it to the ones who despite starting way back still took off from the starting gate and quickly overtook some who had been handed some privilege and were giving a lot of those in front a run for their money.

Also the barriers were on top of all the other things I lacked that kept me back near the starting line

My heart goes out to the youngesters, who didn’t move. I would have moved a lot. But I don’t feel as advantaged as my place due to my home life as a child.

sailorcherries
Yes, you have a point. Although I think even the ACE’s are quite narrow. The don’t deal with ill / disabled individual or parents, death, sex and ethnicity of the individual etc

So those would also just be a start. This as has been discussed to illustrate a situation in the US. It simply isn’t possible to factor in all influencers.

Bejam you are comparing apples and oranges. The study is about America, inner city state schools in New York, Chicago, LA and so on cannot be compared to inner city London schools.

This video pisses me off so much, its just a dig at single parents.

My parents are still together and I would have taken most of the steps forward, but my parents were also abusive, so that cancels out every advantage I had and more.

Mummy definitely ACEs are flawed, as they assume all children are at an equal start point regardless of family income, ethnicities etc which already influence these factors.
I have an ACE score of 5, putting me in the higher risk category but on that video I would have been one of the more privileged individuals. The video had a specific purpose, for those viewing it from a different perspective they'd need to alter the questions.

In the UK, anyone from any background, can achieve the highest office and get what they want.

They can choose free education, or drugs and early pregnancy- it is all on offer for our young people.

I like this video...sure its flawed in all sorts of ways...and its particularly a real shame he references race in saying the black people at the back would smoke those at the front - because there ARE white people at the back too, even in this video and obviously in the wider world.

But it is powerful and it does do a good job of explaining to people who don't get it BUT ARE WILLING TO LEARN what privilege is all about.

You can't generally do anything for the people that dont want to hear it!

sailorcherries
Wow! I can see why you think this video is flawed. But yes, it does serve a purpose.

Mobyduck - really. Anybody can achieve anything. So who is going to do the 95% of jobs which aren't the highest office??? We can't all achieve the highest positions, only a small percentage can. There is no logic to your argument.

This video contains an unintended irony. It shows a "race", but the video completely ignores the privilege associated with race (white) and sex (male).

While it contains a helpful message about privilege, I think it also has attributes of being racist, sexist evangelical propaganda. Notice how in the video, all the "black dudes" lack a father figure, while all the white females and males are joyfully and repeatedly taking their two steps forward, implying that being white means you probably live with your two wealthy parents who are married to each other, whereas being black means the opposite.

Wealth and family matters a lot in giving some people a head start. But, race, sex, body shape, and plenty of other factors that lead to some people negatively judged due to other people's implicit biases also matter a lot

The filmmaker's choice to attribute "disadvantage" exclusively on not coming from a "traditional" family with a "father figure" (because mothers apparently don't matter ) and on differences in wealth is a way to not see or address the disadvantages that stem directly from being of a certain race or sex, regardless of family structure.

Mummy - the only purpose it serves is to piss people off.

mobyduck Thats not true. The system has been dismantled, there are children who struggle to attend school as they have no sanitary protection, there are record numbers of children being taken into care as their parents cannot feed and clothe them.

The filmmaker's choice to attribute "disadvantage" exclusively on not coming from a "traditional" family with a "father figure" (because mothers apparently don't matter ) and on differences in wealth is a way to not see or address the disadvantages that stem directly from being of a certain race or sex, regardless of family structure.

Exactly. It's this kind of bullshit that pisses me off the most.

Maybe we could make one that did the same thing but cured all those problems...you know, exchange 'had a father figure' for 'had two parents in the home', and maybe pointed out that even if answering yes to everything the men would be further forward than the women because they have longer legs...

and no praying at the end...coz...yuck.

Notice how in the video, all the "black dudes" lack a father figure, while all the white females and males are joyfully and repeatedly taking their two steps forward, implying that being white means you probably live with your two wealthy parents who are married to each other, whereas being black means the opposite

I am white and from a single parent dysfunctional family.
I know many white single mothers or children from single parent familes.

I do think though there was a bit of racial profiling going on

YankeeDad
Namechanger
I was thinking about it as thought provoking for the people, who stepped forward rather than pissing off those, who feel disenfranchised..... I didn’t see it as stating mothers to be inferior to fathers.

I read somewhere / saw I think that the majority of those involved in knife crime - perp or victim - in the U.K. are not Caucasian, are male and iirc are statically more likely to be lacking a father or father figure.

Is this not the point he’s making?

Of course there are shit hot single mums and Mumsnet is populated by parents, who strive to be the best parent they can regardless of their family set up. On the flip side there are living waste of space fathers living with the other parent as a family unit.

Sorry I didn’t explain myself well there. I wasn’t try to insinuate anyone is predisposed to anything.

I came across this as it was shared on Facebook by a Nigerian friend. So it obviously didn't insult him.
I shared it as a single mother, so it hasn't insulted me either.

I shared it as I think it's a powerful physical representation of privilege. It's not something we always think about. Yes, you can occasionally envy those born with a silver spoon in their mouths, but you don't always think of those left on the starting line. So I liked it.

It's not intended to be all encompassing - it's intended to physically represent how far ahead privilege can get you.

It shows black kids without dads because 85% of them don't have one in the home.
And that's the #1 factor in 'failure'.
Cue all the Mumsnetters saying we'll I'm a single mum and my kids are just fine.
Read 'Freakanomics' . It's a bit of an eye opener.

What is it about black men that makes them so much more likely to be absent fathers?

Why are there so unwilling to invest themselves in helping their sons?

That thought crossed my mind too. I guess, it's history repeating itself as they probably didn't have a strong father figure, so they don't have anything to model themselves on.