You're victims?

[KoSTHB]

a question here for people on Escapist that i honestly don't understand and have been noticing it more recently. In many a topic dealing with racism, discrimination some unfairness in life, why in most cases do the white straight male tries to victimize himself using only experiences in which people of other races and gender have done the proclaimed wrong.I'm not here to say that white males can't be discriminated against but i have notice that especially on the internet white males end up calling on the Race Card. i find this rather silly as in American culture being White, straight and male gives you advantages in life.

 

[Bobic]

Because they are talking about experiences that happened to them? And they are white straight males? They have never been discriminated against for being black gay women because they aren't black gay women.

 

[RJ Dalton]

Because being a complete dick is an equal opportunity occupation. It is not constrained by such trivial things as race, sex, sexuality, or species.

Damn penguins, messing with my life for shits and giggles. We should kill them all.

 

[ShadowStar42]

I think that the people who pull that card would say it's because they are the only group acceptable to be racist/sexist/culturist against or that it's because they fell that they have been wrongly limited in their opportunities by racist programs intended to assist people other than them. In reality I would say it's because they don't understand the level of privilege they've enjoyed and feel entitled to maintain that privilege permanently.

 

[ShindoL Shill]

Because they are talking about experiences that happened to them? And they are white straight males? They have never been discriminated against for being black gay women because they aren't black gay women.

so why wasn't i allowed into the feminist LGBT black power meeting?

OT: because... they're idiots?

 

[ShadowStar42]

Because being a white straight male doesn't always give you advantages in life.

Pretty much the only time this is true is if you are in a majority non-white society. This is what I mean about not knowing the level of privilege you receive.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Because they are talking about experiences that happened to them? And they are white straight males? They have never been discriminated against for being black gay women because they aren't black gay women.

First post and the thread is won. Seriously, if they've bee discriminated against then they've been discriminated against, and they have a right to say so no matter who they are. What do you want to do OP, turn round to them and say "How dare you try and claim you're a victim, using first hand experience of all things! Everyone knows that only minorities can be discriminated against. Why, next you'll be suggesting that men can also be the victims of domestic violence and other such nonsense. Now go sit in the corner whitey!"

Discrimination against someone for being white/male/middle class is just as bad as discrimination over any other race/gender/class, and if it happens we should be talking about it on the same terms, not calling them out for trying to play the victim.

 

[Something Amyss]

in American culture being White, straight and male gives you advantages in life.

It's also all they know. It's really difficult to point out privilege to folks who have never experienced any real adversity. Hell, a lot of the victimisation I see isn't even really victimisation, it's more not getting their way and crying foul.

 

[chadachada123]

a question here for people on Escapist that i honestly don't understand and have been noticing it more recently. In many a topic dealing with racism, discrimination some unfairness in life, why in most cases do the white straight male tries to victimize himself using only experiences in which people of other races and gender have done the proclaimed wrong.I'm not here to say that white males can't be discriminated against but i have notice that especially on the internet white males end up calling on the Race Card. i find this rather silly as in American culture being White, straight and male gives you advantages in life.

1) The majority of people online are white straight males. The majority of people on this forum are white straight males. The majority of complaints about an issue are going to be from white straight males.

2) In American culture, being any race or any gender or any sexual orientation brings with each some massive benefits and some massive downsides. Yes, being white, straight, and male gives a person advantages, but it also gives him disadvantages (like being told, for example, hey, you've got it "easy" in life, so we're going to give preferential treatment to others because they "don't have it as easy"). Being non-white gives different advantages in some areas, being gay or bi gives certain advantages in other areas, and being female gives some other advantages in various fields. Ever see a man get ANYTHING close to a fair ruling in a custody or alimony battle?

In the US, no race, gender, or orientation gets the "best" advantages, but every demographic gets some preferential treatment in certain areas. What constitutes the "worst" examples are completely up in the air.

 

[Iron Mal]

I think it may be because in the eyes of a lot of people (myself included admitantly) racism has been majorly scaled down and isn't as much of a huge problem as it was back in the time of our parents and grandparents (argue as much as you like but you have to admit that things have definately improved dramatically in recent history), this in combination with the much maligned and dreaded calling of the race card (again, something that sadly isn't exactly uncommon) has resulted in a bit of a situation where it isn't too hard to feel like your problems are ignored because you had the grave misfortune to be born with a caucasian penis.

Of course other races do experience discrimination and racism still (it's something we shall always have to keep working at sadly) but there is plenty of acknowledgement and sympathy for that in the western world.

If you're a straight white male and you are on the recieving end of discrimination then it can often seem like no-one really cares (people do, but it often isn't considered to be the severe dehumanising crime that 'traditional' racism, sexism or hetrophobia are considered to be).

I'm sure most people do know this but it sometimes seems like people need to be reminded that being a straight white male doesn't automatically grant you a pat on the back and an easy walk in life (we have our problems too).

 

[Powereaver]

im with the people who say they are Idiots because i totally agree that those people are just being a bunch of jerkoffs

 

[legend of duty]

Being a white straight male the only thing i can say that i feel discrimated against is when it is acceptable to offer a black only or asian only or women only scholarship but if you offer a white only scholarship it wiil be shot down by protestors such as the 250 dollar scholarship offered by Boston U. a few years back.

To me it seems weird that you can say i going to give money to him but not you because you're not this.

 

[Something Amyss]

Man, if only racism was as scaled down as it is "in the eyes of a lot of people."

 

[Jinx_Dragon]

Because being a white straight male doesn't always give you advantages in life.

And yes, white people are discriminated against. There's this misconception that all white straight males have decent jobs and decent lives when that's just not true, and it's frustrating when you try to say something to the contrary and you get shot down like I'm going to at some point in this thread.

Seconded. As someone else mentioned, being a bigot is not limited to just white males. You can be a bigot and still be black, be gay*, be a woman or any other of a million categories we view more as discriminated against instead of discriminating. Bigotry is so damn simple that many of these bigots don't even realize they are bigots, likely believing that they are somehow protected from being bigots because they are part of a minority of some sort. The 'black people can't be racist' bullshit I have heard pulled out as if it somehow refutes the evidence being presented.

Doesn't work that way and white middle aged males can still be discriminated against because of it. The down side is, as the largest minority and yes white straight males are a minority as well, that you have no legal or social recourse in these situations. The system is so much into the whole 'PC' campaign that any actions to try and stop anti-white/straight/male bigotry may in themselves be viewed as racist actions.

The ironic part is: White people are so damn good at the bigotry that we still discriminate against other white people for not being 'the correct kind of white.' Many of the people here are so far down the 'racist ladder' they have not fathomed this phenomenon. Be proud of it, you're not a racist to the point that whole groups of racist actions go right over top of your head because you can't fathom them.

Historically we 'whites' where discriminated the most against by other 'whites' then any other group out there! A lot of the stories of discrimination in the white community stem not from Asians or blacks, but from other whites. People of Irish decent will know this fact quite well, for a long time there they where discriminated against just as much as the black community. 'Hippies' are a good example of a mostly white community being discriminated against because of their culture differences, most of which are only apparent due to physical appearance.

Here is one from where I lived in Australia that is still ongoing that fits into the white on white bigotry:

Unless you are of Italian decent your chances of getting employed in the local mill, the only decent place to work, was slim to none. You only other choice will be to work the farms, sort of stuff reserved for slaves in the old days because it is long, hard and very tiring work. All for the wonderful below minimal wage amounts that you can barely live on, known as slave wages in this day and age. All because you where not Italian decent.

*That one still pisses me off to this day because it is 'my community' that is doing said discrimination, often against other branches in the same community.

 

[DarkRyter]

It's "Your Victims". Not "You're victims".

Oh wait, this isn't about the people I'm keeping in my basement to torture? Nevermind, then. Carry on.

 

[Iron Mal]

It's also all they know. It's really difficult to point out privilege to folks who have never experienced any real adversity. Hell, a lot of the victimisation I see isn't even really victimisation, it's more not getting their way and crying foul.

Sorry for the double post but this is sort of what I'm talking about in my mini-essay above.

Plenty of white people have faced adversity and trouble, everyone at some point in their life has faced real adversity and conflict and yet it's a very easy assumption to make that white people are born with a silver spoon in their mouths because the world's elite tends to be mostly white.

They reflect the experiences of white people as much as pimps and gangstas reflect all black people (you see how your view could very easily come off as racist in it's own right?).

 

[Cavan]

I get the interesting feeling that this thread is discriminatory towards white straight men in and of itself.

 

[zehydra]

"in American culture being White, straight and male gives you advantages in life."

I have a difficult time accepting this premise. I don't think that the white male is discriminated against, but I also have a hard time believing that just because I'm white, male, and straight, that I have it BETTER automatically than anyone who is not white, anyone who is a woman, and anyone who is not straight.

White privilege is frankly, bullshit, for the same reason that racism is bullshit.

It relies on correlative data and nothing more.

 

[KoSTHB]

1) The majority of people online are white straight males. The majority of people on this forum are white straight males. The majority of complaints about an issue are going to be from white straight males.

2) In American culture, being any race or any gender or any sexual orientation brings with each some massive benefits and some massive downsides. Yes, being white, straight, and male gives a person advantages, but it also gives him disadvantages (like being told, for example, hey, you've got it "easy" in life, so we're going to give preferential treatment to others because they "don't have it as easy"). Being non-white gives different advantages in some areas, being gay or bi gives certain advantages in other areas, and being female gives some other advantages in various fields. Ever see a man get ANYTHING close to a fair ruling in a custody or alimony battle?

In the US, no race, gender, or orientation gets the "best" advantages, but every demographic gets some preferential treatment in certain areas. What constitutes the "worst" examples are completely up in the air.

tell me in what type of demographic in America is a White male is more likely to be arrested and put in jail than a person of another race "provided that there is a population of other races"? despite being the majority in the US most prison populations are non-whites.