[vailpass]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

Certainly possible. However his definition of systemic oppression being when "you don’t believe that you have the equal opportunity for success" is very indicative to me of the man's white privilege blinding him to the felt realities of what it feels like to live under these conditions we collectively call oppression.

I think its important too that, in dialogues about race, white folks stop seeing words like "racist" or "privilege" as these harsh, damning things. They aren't. if someone says something that upholds or reinforces the systems that create & enable racial inequalities, well, that's by definition a racist speech act. Doesn't mean that the person is A Racist. It means that they said something that embodies a structural inequality, and strengthens it because of who said it. To admit one's privileges in life is simply to be aware of how you benefit, by choice or not, from the structures of society that enable & create inequalities.

In other words, you can act in racist ways without harboring prejudice. You can be racist in a given moment without being bigoted. Your unexamined privilege could cause you to act or think in such a way that is hurtful or erasing towards the experiences of others, while never intending to be so.

Oh for Christ sake, toughen up.