I feel bad because I'm white... :(

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I love being white. enough said!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG4f9zR5yzY[/youtube]

Oh dear lord.
This reminds me of the episode of The Office where Michael Scott tries to defend doing a Chris Rock stand-up bit.

Henbane is correct (and is generally correct with respect to the ancestry of most people), and the fact that wefunction doesn't get that is what makes hir as equally wrong as anyone else who buys into the privilege meme.

Or alternatively: racist, n. - one who believes in the existence of races (as opposed to facing the messy umpteen billionfold complexity of human genetics and ancestry.)

It's amazing how far people will go to justify themselves. Privilege is not a new concept, not in identification or practice; but, I suppose I can see where someone would believe it only began to exist from the moment that they learned about it.

I can kind of relate to this. I hate American history for this reason, we have yet to go over a single chapter without mentioning something about slavery/segregation. It absolutely disgusts me. I prefer not to think about it.

Yeah, I know. He shouldn't have to defend it. Television these days.

Don't bother me.

I wasn't aware I was bothering you.

I use to get hung up on being an American rather than white. These days it doesn't bother me like it use to. People who assume I'm bad just because I was born on American soil only makes them as ignorant as the neo-patriot Americans or racist whites. Distinguishing a person on the basis of a group they share in common for instance, race, religion, nation, gender, etc is in essence a form of discrimination.

I used to feel the same way when I was younger. I used to think about the many ways that whites treated the other races up until the 60s. I used to get angry just thinking about it, and I'm glad that things have changed for the better for all races, over the past 200 years.

I'm not sure if you were aiming this dismissive comment at anyone in particular.

I tend to see privilege as a non racial issue. But maybe that's a British thing.

I see it firstly as coming from class. The landed gentry, inherited wealth, money to pay for private education, going to Oxford or Cambridge, knowing the 'right' people, being able to afford unpaid internships and being supported by mummy and daddy while forging a career in London. Generations of people who have had power and influence, and have passed this on to their children, without the children necessarily having the talent or having worked hard to earn it. See David Cameron and George Osborne (Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer).

But there is another kind of privilege. Coming from a family, no matter how poor, where education matters. In this country, poor white boys tend to do very badly at school, because there is no longer a culture of education in many poor white families. Bangladeshi and Pakistani kids don't tend to do very well either. Conversely Hindu and Sikh children and Chinese children, do well, because their parents prize education and working hard. While educational attainment can be broken down by racial/religious group, it can be seen that it is not just poverty and race that make the difference. It is the attitude of the family to education. If a child is encouraged at home, has discipline and works hard, health and ability permitting, they can do well. For example, I've seen a lot of psychiatrists in my life, 90% have been of Indian origin.

I recognise that America is different, its history is very different to the UK's. But I thought America was the land of opportunity?

America has serious class issues.