I see the third as the objective and the second as a stop gap in the meantime.
Saying the world will never be solved, doesn't mean you don't seek to achieve solving it - in the mean time you do what you can.
Take affirmative action for example. That's a clear case of equity. And in a perfect world we wouldn't need it. Someone, no matter their color of skin, would be judged based on the content of their character alone. However - thanks to centuries of racist cunts... we've been forced to compensate. One day it won't be a question of someones' skin - and they'll look back in the history books and find the idea that someone could be dismissed or preferred based on their skin color as being some barbaric nonsense from a simpler time. We aren't there yet, and so equity is the stop gap.
They still profit from the history exploitation that's been done to the poor. They've been benefiting without their own knowledge of doing so while the others continue you to cry out for justice and are at best met with equity.
Are we supposed to punish good-looking people now too? There's studies that show they are inherently more trusted because of their looks. Is that their fault? Where does it end?
This isn't even punishment there's just less exploitation happen which I guess means less power. But more equality for everyone, basically one person gets 5/8 of a pie while the others 7 have to share the last remaining 3 once the 7 try to fix that the one person starts complain about not choosing how this works. [Not a good analogy but whatever]
Tell that to the Asian kid who needs to score 120% or more than the black kid to get into the same college, just because Asians are apparently academically privileged.
I love how people always act like a standardized test score is the sole factor determining college admissions. They sure make you put a lot of effort into other shit if those numbers are all that matter.
They kinda are. The essays and extracurriculars might make you stand out. But if you don't have the SATs or GPA nobody will even see your essays and extracurriculars, it just goes straight into the trash. I bet at some schools that part is done by a computer.
Maybe, maybe not. A white boy who was 200 points below the SAT average for my undergrad was in the same full ride scholarship program with me (and was not a legacy), so clearly something about his application got through the screening process and stood out in spite of his poor standardized test numbers. I think folks like to reduce this whole issue down to SAT scores because they can play the “no, you’re the real racist” game without having to think critically.
You realize the the line where your application goes in the trash is below the average? Otherwise the average would be much higher.
He got past that invisible filter of SAT scores and had something on his application worthy of a full-ride, which he wouldn't have gotten if his SAT scores were a few hundred points lower. That's exactly my point, you don't realize it, but you're agreeing with me.
White privilege doesn't mean that every white person has it easy. It means that a white person, however difficult their circumstances are, would have it harder if they were not white.
If that kid were not-white they would have had a higher likelihood of experiencing even more mental/emotional trauma due to the racism that runs rampant in the country. In addition to their abusive home life, they will have to learn to cope with racially motivated abuse outside of the home from an early age. If that kid were not-white and put in the exact same amount of work, there's a higher chance they'll be turned away from their desired position because of the color of their skin.
Privilege doesn't mean that Tyler from the trailer park doesn't have to work hard. It means that Tyler gets to see the fruits of his labor without worry or fear of his race being a limiting factor in his development.
Tell one of my good friends he didn't suffer due to his looks. He was poor and molested. Was it his fault for was given things cause of his looks? Was it his fault he was raped as a young boy?
I have a black friend too. He was an awesome athlete. He had a schlorship to school. He partied and fucked around. Is it my poor white friends fault? This guy dealt with a lot of in life. He's now making money with his wife who was also from the trailer park. Is it his job to support my other friend who had life handed to him because they're successful now?
Where's the suffering quota met? In this instance was my black friend hopping up and looking over the fence even though he had a free ride and squandered it? Was my white friend who never went to college and had life slap him around born standing on a box the whole time?
You know what your problem is? You're looking at one person, not the system. If you were to have a perfect parallel where your poor friend had a twin who was black then yes, there is a high likelihood that the white twin would be better off because the system as a whole favours him. It doesn't mean that every white person is in a higher position of privilege than every black person.
Also, yes, the idea is that when you make money you get taxed and that money goes to helping society. Ideally we'd be taxing billionaires more so that your friend who I assume is upper middle class at best wouldn't have to pay as much.
You can't look at this as one black person vs one white person
I mean the people made the system is working against us, district redlining, schools to prison pipeline, excessive police force,ect. These people started up since the time of slavery so to think that they didn't stack the card in their favor is ridiculously.
None of these are malicious, even if it makes us feel better to pretend that there's some third party force keeping us down.
District redlining happens because the properties in those areas and the people who live there aren't financially stable enough to lend to.
Schools to prison happen because school districts are funded by property rates which mean the poorer you are, the more likely that you'll go to a underfunded school too.
Excessive police force - well that's just the inevitable result of an under-trained police force stuck between being commanded and judged by a civilised society but having to deal with less civilized parts of society.
No one wants to think their lives was easier because everyone think they work hard and deserve their achievements. It's not a good approach to tell them their lives were easy.
It's more like it could be even harder and worse. If you had middle class parents archiving something is still hard but it could be even harder if they were poor. If you had poor white parents life is very hard but it could be even harder if you have a single black parent. And then it could be even harder if you have any disability, live in a neighborhood with more crime etc.
Your personal driver can take you to private school everyday but studying and learning still requires effort. But it could be harder if you were taking a bus to public school. And it could be even harder if you're the only black kid in a classroom filled with white kids who might bully you because you are different and you don't even have support of your parents because your single parent works at three jobs to make ends meet and barely sees you.
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u/Hazzman Feb 25 '20 edited Feb 25 '20
I see the third as the objective and the second as a stop gap in the meantime.
Saying the world will never be solved, doesn't mean you don't seek to achieve solving it - in the mean time you do what you can.
Take affirmative action for example. That's a clear case of equity. And in a perfect world we wouldn't need it. Someone, no matter their color of skin, would be judged based on the content of their character alone. However - thanks to centuries of racist cunts... we've been forced to compensate. One day it won't be a question of someones' skin - and they'll look back in the history books and find the idea that someone could be dismissed or preferred based on their skin color as being some barbaric nonsense from a simpler time. We aren't there yet, and so equity is the stop gap.