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by daxelrod 1318 days ago
Why do you believe "privilege" is a negative word?

Also, assuming you mean Robin DiAngelo, what of hers have you read? She's pretty clear in both White Fragility and Nice Racism in advocating against "constant, deliberate, self-flaggelation" because they center the person doing it and take energy away from productive action.
1 comments
ameister14 1318 days ago
Not the person you were replying to, but do you have positive associations with the word "privilege?"
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daxelrod 1318 days ago
My associations are mostly neutral. It can even be positive in certain contexts, like "It was a privilege to meet him".
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ameister14 1318 days ago
Even then, it's not entirely positive, is it?

It's essentially saying 'It was an honor to meet him;' that could mean that you were undeserving, or simply that it was something unusual that most people didn't get to do; if it were common, it wouldn't be a privilege, would it?

In the thread's context, usually it's associated with not granting the privilege to someone else, as well - you have a privilege that others do not, one that you do not do anything to deserve.

I don't know about you, but I don't really believe that 'white privilege' is intended as a positive. It's intended to have a negative connotation, otherwise there would be no impetus for change.

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daxelrod 1318 days ago
I agree that it denotes an imbalance.

I also agree that terms like "white privilege" are intended as criticism. However I don't see them as criticism of the individual who has the privilege, but rather of the society whose circumstances gave them that privilege. The term is an attempt to promote systems thinking.

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Izkata 1318 days ago
> It's essentially saying

> In the thread's context

> but I don't really believe that 'white privilege' is intended as a positive

It's not. Within the context of CRT it has a pretty tight definition: "undeserved benefits"

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