<p>Well, the victimhood industry is the biggest beneficiary of victimhood and that’s where the phrase originated. I really think the biggest misunderstanding here is that one person’s success somehow correlates to another person’s failure. It doesn’t.</p>
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I think you kind of prove my point, Bay. Fortgang didn’t earn any of that money that made his young life so easy. So maybe he does think it just “is.” As a result, he may not have a very good understanding for people for whom it “isn’t.” But if he doesn’t have to apologize for being rich, because somebody other than him made good decisions, neither should a poor kid be blamed for being poor if somebody other than him made bad decisions. I think I mentioned the expression upthread, “born on third base and thinks he hit a triple.” Fortgang gets the benefit of his parents and grandparents’ hard work and sacrifice–but he seems to think he should get credit for it. But he’ll have to do more than get into Princeton to deserve that kind of credit.</p>
<p>“This is it in a nutshell. The divide is generally along lines of people who want to play a role in helping rectify inequality and people who only think of themselves.”</p>
<p>That’s it, sally, some people only care about themselves. They’re just selfish, I tell you! And those kindly people who want to play a role in helping rectify inequality are going to be thrilled if someone is promoted or hired above them, no matter the qualifications.</p>
<p>I’m sure the girls who are applying to low acceptance rate liberal arts colleges are absolutely thrilled that it’s much harder to get into these schools because they’re female.</p>
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Are you suggesting that people who believe in a principle tend to reject it if it has a negative effect on themselves? If they do, it wasn’t much of a principle in the first place. But I think this is a typical knock on people who hold principles different from one’s own.</p>
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<p>Hard to get that message across when plenty of “respectable” people use recreational drugs with mind altering characteristics, particularly alcohol. Note that alcohol consumption by race in the US is higher among white people, compared to black or Asian people: <a href=“http://www.samhsa.gov/data/nsduh/2k10nsduh/2k10results.htm#Fig3-2”>http://www.samhsa.gov/data/nsduh/2k10nsduh/2k10results.htm#Fig3-2</a></p>
<p>While there are plenty of people who really do believe that racism is dead, I think that’s mostly a strawman when it comes to the settings in which the term is most likely to be used.</p>
<p>The problem isn’t primarily that someone told a guy like Fortgang, who may very well be an extremist, immature jerk, that he was privileged - although even then, I think the definition of what constitutes an offensive opinion has become too broad. One can disagree with someone who is against immigration reform or affirmative action without classifying that opinion as racist; both of those perspective MAY, but do not invariably, come from a belief that any racial group is less than any other. Of course everyone’s views are shaped by experience, but one can, to the best of his or her ability, take into account the perspectives of other groups without being convinced. One of the implications of invocations of privilege is sometimes “The non-privileged perspective is automatically correct and must obviously be shared by all good and decent people. The white, heterosexual male needs to learn to understand me, but I can’t possibly derive any value from conversation with him - my biases somehow don’t count.”</p>
<p>The bigger issue to me, however, is that privilege is often used in a broadly condemnatory way in the most generally progressive and sensitive environments. Having a campaign against, say, racial profiling by campus police is one thing. But when a bunch of students who are often themselves among the most privileged members of their group start making blanket, resentful claims that suggest that their campus is an often hostile place where the experience of minorities is a daily litany of “microaggressions” from friends, faculty, and classmates, yes, I do start to get tired of it - and start questioning how they are defining “hostile” and “microagression.” </p>
<p>Hunt,</p>
<p>Legacies and development admits (the “undeserving” by definition) aside, I didn’t think Princeton admitted students simply because their parents were financially successful. I assumed the students were expected to do something pretty amazing within that context in order to earn a spot there. Maybe I’m wrong. In which case, I await Princeton’s apology to all of its “deserving” students for bestowing more privilege onto these “undeserving” admits.</p>
<p>I’m sure Fortgang had excellent grades and scores, and probably good ECs, too. It is easier for rich kids to get those things, of course, as long as they have the innate talents. Also, I tend to prefer people who are grateful for their good fortune to those who seem to have a different attitude.</p>
<p>I thought he sounded pretty grateful about his parents struggles and success.</p>
<p>I think we see different things in what he says in this piece. I see a swaggering phony who enjoys stirring up people he disagrees with. Obviously, some people see something different.</p>
<p>I see a snotty blowhard, but I’m hoping for his sake that some of it is just immaturity that he will grow out of. Certainly his writing style of trying to impress us by using big words is immature.</p>
<p>He may be a swaggering phony and a snotty blowhard, but that doesn’t mean that his particular perspective about the phrase “check your privilege” is wrong or should be censored. As they say, don’t kill the messenger.</p>
<p>While we’re calling him names, I’d like to add: whiner. What, these people who say “check your privilege” suddenly leap out the window, leaving him no opportunity to respond? There are roving bands of progressives who say those three magic words and nothing more? More likely, because Princeton is pretty liberal, this poor fellow has been on the minority side of a bunch of arguments, in the course of which it was pointed out to him that his views were colored by his privileged status. Since most of the people around him agree, that makes him feel like a loser, and so this is how he regains some confidence. It’s a shame, really. Perhaps others can hold their own in those kinds of conversations without running to others to complain.</p>
<p>“I think we see different things in what he says in this piece. I see a swaggering phony who enjoys stirring up people he disagrees with. Obviously, some people see something different.”</p>
<p>That’s for sure. I don’t know how someone can read this without recognizing the several paragraphs that he devoted to talking about the struggles and effort of his family, and thinking that he’s not grateful to them. Or maybe appreciation can only be considered if it’s given to the government?</p>
<p>I also find it odd to bother to critique someone’s writing style. I guess if you can’t adequately argue with the substance, attack the person or the grammar.</p>
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<p>Although I have actually never heard it said, it is my understanding that this is pretty much how it usually goes. Fortgang says something, others or the prof shout out “check your privilege” in response and move on, and his opinion is dismissed and voice is then silenced. </p>
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<p>To me, those several paragraphs read like more bragging. He’s superior to you and a victim of the cruel conspiracy to silence and disempower white males, and not only that but his grandparents are superior to your grandparents. Humility? Gratitude? I don’t see it. </p>
<p>His grandparents deserve a lot of acknowledgement. Why must you feel competitive about that?</p>
<p>’“To me, those several paragraphs read like more bragging. He’s superior to you and a victim of the cruel conspiracy to silence and disempower white males, and not only that but his grandparents are superior to your grandparents.”</p>
<p>Writing about how his family was shot into an open grave is bragging? Put into hard labor camps? Concentration camps?</p>
<p>You have an odd idea about what bragging is. I don’t see that writing about your grandparents hard work, struggles, and suffering is bragging. It is your family history.</p>
<p>’“To me, those several paragraphs read like more bragging. He’s superior to you and a victim of the cruel conspiracy to silence and disempower white males, and not only that but his grandparents are superior to your grandparents.”</p>
<p>Writing about how his family was shot into an open grave is bragging? Put into hard labor camps? Concentration camps?</p>
<p>You have an odd idea about what bragging is. I don’t see that writing about your grandparents hard work, struggles, and suffering is bragging. It is your family history.</p>
<p>It’s useful to contrast Fortgang’s attitude with that of the Columbia student who responded in Al Jazeera (I linked it earlier but SINCE WE NO LONGER HAVE POST NUMBERS I couldn’t say where to find it). Also, if you haven’t already, watch Kevin Durant’s NBA MVP acceptance speech. Admittedly he is a few years older than Fortgang but I bet even as a 19-year-old he would have displayed a lot more class and grace than Fortgang.</p>