<p>Another thing I don’t like about this piece is that the kid manipulates the facts to hide just how privileged he is. He talks about how his grandfather built up a wicker business, allowing his father to go to City College, go to a good grad school, get a “good job,” etc. He doesn’t mention that his dad is an investment banker. He doesn’t mention how rich his immediate family is, what kind of high school he went to, etc. In other words, he’s a phony.</p>
<p>“If a given comment is perceived as clueless to the point of offensiveness, the one listening may reasonably feel the comment/behavior is a legitimate demonstration of what he/she knows.”</p>
<p>Yes, because the privilege pointers are always right and the privileged are always wrong @@. Those who say “check your privilege” aren’t superior human beings, cobrat. </p>
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<p>Just stating a bit of Princeton’s history as relayed by older Princeton alums and its prevailing reputation during my HS years. </p>
<p>And considering you seem to love responding to my comments…I’d recommend you check yours. :D</p>
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<p>@ucbalumnus, sarcasm alert?</p>
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<p>In addition, there’s the omission his father received a sizable government subsidy as City College was completely free for city residents until 1975 and city residents still received a discount afterwards.</p>
<p>Also, if he attended before 1969, he received a free education at what was once regarded as a highly renowned institution and its reputation would have facilitated entry to top grad schools and/or jobs in the NYC/NE area at least as much as his undergrad performance. </p>
<p>It really doesn’t matter to the sayers of the phrase what the author’s background is. Their words are prompted only by the fact that he is white and male. </p>
<p>^^^^
Right and the person who utters the phrase has absolutely no idea what challenges the person he views as “privileged” may have encountered during his or her life. Having money does not insulate one from adversity. In fact often the opposite is true. It has become quite fashionable these days to publicly “dress down” those that might be viewed as privileged. How does anyone really know someone else’s circumstances. I find the phrase provocative and often that is just what the person wants - to draw the other into an argument.</p>
<p>“Right and the person who utters the phrase has absolutely no idea what challenges the person he views as “privileged” may have encountered during his or her life. Having money does not insulate one from adversity.”</p>
<p>That’s exactly right, and exactly why I object to the phrase. </p>
<p>Are we allowed to link to Jezebel? Violet Baudelaire has a pretty interesting response imho. To the Princeton Privileged Kid.</p>
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<p>Along with being from a higher SES class and at least being oblivious to the fact his father received a substantial helping hand from the government as an undergrad.</p>
<p>Ironic considering he mentioned government debt as a prompt for the article considering his father had a small part in contributing towards it from the free or highly subsidized education he received from a public college. </p>
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<p>Of course it is personal, if that “privilege” is ascribed to you. If you are labelled “privileged” simply due to your race and gender, then it is made personal to you.</p>
<p>It is one thing to talk about a macro, cultural idea of “privileged white males,” and another to accuse someone of needing to check their “privilege” simply because of their race and gender. Its the automatic assumption that because a speaker is white and male and with no other personal information, their perspective is tainted and unworthy due to some cultural theory that does not even work in every circumstance.</p>
<p>Did you read the piece the quote came from? I doubt anyone will convince you to change your mind on this issue. I’m certainly not going to try. But I thought the essay pretty much covered all the bases, though, if anyone was interested in exploring the idea a bit more. Probably there are much better responses out there at this point. I just ran across this one looking for something else.</p>
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<p>That’s what Cardinal Fang keeps asserting. Whether or not it’s meant to be a personal insult, it still devalues a person’s achievements by attributing it to privilege.</p>
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<p>This is also from the jezebel response. I actually agree with it, but not in the same way the author was thinking. There is privilege for one race in getting waited on in department stores, hailing a cab, maybe even getting a loan these days, or perhaps in networking in business, and there are privilege for other races in getting admitted to college. Some people say that white privilege is a huge advantage in gaining the credentials to get to college (e.g., teachers will help you more in class, teacher recs more favorable, etc.), and I think this is what this Princeton kid resents.</p>
<p>Hmm…anyone want to own up to boob privilege?</p>
<p>Yes, I read the Jezebel article, but I have little respect for the publication, due to its need to continually drop the f-bomb, apparently to make it sound edgy or something stupid.</p>
<p>Here is what it says:</p>
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<p>This is consistent with what I am arguing. People who say “check your privilege,” assume, based only upon the speaker’s race and gender, that he has “preconcieved notions” and “a specific world perpective,” which obviously means a stereotypical “privileged” one, that of course, is of limited value. They give no credit to the speaker for any unique or thoughtful ideas he might have due to his own personal life experiences. That’s pretty much what racist and bigoted commenters do, too.</p>
<p>collegealum314: I like what Cardinal Fang has posted here. </p>
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<p><a href=“Again%20-%20I%20want%20to%20take%20this%20opportunity%20to%20remind%20you%20that%20privilege%20is%20not%20personal.%20You’re%20not%20the%20bad%20guy.%20When%20someone%20says” title=“white men have done bad ■■■■”, no one is saying “you, dude in front of me, are the reincarnation of Satan and I personally blame you for everything”>quote</a>
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<p>I suspect that Princeton kid is not quite as dense as he seems, though Cardinal Fang makes great points about his writing. As Hunt points out, he is having his 15 minutes.</p>
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<p>I am looking at the world from a white heteronormative perspective. Once I realized that and tried to see the world from a different perspective it just about exploded my head. I have found it to be a useful exercise. If I work very hard at this, I hope one day to see the world as it actually exists. : )</p>
<p>alh,</p>
<p>It is quite obvious to those of us who read your CC comments, that you do not have “preconceived notions” and “a specific world perspective” that is stereotypical of a white female. Why do you let some people get away with making those types of assumptions about other people based on their race and gender?</p>
<p>Bay, one thing I’m pretty sure about is that you and I will never look at the world and see the same thing. That’s okay. I am not going to debate this with you. Some others may be interested in the link. If they aren’t, that’s okay, too.</p>
<p>@alh, thank you for mentioning the Jezebel article. It’s a really good response to the controversy.</p>