Derek27 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 05, 2020 6:37 am
firlandsfarm wrote: ↑Fri Jun 05, 2020 5:36 am
As for "Privilege" remember Laurence Fox on Question Time. He was referred to as a "privileged white male" which he claimed was a racist accusation and got shouted down for it. It is racist, it fits the definition, it is a general criticism based on race (it's also sexist) but don't expect the LL's to understand that.
I agree that it was a racist statement that's overlooked because it's not as striking as it would be if it was applied to anyone of an ethnic minority.
What really shocked me about that particular programme was Shami Chakrabarti, sitting right next to Fox. She really had the hump about something that day and was quite snappy and grimed face all night. When Fox named his preferred candidate for the Labour leadership, I was astounded when she asked Fox why he doesn't prefer any of the "women" rather than "other" candidates!
Easy mistake to make, but she's the last woman, I mean person, I'd expect to get that wrong.
Where do you get your definition of 'racism'? The oxford dictionary has it as 'Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized.' I don't think making general statements based on race/sex are necessarily racist or sexist. Consider the statement "White people are generally of a pale complexion" Is that racist? Why not? It's a general statement based on race. "Women generally have breasts" Is that sexist? If there is an empirical basis then is it racist? Businesses/Advertisers/Academics/Pollsters use demographics in this fashion all the time, are they being racist? I don't know for a fact if this is true or not, but if "white men" are empirically economically and socially "privileged" why would it be wrong to say so? If women earned double the amount that men did, would it be wrong to say so?
So what is racist/sexist then? Well I think it has to do with ascribing certain (usually negative) traits to races/sexes BECAUSE of their race/sex. That is to say someone is privileged simply BECAUSE they are white/with penis rather than a spectrum of (but not limited to): hard work, cunning, luck, social factors (which could be in and of themselves 'racist/sexist', and favor/disfavor one group over the other). That is to say, you could be in a state of privilege based on your gender or race because of racism/sexism inherent in society. I'm not saying that is necessarily the case, but what I am saying is that if it were the case, it wouldn't be racist to point it out.