notanotherginger asked: But how can one group, which has been directly oppressed and marganilized for centuries and only recently granted similar rights be equatable with the group that benefited from that oppression? Economists have estimated that trillions of dollars of free labor was delivered to white people from their slaves. That alone causes a huge inequality. Secondly, studies show clear privilege in many ways. Someone with a foreign sounding name is far less likely to be called back for an interview. One case
But that’s the thing- the people that were oppressed through slavery in the past are not alive today. The people that did not have the same rights as everyone else in the past, now do have those rights.
No one is arguing that slaves didn’t get a raw deal because they did. That said, there is not one person alive today who was ever a slave in this country. By that argument, anyone who was ever a slave is part of the ‘oppressed class’. Considering that Middle Eastern slave traders specialized in white slaves from North America-wouldn’t that argument then mean that white people are oppressed as well then? And if that is the case, then how can they be privileged?
Also, while some studies may suggest that people with foreign sounding names are less likely to get called back for an interview, do those studies explain why? I have a foreign sounding last name, I know several people who have really foreign sounding names, but we still managed to get hired.
Do you think it’s possible that maybe the people in those studies did not get called back for a second interview (or a first..whichever)…because they didn’t fill out their application correctly or completely, they didn’t do well enough on a written test, they didn’t interview well or maybe there were better qualified people who applied for the same job.
Considering the lawsuit happy country we live in, no company in their right mind is going to deny employment to the best qualified person simply because their name sounded funny.
Am I saying it never happens. I won’t go that far since there are some stupid employers out there, but is it as rampant as the whiners want you to believe? No.
Anyway, show me a live person who was a slave, doesn’t have the same rights and opportunities as me and then I’ll consider this whole privilege thing….regarding that one person.
Until then, I’m just not buying it.
