Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

All white people do have some innate starting advantage due to their whiteness. That isn't to say they don't also have disadvantages too, for instance poverty, disability etc.

Having white skin though gives you an advantage in a system that prioritises whiteness over other colours. Its not racist to discuss this.



RE: "All white people": You are a white person living in Eastern Europe. How's your advantage now?


Compared to a black person living in the same place and going to the same school and having the same number of living parents with the same jobs and same dedication to success, probably very good. Please remember to keep other factors equal when comparing aspects of demography. Otherwise you've just strayed off into the wilderness of logical fallacyland.


Ok, you’re a white farmer living in South Africa.

How’s you’re whiteness helping you now?


Quick couple of questions for you...

What percentage of farm land in South Africa is currently owned by white people? Answer: 72% How does that compare to the demographic breakdown of the South African population? Answer: White people make up 9% of the population. Question: In what year did SA repeal The Natives Land Act of 1913? Answer: 1991. What did The Natives Land Act of 1913 do? Among other things, it made it illegal for non-whites to buy land except from other non-whites. What percentage of South African farmland was owned by white people in 1994? Answer: 86% So how much land could non-white farmers own just because they weren't white? Very little. How long ago? Very recently.

So if you're a white South African farmer, your enduring privilege, like it or not, is that non-white South African farmers were almost certainly not allowed to buy that land until very recently. It's much harder to be a farmer without land. So then we need to ask, how did this white farmer in South Africa get there?

It's important to recognize that your life is structured, harmed, hindered, buoyed, and improved by violence that happened even before you were born, that you had no control over, and that you would even not choose to support today. That doesn't mean you live in a vacuum.


Don’t know why you’re being downvoted. Not a lot of white privilege going on in South Africa right now.


You do realize apartheid ended not long ago in South Africa, right? If you chose something like South Korea maybe this would make more sense.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: