These problems were designed to prevent Jewish people from passing (2011)

Re:These problems were designed to prevent Jewish people fro... by Osmium on Saturday October 07, 2017 @03:26PM (#15425264)

For the record, I’m also a white guy from a poorer family with no college connections.

And we don’t bear the sins of our forefathers. That doesn’t mean we don’t benefit from them. I worked hard, I got lucky, but I can’t pretend my priviledge doesn’t also exist. That a minority with my background wouldn’t have had to work even harder.

I’m not saying it’s fair. As I said, I don’t know where I stand on affirmative action. I think there’s a fundamental tension there. But what LBJ said in that speech feels true to me.

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Re:These problems were designed to prevent Jewish people fro... by eropple on Saturday October 07, 2017 @03:38PM (#15425312)

Seriously. This is the invisible knapsack writ large. As a white dude from a family with no college connections, I was still basically allowed to half-ass my way into a career where I make $150K a year through a college that was all-too-happy to accept me.

"Privilege" is an uncountable part of that "luck" everybody in our shoes needs to recognize exists. That's why the concept is a thing in the first place.

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