Now, it's not the kind of advantage that feels meaningful, but it really adds up over a lifetime.
Even +/- 1% sales can make or break a small business for example.
No argument, but is that really justification for wealthy urban whites to go around shouting about "white privilege" to poor rural whites? I mean, if you feel that way, continue, but I can guarantee you it won't be a net positive for our country, black or white.
I don't think the term white privilege is great, but it is a massive injustice that's IMO worth talking about.
Are there stats for convictions of poor white people vs poor black latino/black, or just all white vs all latino/black? I don't think the latter stats would be particularly helpful here.
"One in ten Black males in their thirties is in prison or jail in the United States." That's insane.
However, one thing that I fail to see addressed here is reason for the incarceration gap. The way I see it, it can be partially because black kids are prosecuted more (the "white privilege" argument) and partially perhaps because, for whatever reason, rich black kids just commit crimes more often.
BTW how do you know that white and black people smoke weed at roughly the same rates?
If you look, Figures 21 and 22 show usage rates to be about the same. However, if you look down at Figure 10, you'll see a huge disparity in arrest rates.
Even accounting for the racial makeup of those states, I know far more white people than non-white people from poor states who are now making great money.
The term is particularly bewildering to rural and small town poor whites when it's tossed out by a 20-something-year old professional in some big city who's making a $200,000/year salary, or by a trust-fund kid protesting in a university where tuition costs more money a semester than your whole extended family makes in a year.
I realize that many people who use the term "white privilege" may not be targeting such people with the term (although many clearly are). However, when the only qualifier someone uses is "white", it's hard to draw that conclusion.
Again, to your credit, you used the term "straight rich white men". But most people fail to make this distinction.
I also strongly agree with your final paragraph. What we call "privilege" is something that all people should have. Instead of working to destroy privilege, we should work to ensure that all people have that same privilege.