I wanted to know what white men thought about their privilege. So I asked (barf alert)

The New York Times ^ | July 17, 2019 | Claudia Rankine

[KingofZion]

In the early days of the run-up to the 2016 election, I was just beginning to prepare a class on whiteness to teach at Yale University, where I had been newly hired.... I wanted my students to gain an awareness of a growing body of work by sociologists, theorists, historians and literary scholars in a field known as “whiteness studies”.... Given the seeming novelty of such white writing and the urgency of understanding white support for Ronald Reagan, ‘critical whiteness studies’ gained media attention and a small foothold in universities.” This area of study aimed to make visible a history of whiteness that through its association with “normalcy” and “universality” masked its omnipresent institutional power.

My class eventually became Constructions of Whiteness, and over the two years that I have taught it, many of my students (who have included just about every race, gender identity and sexual orientation) interviewed white people on campus or in their families about their understanding of American history and how it relates to whiteness. Some students simply wanted to know how others around them would define their own whiteness. Others were troubled by their own family members’ racism and wanted to understand how and why certain prejudices formed. Still others wanted to show the impact of white expectations on their lives.

Perhaps this is why one day in New Haven, staring into the semicircle of oak trees in my backyard, I wondered what it would mean to ask random white men how they understood their privilege. I imagined myself — a middle-aged black woman — walking up to strangers and doing so. *** MORE

[KingofZion]

Because we can all use a little humor in our day. I don't know what's worse - the story or the libtard reader comments. Bonus points if you actually read to the end without vomiting

[PGR88]

The body can not stand such a virulent cancer much longer, or it will kill us.

Some really strong chemotherapy is needed.

[gogulls]

black privilege is thinking it’s cool to get in the grills of white guys w/no expectation of consequence

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Another affirmative action zero.

[ClearCase_guy]

I hesitated when I stood in line for a flight across the country, and a white man stepped in front of me. He was with another white man. “Excuse me,” I said. “I am in this line.” He stepped behind me but not before saying to his flight mate, “You never know who they’re letting into first class these days.”

10-to-1 that never happened.

These people make up stories of "racism" because racism is almost never found -- that is: almost never found outside the black community, where it s rampant.

[Tzimisce]

Meet the people running your country.

If I was a liberal in 2019,
I’d be laughing and $h!tt!ng on everyone too.

[Lurkinanloomin]

I didn’t make it through the excerpt.
These people get paid for this garbage?

[Secret Agent Man]

Cwii must come, otherwise this idiotic socialist pc sh1t will destroy regular sane people.

[Paladin2]

Totally a Marxist Studies meme/trope.

[robowombat]

10-to-1 that never happened.

I agree, this is a fake story. There is nothing novel about a black person flying First Class.

[originalbuckeye]

Yep. Video, or it didn’t happen.

[Paladin2]

Libs continue to spew unrelenting CO₂?

[HighSierra5]

Ralph.

[Paladin2]

"Perhaps this is why one day in New Haven, staring into the semicircle of oak trees in my backyard, I wondered what it would mean to ask random white men how they understood their privilege. "

How can she, a member of the elite intelligentsia, not be able to walk a few blocks over and show us how to "fix" New Haven?

[JBW1949]

This story is a definite admission of bias, bigotry and racism on the author’s part....

[newzjunkey]

I watched a youtube video of the Top song on Billboard from 2000-2009. It's an endless exercised in hip-hop and what passes for R&B in the 21st century. What's Black is what's cool. They refuse to acknowledge their impact on the culture and that impact is power.

I prefer to work with black women than white women. True story.

[hanamizu]

“You never know who they’re letting into first class these days.”

---

Of course it never happened. Anyone who flies first class knows exactly who gets let in...people who pay the fare (or who had enough frequent flyer miles to upgrade).

[Leaning Right]

> 10-to-1 that never happened. <

You are being way too generous. 1000-to-1 that it never happened. This is 2019, not 1889.

As a side note, it must be really easy being a racist black writer these days. You could make up any old thing, and then become a national celebrity because of it:

There I was, in a McDonalds. I had just picked up my hamburger order when a white man took it from me. “Hamburgers are for white people only,” he said with a sneer.

[libertylover]

Trying to sell excuses for underachievement and failure.

[lodi90]

Claudia, go have a look at the live streamers on twitch. You’ll see plenty of female privilege as the young women game streamers almost always get many more viewers than a comparable male streamer. I wonder why that could be?