If you want to talk about word games, you should probably look up the history of the term itself. You might be surprised at how old it is and who used it more than half a century ago.
I don’t think there is any issue reframing. Rather, I think you’re trying to reframe the issue because you don’t want to recognize that white privilege and discrimination are different things. To be more precise, we are talking about racism, not discrimination in general. And precision matters, because when we use these kinds of words to talk about systemic problems, we’re trying to describe things accurately and as simply as we reasonably can.
So then it comes back to the standard question. Why don’t you like the expression? That’s always the delicate point, isn’t it? A lot of white people don’t want to admit that they were lucky when they got that skin color. Part of that is pride, of course. And that’s natural, but it doesn’t mean it’s good. And then part of it is plain old racism…
In the end, I agree with you: racist assholes definitely drift away from the left. Good.
I’m well aware of the history. You know who isn’t? The 90+% of the population who don’t consider themselves leftists or progressive. If you have to tell them, ”It’s not as bad as it initially sounds, let me spend several paragraphs explaining”, then you have already lost them. If they don’t know the precise academic definition and read something like “even homeless white people are privileged”, they’re going to think you’re insane. Why give yourself that handicap when you can just choose different words to convey the same ideas?
If you want to prioritize feeling superior, go for it. Just don’t be surprised when the left continues to be impotent and ignored.
If you want to talk about word games, you should probably look up the history of the term itself. You might be surprised at how old it is and who used it more than half a century ago.
I don’t think there is any issue reframing. Rather, I think you’re trying to reframe the issue because you don’t want to recognize that white privilege and discrimination are different things. To be more precise, we are talking about racism, not discrimination in general. And precision matters, because when we use these kinds of words to talk about systemic problems, we’re trying to describe things accurately and as simply as we reasonably can.
So then it comes back to the standard question. Why don’t you like the expression? That’s always the delicate point, isn’t it? A lot of white people don’t want to admit that they were lucky when they got that skin color. Part of that is pride, of course. And that’s natural, but it doesn’t mean it’s good. And then part of it is plain old racism…
In the end, I agree with you: racist assholes definitely drift away from the left. Good.
I’m well aware of the history. You know who isn’t? The 90+% of the population who don’t consider themselves leftists or progressive. If you have to tell them, ”It’s not as bad as it initially sounds, let me spend several paragraphs explaining”, then you have already lost them. If they don’t know the precise academic definition and read something like “even homeless white people are privileged”, they’re going to think you’re insane. Why give yourself that handicap when you can just choose different words to convey the same ideas?
If you want to prioritize feeling superior, go for it. Just don’t be surprised when the left continues to be impotent and ignored.