Since my avatar says "a white guy still looking for the privilage I am supposed to have" this post is special to me. Fathers day and White PrivilegePosted on 6/21/20 at 7:55 pm This is the toughest day of the year for me. My girls do their best to make it the best day, but Fathers day is really tough for me. My biological father was a true POS. He beat my mother while she was pregnant. Run out on her after my grandfather forced a marriage and never paid a dime of child support. He went on to make at least four more babies with three more women in three different states before he was shot to death over a parking place dispute at a grocery store when I was eight and the last of his four kids was a day old. My mother liked the company of men more than being a mother. Her men came into our home in the housing projects and beat me, burned me on the stove, etc. He was arrested at least four times for abuse of my mother or myself. One of my earliest memories is the church bringing my mother and I a plate lunch one Sunday - a real treat. We came in and this man was eating my dinner and I held my fist up to him - like a four year old could do anything. He put me in the hospital that night after putting my head through the wall. My mother wouldn't leave this man, so the state of Alabama took me away from her. I was adopted by a foster family that enjoyed getting the monthly check. I did gain two older brothers who helped my growth tremendously - so I am thankful for that. My adoptive parents were better in many ways, but in many ways they were worse. There were still beatings, just not daily. When I was eight, I was informed that my biological mother had died at 28 years old. I later found out that it was in a bathroom, after a heart attack, induced by drugs. I made it through high school - took a few beatings from a man that served as a church officer and never missed a service. Despite my adoptive parents' objections, I went to college - I couldn't get out fast enough. No one came to my graduation, but I did receive the gift of the knowledge that I owed a significant credit card debt, courtesy of my adoptive father. About a year later, I got married. I wasn't expecting much - I tried to keep my side's expenses as low as possible. Our rehearsal dinner was at a decent restaurant. The bill came to about $500. My dad nearly made a scene. My brother stepped in and paid it. I went on the grad school. Again, no one at my graduation when I became a "doctor." No one at any awards banquets through the years. My daughters do not know anyone on "my side of the famil," which is full of creeps, criminals and sexual predators. All that to say, I am not privileged. Ive had to work hard for everything I have ever made of myself. This day is difficult, but I take solace in the fact that I am becoming my family's transitional figure. And the fact that while everyone in the role of my earthly father has failed me, my eternal Father never will. Happy Father's Day, PT Board.
on the other hand, could you have been a recipient of privilege without knowing it? its easy to say, 'i didn't receive privilege' but not realize one did. here's an example: redlining Redlining From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia A 1936 HOLC "residential security" map of Philadelphia, classifying various neighborhoods by estimated riskiness of mortgage loans.[1] In the United States, redlining is the systematic denial of various services by federal government agencies, local governments as well as the private sector either directly or through the selective raising of prices.[2][3] Neighborhoods with high proportion of minority residents are more likely to be redlined than other neighborhoods with similar household incomes, housing age and type, and other determinants of risk, but different racial composition.[4] While the best known examples of redlining have involved denial of financial services such as banking or insurance,[5] other services such as health care (see also Race and health) or even supermarkets[6] have been denied to residents. In the case of retail businesses like supermarkets, purposely locating stores impractically far away from targeted residents results in a redlining effect.[7] Reverse redlining occurs when a lender or insurer targets particular neighborhoods that are predominantly white, not to deny residents loans or insurance, but rather to charge them more than in a non-redlined neighborhood where there is more competition.[8][9] In the 1960s, sociologist John McKnight coined the term "redlining" to describe the discriminatory practice of fencing off areas where banks would avoid investments based on community demographics.[10][page needed] During the heyday of redlining, the areas most frequently discriminated against were black inner city neighborhoods. For example, in Atlanta in the 1980s, a Pulitzer Prize-winning series of articles by investigative reporter Bill Dedman showed that banks would often lend to lower-income whites but not to middle-income or upper-income blacks.[11] The use of blacklists is a related mechanism also used by redliners to keep track of groups, areas, and people that the discriminating party feels should be denied business or aid or other transactions. In the academic literature, redlining falls under the broader category of credit rationing" the result of this and other practices is less economic opportunity, less access to health care, good schools, etc. which in turn reduces a demographic to far fewer opportunities than most of us take for granted as our right. These practices were routinely practiced all over the country. The thumb was on the scale. this is reality and there is work to be done. to say otherwise is to deny truth......the bigger question is what do we do/where do we go from here? we can start by removing CHOP, and enforce law evenly, for the looter as well as the hair dresser, or the church that wants to reopen.... and then throw silliness out such as reparations, etc. as pandering and not serious. we have to restore a sense of normalcy and that starts with restoring the rule of law, acknowledging there's work to do, and restore our economic engine so we can get back to work, etc. i do not think our country is at polar opposites, except for the lunatic fringe of extreme left and extreme right, all the while a willing media does whatever it takes to get more clicks or views. While most people yearn for order. it's built into our very being and at some point we will center again..... meanwhile watch where you walk, a statue may be toppling over near you soon....
A truly inspiring tale of overcoming every possible obstacle - except for his skin color. Talk to five black people and see if they have ever: - had trouble getting a cab - been followed around when they shop - bothered by police for no reason - have a family member incarcerated for personal drug use, and nothing more - been called a n***er - have living parents or grandparents who had to sit at the back of the bus, drink from a different (worse) fountain, etc. The effects of redlining, detailed above, are still being felt. After all, it was only one, maybe two generations ago. Imagine if the fella in your story above had been black - with every other factor the same. Do you think his journey to success would have been harder? Easier? The same? I'm not encouraging guilt. I'm not saying that any one of you has ever personally oppressed someone. Just try a little empathy, that's all.
I have more empathy for the Devil. At least he is supposed to be evil. Those crybaby whiners are equal under the law. As long as they expect white people to lower themselves to their standard the will never be truly equal. You don't hear Asians and Latinos crying about all this shit.
