Home


Crowdfunding Countercurrents

Submission Policy

Popularise CC

Join News Letter

CounterSolutions

CounterImages

CounterVideos

CC Youtube Channel

Editor's Picks

Press Releases

Action Alert

Feed Burner

Read CC In Your
Own Language

Bradley Manning

India Burning

Mumbai Terror

Financial Crisis

Iraq

AfPak War

Peak Oil

Globalisation

Localism

Alternative Energy

Climate Change

US Imperialism

US Elections

Palestine

Latin America

Communalism

Gender/Feminism

Dalit

Humanrights

Economy

India-pakistan

Kashmir

Environment

Book Review

Gujarat Pogrom

Kandhamal Violence

Arts/Culture

India Elections

Archives

Links

About Us

Disclaimer

Fair Use Notice

Contact Us

Subscribe To Our
News Letter

Name:
E-mail:

Search Our Archive



Our Site

Web

 

 

 

 

Is It A 'Privilege' Not To Be Discriminated Against?

By John Spritzler

12 May, 2014
Newdemocracyworld.org

Some on the Left have recently begun asserting that people who are the ones NOT discriminated against (working class whites in the United States, working class Jews in Zionist-controlled Palestine, working class males in some cases) are "privileged." Instead of talking about racial (or ethnic or gender) discrimination, these Leftists prefer to talk about "white privilege" or "Jewish privilege" or "male privilege" and so forth. The following will show that not only is the word "privilege" inappropriate in this context, but additionally it is the oppressor class and only the oppressor class that benefits from this use of the word "privilege." (How and why Big Money promotes "privilege" rhetoric is discussed in detail here.)

First, let's see why the word "privilege" is simply an inapropriate word to apply to people who are the ones not discriminated against by an oppressive power.
priv·i·lege

noun \ˈpriv-lij, ˈpri-və-\

: a right or benefit that is given to some people and not to others

When person A and person B are wrongly oppressed by person C, but C oppresses B less than A, it is correct to say "C discriminates against A" or "B is oppressed less than A"; but it is simply wrong to say "B enjoys a privilege." Why?

For two reasons:

#1. The word "privilege" refers to a BENEFIT, but there is no benefit in being oppressed (as person B is), not even if somebody else is oppressed more. It is well known by those with experience in the labor movement that "An Injury to One is an Injury to All." When the employer discriminates against one group of working people it is for the purpose of fomenting mistrust and resentment between the discriminated-against group and the non-discriminated-against group, to destroy solidarity between them, and thus to be able to dominate and oppress BOTH groups easier. This is why an injury to one is an injury to all. When the oppressor, C, discriminates against B it is thus an injury not ponly to B but also to A; it is absolutely not a benefit, or "privilege" enjoyed by A.

#2. A "privilege" is a benefit that is either a) deserved or b) undeserved. An example of a deserved benefit is the privilege of being allowed to drive a car, granted only to people who have passed a driver's test and thereby demonstrated that they deserve this privilege. An example of an undeserved privilege is royalty being handed great wealth etc. because of their supposed 'royal blood.'

If one says that person B enjoys a privilege, then it is either a deserved or undeserved privilege. But it is clearly neither:

Does B deserve to be less oppressed than A? Certainly not. None of us, for example, would say that whites deserve to be treated less badly than blacks by the police, would we?

What about if we say that B's lesser oppression is undeserved, then? The proper thing to do when somebody is enjoying an undeserved privilege is to abolish that privilege. So, if it is an undeserved privilege for B to be oppressed less than A, the proper thing to do would be to abolish that privilege by calling for the oppression of B to be increased until it matches that of A's oppression. But does anybody reading this article seriously believe, for example, that the way to make a more equal society is by calling for the police to start treating whites worse, until they're treating them just as badly as they treat blacks? I doubt it.

The inappropriateness of the word "privilege" in this context is evident in light of the above.

Not Only Inappropriate, but Also Dangerous

Using the word "privilege" in this conrext is not only inappropriate; it is positively dangerous. It's dangerous because it harms the oppressed and benefits the oppressor. Saying that person B enjoys an undeserved privilege essentially points an accusing finger at person B (who is not an oppressor), and lets person C (the actual oppressor) off the hook. Furthermore, by wrongfully accusing person B of enjoying an undeserved privilege, and making the accusation in the guise of an apparent concern for the welfare of A, it foments resentment of B against A. Additionally, wrongfully accusing B of enjoying a benefit "at the expense of A" promotes anger by A against B. The Left's use of the word "privilege" thus destroys solidarity among the oppressed and shields the oppressor from anger that would otherwise be directed at it. This is precisely why Big Money promotes "white privilege" rhetoric, as discussed here.

John Spritzler is editor of NewDemocracyWorld.org, PDRBoston.org & Facebook.com/NewDemocracyWorld



 



 

Share on Tumblr

 

 


Comments are moderated