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American society is so focused on race that it is blind to class

economist.com

61–70 of 888 posts

Re: American society is so focused on race that it is blind to class

#61

I've been active in reforming voting systems since I think that makes a difference to how politics works. Is there a path or actions that address class issues other than the standard "run for office" and "vote for people who will address class-related issues"?

Find a way to educate lower-class Americans about class, not just race. Ultimately, that should be more effective than reforming voting... if you can figure out how to do it.

Re: American society is so focused on race that it is blind to class

#62

Quoted post unavailable.

> Wealthy black people are worse off than poor white people. Citation desperately needed.

I can make one up. Kanye is black and wealthy and gets much more negative attention than Jimbob over here who is on disability and sometimes even mows the grass around his trailer.

Otherwise, it seems kind of suspicious. Extremely so.

Re: American society is so focused on race that it is blind to class

#63

LMAO at these journalists pretending they're so surprised to find this. As if they had no hand in creating this environment... and as if this wasn't the whole point to begin with. The upper class owns journalism and this state of affairs was very much the goal.

No post body was provided.

Re: American society is so focused on race that it is blind to class

#65

Yeah, I agree that it is important to take into account disadvantages that people may have unfairly experienced due to no fault of their own. But, why do we need to use race as a proxy? Presuming something about someone based on their skin color is prejudice regardless of your intentions. If people are disadvantaged, let's measure those disadvantages directly and adjust for those factors.

The main rationale is that it is complicated. :-)

Controlling for income doesn't work well, because whites at the same income level tend to have much more wealth than blacks at the same income level. Controlling for wealth, blacks still tend to poorer access to resources (clean water, prenatal care, etc...).

It would be a great achievement if we could simply say that poor blacks were finally as well off as poor whites, but we're still quite a ways away from that.

That said, I don't think the country has the stomach to realistically try to fix that problem any longer.

Re: American society is so focused on race that it is blind to class

#66

LMAO at these journalists pretending they're so surprised to find this. As if they had no hand in creating this environment... and as if this wasn't the whole point to begin with. The upper class owns journalism and this state of affairs was very much the goal.

Agreed. A better article title would be: "American Media is Focused On Everything But What They Should Be (And Are Paid Well For It)" This is yet another example of how many of the elites live in a bubble. Well educated, yet oh so ignorant.

The Economist is a centrist British publication.

Re: American society is so focused on race that it is blind to class

#67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? Nobody wants to think their success was the result of an unfair arbitrary advantage.

And this is why the term "white privilege" sells so poorly to whites. And why CRT is attacked so vigorously. Everyone likes to think they made it on their own. The guy who inherited a multi-million dollar business thinks he has had no more real advantage than then guy who was raised in an orphanage in Uganda. While I firmly believe that this privilege exists, you just can't legislate based on it, because you'll get n…

There's white privilege in Pensiltucky? Elon Musk knows he wouldn't have made it big without family connections, but the white guy from Western Pennsylvania knows that he was up against a whole lot and made it anyway, against all odds.

That's why "white privilege" sells so poorly.

Re: American society is so focused on race that it is blind to class

#68

LMAO at these journalists pretending they're so surprised to find this. As if they had no hand in creating this environment... and as if this wasn't the whole point to begin with. The upper class owns journalism and this state of affairs was very much the goal.

Given our history, I would say race is far more interesting. And we need those clicks. The media is simply responding to the incentives.

It’s all of our fault. If we didn’t click on it, they would stop publishing it.

Re: American society is so focused on race that it is blind to class

#69

LMAO at these journalists pretending they're so surprised to find this. As if they had no hand in creating this environment... and as if this wasn't the whole point to begin with. The upper class owns journalism and this state of affairs was very much the goal.

I remember when the elites did a Jedi mind trick on the Occupy Wall Street folks and made them change their focus to race and what bathroom people get to use. It was remarkable.

My idea of this is only anecdotal but anyone I personally know involved with occupy couldn't give a shit who is in what bathroom.

Re: American society is so focused on race that it is blind to class

#70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? Nobody wants to think their success was the result of an unfair arbitrary advantage.

And this is why the term "white privilege" sells so poorly to whites. And why CRT is attacked so vigorously. Everyone likes to think they made it on their own. The guy who inherited a multi-million dollar business thinks he has had no more real advantage than then guy who was raised in an orphanage in Uganda. While I firmly believe that this privilege exists, you just can't legislate based on it, because you'll get n…

"White privilege" is like a DSM-5 diagnosis. It's only brought up with a treatment (or remedy) in mind. It's intended more as a tool to bring about a particular outcome, and less as a description of a scientifically measurable reality.

I don't object to the use of "white privilege" to attempt an objective description of reality.

I do object to the notion that more discrimination on the basis of race is the answer. You don't solve a structure fire by adding gasoline.

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