Tirith wrote:
Certainly not "a lot" of my success being contributed to my sex/race instead of earning it through work, as Omegavegeta stated..
You're ancestors benefited from being white. They were probably legal immigrants to this country during a time period when immigrants of other ethnicities were restricted. They also chose to come here, and once here didn't have to relocate unwillingly. They lived on land that used to belong to other people, as you do currently. Your ancestors may have even been given their land from the federal government & had it subsidized/supported too. Your parents may have, and your grandparents probably went to racially segregated schools. Your grandparents worked jobs that people of color were excluded or black-balled from doing & could vote without having to worry about poll taxes, literacy tests, or other forms of discrimination. Your grandparents didn't have to worry about using subpar facilities because of their color. Your parents didn't need to use their race as a factor in where they lived or went to school & neither do you.
You probably live in a neighborhood that people of color were once discriminated against living in. You most definitely live somewhere where people of color are still discriminated against when applying for housing and loans. You probably still live in a school district that spends more money on schools that mostly white kids go too. Kids of color in those schools are disciplined more than their white counterparts, are more likely to be tracked into "nonacademic" programs, & read about "heroes" whom owned their ancestors. You were encouraged to go to college by your teachers, parents, tutors, and advisers. You're going to college & received loans. You can always vote for candidates that reflect your race. You live somewhere that has better police, fire, & emt services than where people of color live. Most of what you own is made by woman & children of people of color here & abroad.
You don't need to think about race and racism everyday. You can choose when and where you want to respond to it.
A lot of what you have is because you're white, dude. Sorry if that hurts your feelings.
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"The Rich are there to take all of the money & pay none of the taxes, the middle class is there to do all the work and pay all the taxes, and the poor are there to scare the crap out of the middle class." -George Carlin