Eleanor
MyPTSD Pro
Would you mind explaining where my advantage kicks in for me specifically?
Specifically, if you show up for a job interview or to rent a house and are white, well dressed, male, and qualified the people doing the hire will reliably look at you and see a potential hire.If you show up and are all those things and black - the people doing the hiring will reliably write you off a significant percentage of the time. It is possible for you to "present well" in a way it is not possible for many many other people, and not only in terms of race.
Do you think it matters to me in the slightest that there are many successful straight white males?
Apparently not. The focus here is not on the individuals - but on the patterns that determine how groups of individuals get treated. Some individuals who have everything going against them are successful (lucky them) most are not. That is what it means to "have everything going against them." Individuals matter. You matter. And the fact is that you have a better set of life chances than someone situated just like you who is not-white. Or a member of another group that our society codes negatively.
Do you think it matters to me in the slightest what wrongs are happening to others, when my societal oppression is largely ignored?
Again, apparently not. And here is why I think you might want to entertain the possibility of caring about those people as well as yourself. Compassion makes us better people. Sometimes even happier. Justice is justice and fairness is fairness. People who get a bad shake do better when they work together, and often times can help each other in unexpected ways. People who have "invisible" illnesses are at a particular disadvantage, and ignoring the plight of others doesn't do anything to help that, in particular it doesn't make them any more likely to recognize and support you.
I temporarily worked in the financial aid department of a local community college and helped others find scholarships that were completely unavailable to me including people in the LGBT community and racial minorities.
It is not an accident that these things exist. They were all created in living memory. And they were created - usually by people in or who loved people in those groups, because it was what they could do to make things better for the people who came after them. If you don't know who Eunice Shriver is - her story might be pretty interesting to you. Her sister had Down syndrome and... well it ended badly for her. And she took it as her mission to help people with disabilities (mental and physical). She is a big reason we have the ADA and can even talk about mental health. She didn't need to be concerned about others, and had a pretty rough go of it herself in lots of ways, but she used what she had to great effect.
So you wouldn't trade... what for what? Worth it? The point is that no one GETS TO TRADE. Ever. For any reason.What is my truth is that the so-called "privilege" is not worth the inherent lack of opportunities for a poor, underprivileged, straight, white male.