Live in Texas or Arizona for a while. You perception of 'white is dominant' will change dramatically--white shareholders or not. (I wish I could show you the photo gallery of our hospital higher ups--yeah, there are whites, but also blacks and, predominently, people from various places in India.)
A lot of people do equate the two, and that is the part of the problem.
And thank you for the definition, because I was really starting to wonder.
The nurses are black, hindu, other folks from India, hispanic, etc. It's a pretty even distribution--in a 'rich' neighborhood (or at least upper middle class), and the clientel is the same mix. There are just as many rich of 'other' ethinic groups in this place as there are whites. In my department, my boss is hispanic and black, one of the guys is hispanic, the other man is black (and incidentally, is the one that's rude to everyone else in the place, is constantly on break, and will drag his shift work out every single day so that he doesnt have to help with extra assignements everyone is expected to work at. Sadly, it's a coincidence that he's black, but by the same token? last guy in his job was white and doing the same thing and was gone in a month. This guy? He's on his third year here).
And...I suppose I would be more inclined to buy into 'white priviledge' if the jobs I've worked down here did what you descibed. Thing is, I'm actually in the minority role...right down to getting complaints addressed and problems fixed (or not). If I complain (and, incidentally, the 'racial' examples I used for skyward were for a direct purpose and as an illustration, which was bad on my part but too late now) about a fellow worker for not doing their job (or being rude), if they're white? They get written up ASAP (and fired within a few weeks if they keep it up). Not white? Don't always get written up. Rarely get fired. And if they're sure you're the one that reported them, will proceed to be as rude as they can get away with for months.
So yeah, I see preferential treatment...and it's all about keeping people who are not white happy and not feeling like they're being picked on for their race. White folk though? Have been known to come into work, and get fired for something they did the day before (and that the non-white nurses have been doing repeatedly for a long time) and be escorted out by noon.
So yeah, I'm kinda leary of the whole 'white priviledge' thing both because of my own experiences and because honestly, what's being described is a small percentage of even the white population. Annnnnnnd the rest of us whites? In the same damned boat with the non-whites screaming about white priviledge.
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carisma_sensei
no subject
Date: 2007-03-24 03:28 am (UTC)A lot of people do equate the two, and that is the part of the problem.
And thank you for the definition, because I was really starting to wonder.
The nurses are black, hindu, other folks from India, hispanic, etc. It's a pretty even distribution--in a 'rich' neighborhood (or at least upper middle class), and the clientel is the same mix. There are just as many rich of 'other' ethinic groups in this place as there are whites. In my department, my boss is hispanic and black, one of the guys is hispanic, the other man is black (and incidentally, is the one that's rude to everyone else in the place, is constantly on break, and will drag his shift work out every single day so that he doesnt have to help with extra assignements everyone is expected to work at. Sadly, it's a coincidence that he's black, but by the same token? last guy in his job was white and doing the same thing and was gone in a month. This guy? He's on his third year here).
And...I suppose I would be more inclined to buy into 'white priviledge' if the jobs I've worked down here did what you descibed. Thing is, I'm actually in the minority role...right down to getting complaints addressed and problems fixed (or not). If I complain (and, incidentally, the 'racial' examples I used for skyward were for a direct purpose and as an illustration, which was bad on my part but too late now) about a fellow worker for not doing their job (or being rude), if they're white? They get written up ASAP (and fired within a few weeks if they keep it up). Not white? Don't always get written up. Rarely get fired. And if they're sure you're the one that reported them, will proceed to be as rude as they can get away with for months.
So yeah, I see preferential treatment...and it's all about keeping people who are not white happy and not feeling like they're being picked on for their race. White folk though? Have been known to come into work, and get fired for something they did the day before (and that the non-white nurses have been doing repeatedly for a long time) and be escorted out by noon.
So yeah, I'm kinda leary of the whole 'white priviledge' thing both because of my own experiences and because honestly, what's being described is a small percentage of even the white population. Annnnnnnd the rest of us whites? In the same damned boat with the non-whites screaming about white priviledge.