Bolshviks on the Brazos

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Osodecentx
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Bolsheviks on the Brazos

My friend and colleague Dennis Prager often warns his national radio audience, "Everything the Left touches it destroys." There is no clearer evidence of Prager's wisdom than the Bolshevik gulag now being constructed on the former site of one of America's most respected institutions of higher learning located on the Brazos River in Waco, Texas: Baylor University.

Prager, of course, is probably the wrong guy to cite since he actually built a thriving, intellectually-honest, albeit online university (www.PragerU.com). Meanwhile, someone named Linda Livingstone, PhD, is currently presiding over the intellectual destruction of one chartered in 1845. Livingstone, Baylor's 15th president, is billed in her official bio as "a strong voice for the role of faith based institutions in American education." Whichcall me crazyseems at odds with a racially-divisive Baylor video she just posted titled, A Conversation on Race, Peacemaking and Conciliation.
In the video, Livingstone recounts how "At Baylor, we value our faculty, staff, students and friends of color. Black lives absolutely matter at Baylor." So far, so good. But then she and selected faculty members careen wildly off coursedelivering over an hour of parroting what the left has been shoving down our throats over these exhausting past few weeks.

Over the course of this digital conversation, viewers are subjected to politically-correct claptrap such as Dr. Garrett's outrageous assertion that "White people swim in this ocean of whiteness where they don't have to think about who they are or acknowledge the benefits they've gained from that experience." And Dr. Moody-Ramirez's myopic view that the vote by the Minneapolis city council to actually dissolve the city's police force represents (her words) "more progress." And Mr. Foley bats cleanup, declaring that "racialized whiteness"another term straight out of George Orwellhas led Caucasians to wallow in what he calls Strategic Ignorance: "There are some things that people don't know because it is in their best interest not to know it," so Whites need to "self-interrogate" why they feel superior to other races. You get the idea.
Like an outtake from the Blu-Ray director's cut of "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest," this collection of biased and ill-informed professors collectively nod their heads at the goofy concept of needing to "re-narrate history." Spoiler Alert: history is history, not what academicians reimagine.

The dialogue among these three "educators"punctuated with periodic gushings by Linda Livingstone, PhD, of how valuable and insightful each of their utterances isactually subtracts from the sum total of human knowledge. It also angers Baylor graduates like my wife and a number of my friends who can't fathom that their alma mater has fallen so far from its original Christian roots. Baylor now charges parents the usurious sum of $62,000 a year to have this kind of drivel brainwashing unsuspecting students, who then return home to "school" their nearly-bankrupt parents on how racist they are and how they must atone for their so-called white privilege. But only after paying the balance to the Bursar's Office.

This feeble video "dialogue" presented by Baylor's president does precisely zero to bring the races together in America. Maybe it makes the self-congratulating participants feel hip or woke. But how does it further any trajectory in a positive direction: Does it make fathers more responsible? Are inner-city schools stronger? Are fewer people on welfare? And how does anyone posting "black squares" on Instagram change the life of even one human being in our nation? Why not just collectively agree that hatred, violence, and other sins against humanity are bad for all of us and stop stereotyping anyone?

Back in October 2017, in her inaugural message as Baylor's 15thpresident, Linda Livingstone, PhD, stated: "The calling before us is challenging, yet significant. We must be bold in our aspirations. Because the world needs a place like Baylor."
In 2020, the world still needs a place like Baylor. But the real Baylor, not this spineless, watered-down version led by faculty and administrators who have clearly abandoned the high standards and Biblical foundation set forth by ordained Baptist minister Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor in 1845. Scripture does not recognize or accept demonizing anyone by skin color. Just the opposite: it states clearly that when God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of Godall of themall of us!
https://townhall.com/columnists/tomtradup/2020/06/29/bolsheviks-on-the-brazos-n2571494?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=06/29/2020&bcid=0a2dbe8b5ab912fdc9fc11780198af21&recip=639173
BellCountyBear
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It angers me that I am paying my kids' tuition to that place now. Leadership has gone from bad to worse.
Shippou
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You sound upset.
SIC EM 94
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Do we know if Livingstone's family tree includes any slave owners or Confederates? If so, it's time for her to go!
Midnight Rider
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I lost interest at "Bolsheviks".
robby44
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Midnight Rider said:

I lost interest at "Bolsheviks".

Right
What no love for the Mensheviks
PartyBear
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I skimmed this BS. Osodecentex I skimmed it so much I couldnt tell if you were quoting someone or reporting approvingly of his position. Surely this isnt your position.
Osodecentx
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PartyBear said:

I skimmed this BS. Osodecentex I skimmed it so much I couldnt tell if you were quoting someone or reporting approvingly of his position. Surely this isnt your position.
Do you want to get me fired? Deny me tenure? Surely this sin't your position

Please tell me what beliefs one can hold in this new America. Conforming to your standards is my highest ideal
bularry
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Osodecentx said:

PartyBear said:

I skimmed this BS. Osodecentex I skimmed it so much I couldnt tell if you were quoting someone or reporting approvingly of his position. Surely this isnt your position.
Do you want to get me fired? Deny me tenure? Surely this sin't your position

Please tell me what beliefs one can hold in this new America. Conforming to your standards is my highest ideal
apparently you don't like the beliefs of some of Baylor faculty is what I took from this, OP.
bularry
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BellCountyBear said:

It angers me that I am paying my kids' tuition to that place now. Leadership has gone from bad to worse.
can you expound? What, specifically, offends you?

The last 2 paragraphs of the OP are pure nonsense. so I hope that isn't it.
Osodecentx
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bularry said:

Osodecentx said:

PartyBear said:

I skimmed this BS. Osodecentex I skimmed it so much I couldnt tell if you were quoting someone or reporting approvingly of his position. Surely this isnt your position.
Do you want to get me fired? Deny me tenure? Surely this sin't your position

Please tell me what beliefs one can hold in this new America. Conforming to your standards is my highest ideal
apparently you don't like the beliefs of some of Baylor faculty is what I took from this, OP.

Is it allowed?
Midnight Rider
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If PartyBear's standards include a recognition that Linda Livingston is not a Bolshevik, and that Baylor University is not a gulag, you could do worse.
ATL Bear
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I just want to know if below was actually said and in what context?

Quote:

"White people swim in this ocean of whiteness where they don't have to think about who they are or acknowledge the benefits they've gained from that experience."
Osodecentx
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ATL Bear said:

I just want to know if below was actually said and in what context?

Quote:

"White people swim in this ocean of whiteness where they don't have to think about who they are or acknowledge the benefits they've gained from that experience."

From the digital conversation that is available online.
Over the course of this digital conversation, viewers are subjected to politically-correct claptrap such as Dr. Garrett's outrageous assertion that "White people swim in this ocean of whiteness where they don't have to think about who they are or acknowledge the benefits they've gained from that experience."

https://www.baylor.edu/president/index.php?id=969898
I think you can get it online
STxBear81
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They have to make a statement to seem relevant. Have to say something before the leftists actually come to the Brazos.
George Truett
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Osodecentx said:

Bolsheviks on the Brazos

My friend and colleague Dennis Prager often warns his national radio audience, "Everything the Left touches it destroys." There is no clearer evidence of Prager's wisdom than the Bolshevik gulag now being constructed on the former site of one of America's most respected institutions of higher learning located on the Brazos River in Waco, Texas: Baylor University.

Prager, of course, is probably the wrong guy to cite since he actually built a thriving, intellectually-honest, albeit online university (www.PragerU.com). Meanwhile, someone named Linda Livingstone, PhD, is currently presiding over the intellectual destruction of one chartered in 1845. Livingstone, Baylor's 15th president, is billed in her official bio as "a strong voice for the role of faith based institutions in American education." Whichcall me crazyseems at odds with a racially-divisive Baylor video she just posted titled, A Conversation on Race, Peacemaking and Conciliation.
In the video, Livingstone recounts how "At Baylor, we value our faculty, staff, students and friends of color. Black lives absolutely matter at Baylor." So far, so good. But then she and selected faculty members careen wildly off coursedelivering over an hour of parroting what the left has been shoving down our throats over these exhausting past few weeks.

Over the course of this digital conversation, viewers are subjected to politically-correct claptrap such as Dr. Garrett's outrageous assertion that "White people swim in this ocean of whiteness where they don't have to think about who they are or acknowledge the benefits they've gained from that experience." And Dr. Moody-Ramirez's myopic view that the vote by the Minneapolis city council to actually dissolve the city's police force represents (her words) "more progress." And Mr. Foley bats cleanup, declaring that "racialized whiteness"another term straight out of George Orwellhas led Caucasians to wallow in what he calls Strategic Ignorance: "There are some things that people don't know because it is in their best interest not to know it," so Whites need to "self-interrogate" why they feel superior to other races. You get the idea.
Like an outtake from the Blu-Ray director's cut of "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest," this collection of biased and ill-informed professors collectively nod their heads at the goofy concept of needing to "re-narrate history." Spoiler Alert: history is history, not what academicians reimagine.

The dialogue among these three "educators"punctuated with periodic gushings by Linda Livingstone, PhD, of how valuable and insightful each of their utterances isactually subtracts from the sum total of human knowledge. It also angers Baylor graduates like my wife and a number of my friends who can't fathom that their alma mater has fallen so far from its original Christian roots. Baylor now charges parents the usurious sum of $62,000 a year to have this kind of drivel brainwashing unsuspecting students, who then return home to "school" their nearly-bankrupt parents on how racist they are and how they must atone for their so-called white privilege. But only after paying the balance to the Bursar's Office.

This feeble video "dialogue" presented by Baylor's president does precisely zero to bring the races together in America. Maybe it makes the self-congratulating participants feel hip or woke. But how does it further any trajectory in a positive direction: Does it make fathers more responsible? Are inner-city schools stronger? Are fewer people on welfare? And how does anyone posting "black squares" on Instagram change the life of even one human being in our nation? Why not just collectively agree that hatred, violence, and other sins against humanity are bad for all of us and stop stereotyping anyone?

Back in October 2017, in her inaugural message as Baylor's 15thpresident, Linda Livingstone, PhD, stated: "The calling before us is challenging, yet significant. We must be bold in our aspirations. Because the world needs a place like Baylor."
In 2020, the world still needs a place like Baylor. But the real Baylor, not this spineless, watered-down version led by faculty and administrators who have clearly abandoned the high standards and Biblical foundation set forth by ordained Baptist minister Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor in 1845. Scripture does not recognize or accept demonizing anyone by skin color. Just the opposite: it states clearly that when God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of Godall of themall of us!
https://townhall.com/columnists/tomtradup/2020/06/29/bolsheviks-on-the-brazos-n2571494?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=06/29/2020&bcid=0a2dbe8b5ab912fdc9fc11780198af21&recip=639173
Why would you post such a hate-filled bunch of garbage? This is pure calumny. An ugly rant against Dr. Livingstone.

Prager U? Really? LOL. It's not even an accredited school.

Prager going after Livingstone is like a yappy chihuahua going after a lion!

Also, he upholds the standards of Judge Baylor, who had many good qualities, but was an avowed racist and a member of the Know Nothing Party.

Let's see...avowed racist and xenophobe vs. someone aware of white privilege and a great person.

Such a difficult choice!
George Truett
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Osodecentx said:

ATL Bear said:

I just want to know if below was actually said and in what context?

Quote:

"White people swim in this ocean of whiteness where they don't have to think about who they are or acknowledge the benefits they've gained from that experience."

From the digital conversation that is available online.
Over the course of this digital conversation, viewers are subjected to politically-correct claptrap such as Dr. Garrett's outrageous assertion that "White people swim in this ocean of whiteness where they don't have to think about who they are or acknowledge the benefits they've gained from that experience."

https://www.baylor.edu/president/index.php?id=969898
I think you can get it online
Great statement.

I agree 110%.
Osodecentx
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George Truett said:

Osodecentx said:

ATL Bear said:

I just want to know if below was actually said and in what context?

Quote:

"White people swim in this ocean of whiteness where they don't have to think about who they are or acknowledge the benefits they've gained from that experience."

From the digital conversation that is available online.
Over the course of this digital conversation, viewers are subjected to politically-correct claptrap such as Dr. Garrett's outrageous assertion that "White people swim in this ocean of whiteness where they don't have to think about who they are or acknowledge the benefits they've gained from that experience."

https://www.baylor.edu/president/index.php?id=969898
I think you can get it online
Great statement.

I agree 110%.
I'm sure you do
ATL Bear
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George Truett said:

Osodecentx said:

ATL Bear said:

I just want to know if below was actually said and in what context?

Quote:

"White people swim in this ocean of whiteness where they don't have to think about who they are or acknowledge the benefits they've gained from that experience."

From the digital conversation that is available online.
Over the course of this digital conversation, viewers are subjected to politically-correct claptrap such as Dr. Garrett's outrageous assertion that "White people swim in this ocean of whiteness where they don't have to think about who they are or acknowledge the benefits they've gained from that experience."

https://www.baylor.edu/president/index.php?id=969898
I think you can get it online
Great statement.

I agree 110%.
Defeating racism with racism is one way to approach it. I mean we know all white experiences are the same and we all swim in the same white experience ocean, right? Should we group all blacks together in a monolithic ocean like this? Is that how this new "wokeness" works?

What a misguided statement, and then you doubled down on it.

Edited to be nicer.
PartyBear
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Why does this statement offend you so much? And a follow up why don't actual racist statements frequently thrown around here not? Why doesn't calling making the campus more friendly to minority students Bolshevik offend you?
bear2be2
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PartyBear said:

Why does this statement offend you so much? And a follow up why don't actual racist statements frequently thrown around here not? Why doesn't calling making the campus more friendly to minority students Bolshevik offend you?

These are good questions. I'm frequently amazed by the blatant racism/bigotry that goes unanswered on this forum. And that's not even including the veiled stuff. When you let that go, and routinely get offended by others' responses to racism, the conclusions one can draw about your positions on American race relations are fairly limited.
Osodecentx
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bear2be2 said:

PartyBear said:

Why does this statement offend you so much? And a follow up why don't actual racist statements frequently thrown around here not? Why doesn't calling making the campus more friendly to minority students Bolshevik offend you?

These are good questions. I'm frequently amazed by the blatant racism/bigotry that goes unanswered on this forum. And that's not even including the veiled stuff. When you let that go, and routinely get offended by others' responses to racism, the conclusions one can draw about your positions on American race relations are fairly limited.
I think I have several offenders on Ignore.

Aren't you swimming in an ocean of whiteness?
Wrecks Quan Dough
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My sort-of-white experience includes being indebted almost $130,000 in student loans and virtually homeless for a couple of years. Is this the privilege we are looking for?
bear2be2
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Carlos Safety said:

My sort-of-white experience includes being indebted almost $130,000 in student loans and virtually homeless for a couple of years. Is this the privilege we are looking for?
White privilege doesn't mean you've lived an easy life. It means your skin color hasn't contributed to the adversity you've faced.
Forest Bueller_bf
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Osodecentx said:

ATL Bear said:

I just want to know if below was actually said and in what context?

Quote:

"White people swim in this ocean of whiteness where they don't have to think about who they are or acknowledge the benefits they've gained from that experience."

From the digital conversation that is available online.
Over the course of this digital conversation, viewers are subjected to politically-correct claptrap such as Dr. Garrett's outrageous assertion that "White people swim in this ocean of whiteness where they don't have to think about who they are or acknowledge the benefits they've gained from that experience."

https://www.baylor.edu/president/index.php?id=969898
I think you can get it online
Brother man obviously didn't grow up in Chilton.

My ocean was obviously much different than his, and very likely still is.
Forest Bueller_bf
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bear2be2 said:

Carlos Safety said:

My sort-of-white experience includes being indebted almost $130,000 in student loans and virtually homeless for a couple of years. Is this the privilege we are looking for?
White privilege doesn't mean you've lived an easy life. It means your skin color hasn't contributed to the adversity you've faced.
Oh now, that is according to where you grew up. In some settings it certainly could.
Pablo Fanque
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Watch the whole video before anyone goes completely ballistic. Of course there is truth in the OP - the quotes are accurate for the most part. But much of the OP is overwrought hysteria based on cherry-picked quotes and mischaracterization.

Here's what I, a white male who votes Republican, take from statements like Greg Garrett's: I walk through the world each day not really thinking about the fact that I am white. When I walk into H-E-B, I'm thinking about my grocery needs, and not really thinking about being white. Same with driving on Hwy 84 through Woodway - I'm thinking about a lot of things, but "I'm white" isn't one of them (though I usually AM thinking about keeping my speed down to about 5-10 MPH over the speed limit).

Yet there are numerous black people who say that, when out in public, they are conscious of their skin color. A black person at H-E-B is thinking about his grocery needs AND about the fact that he is black. Having seen who gets pulled over in Woodway, I can't imagine a black person driving through there who isn't thinking "I'm black - better obey every rule."

And this rings true to me. When I meet a white person, I don't immediately note "Oh, he's a white guy." I look at other things, but "white" isn't one of them. Now, I look at the same sorts of things as well when meeting a black person, but I assure you that one of the first things that pops into my brain is "Oh, this is a black guy."

The term "white privilege" is intentionally provocative, making it ineffective in getting the most intransigent whites to admit to the concept the phrase seeks to describe. Perhaps it would be easier to get conservative white guys to admit that "black disadvantage" exists. Either way, the point is much the same as Greg Garrett's, even if it is phrased in less-woke lingo - there is a net disadvantage in today's America to being black. If you don't think so, then ask yourself if you'd like to be black instead of white. Most likely, either your answer is no, or you're lying to yourself.

Admitting that these kinds of things are real is NOT the same as embracing a left-wing political agenda. But conservatives will get nowhere in stopping the absurd woke progressivism if they can't even acknowledge that being black is a disadvantage in our society.
The Poster Formerly Known as Maxwell's Silver Hammer
George Truett
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Osodecentx said:

George Truett said:

Osodecentx said:

ATL Bear said:

I just want to know if below was actually said and in what context?

Quote:

"White people swim in this ocean of whiteness where they don't have to think about who they are or acknowledge the benefits they've gained from that experience."

From the digital conversation that is available online.
Over the course of this digital conversation, viewers are subjected to politically-correct claptrap such as Dr. Garrett's outrageous assertion that "White people swim in this ocean of whiteness where they don't have to think about who they are or acknowledge the benefits they've gained from that experience."

https://www.baylor.edu/president/index.php?id=969898
I think you can get it online
Great statement.

I agree 110%.
I'm sure you do
And I'm proud of it. I'll stand with our university president against an extreme right-wing hack any day!
George Truett
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ATL Bear said:

George Truett said:

Osodecentx said:

ATL Bear said:

I just want to know if below was actually said and in what context?

Quote:

"White people swim in this ocean of whiteness where they don't have to think about who they are or acknowledge the benefits they've gained from that experience."

From the digital conversation that is available online.
Over the course of this digital conversation, viewers are subjected to politically-correct claptrap such as Dr. Garrett's outrageous assertion that "White people swim in this ocean of whiteness where they don't have to think about who they are or acknowledge the benefits they've gained from that experience."

https://www.baylor.edu/president/index.php?id=969898
I think you can get it online
Great statement.

I agree 110%.
Defeating racism with racism is one way to approach it. I mean we know all white experiences are the same and we all swim in the same white experience ocean, right? Should we group all blacks together in a monolithic ocean like this? Is that how this new "wokeness" works?

What a misguided statement, and then you doubled down on it.

Edited to be nicer.
Pointing out White privilege isn't racist. Identifying racism isn't racist.

She didn't say all Whites are racist. She merely said all whites swim in the ocean of white privilege. And that's absolutely correct.

The statement wasn't misguided. It was spot on.
George Truett
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Carlos Safety said:

My sort-of-white experience includes being indebted almost $130,000 in student loans and virtually homeless for a couple of years. Is this the privilege we are looking for?
At least you went to schools good enough to get you into college. And to get loans.

You might have gone to community college and not racked up so much debt.
George Truett
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Pablo Fanque said:

Watch the whole video before anyone goes completely ballistic. Of course there is truth in the OP - the quotes are accurate for the most part. But much of the OP is overwrought hysteria based on cherry-picked quotes and mischaracterization.

Here's what I, a white male who votes Republican, take from statements like Greg Garrett's: I walk through the world each day not really thinking about the fact that I am white. When I walk into H-E-B, I'm thinking about my grocery needs, and not really thinking about being white. Same with driving on Hwy 84 through Woodway - I'm thinking about a lot of things, but "I'm white" isn't one of them (though I usually AM thinking about keeping my speed down to about 5-10 MPH over the speed limit).

Yet there are numerous black people who say that, when out in public, they are conscious of their skin color. A black person at H-E-B is thinking about his grocery needs AND about the fact that he is black. Having seen who gets pulled over in Woodway, I can't imagine a black person driving through there who isn't thinking "I'm black - better obey every rule."

And this rings true to me. When I meet a white person, I don't immediately note "Oh, he's a white guy." I look at other things, but "white" isn't one of them. Now, I look at the same sorts of things as well when meeting a black person, but I assure you that one of the first things that pops into my brain is "Oh, this is a black guy."

The term "white privilege" is intentionally provocative, making it ineffective in getting the most intransigent whites to admit to the concept the phrase seeks to describe. Perhaps it would be easier to get conservative white guys to admit that "black disadvantage" exists. Either way, the point is much the same as Greg Garrett's, even if it is phrased in less-woke lingo - there is a net disadvantage in today's America to being black. If you don't think so, then ask yourself if you'd like to be black instead of white. Most likely, either your answer is no, or you're lying to yourself.

Admitting that these kinds of things are real is NOT the same as embracing a left-wing political agenda. But conservatives will get nowhere in stopping the absurd woke progressivism if they can't even acknowledge that being black
Well put Max.
Wrecks Quan Dough
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bear2be2 said:

Carlos Safety said:

My sort-of-white experience includes being indebted almost $130,000 in student loans and virtually homeless for a couple of years. Is this the privilege we are looking for?
White privilege doesn't mean you've lived an easy life. It means your skin color hasn't contributed to the adversity you've faced.
Could have received more scholarships if I checked "Native American."
Wrecks Quan Dough
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George Truett said:

Carlos Safety said:

My sort-of-white experience includes being indebted almost $130,000 in student loans and virtually homeless for a couple of years. Is this the privilege we are looking for?
At least you went to schools good enough to get you into college. And to get loans.

You might have gone to community college and not racked up so much debt.
A lot of assuming going on here.
Wrecks Quan Dough
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bear2be2 said:

Carlos Safety said:

My sort-of-white experience includes being indebted almost $130,000 in student loans and virtually homeless for a couple of years. Is this the privilege we are looking for?
White privilege doesn't mean you've lived an easy life. It means your skin color hasn't contributed to the adversity you've faced.
That is pretty darned meaningless unless there is a privilege for every hue and skin tone. What good is "privilege," if it doesn't make things easy?
bear2be2
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Carlos Safety said:

bear2be2 said:

Carlos Safety said:

My sort-of-white experience includes being indebted almost $130,000 in student loans and virtually homeless for a couple of years. Is this the privilege we are looking for?
White privilege doesn't mean you've lived an easy life. It means your skin color hasn't contributed to the adversity you've faced.
That is pretty darned meaningless unless there is a privilege for every hue and skin tone. What good is "privilege," if it doesn't make things easy?
White privilege does make certain things easy, like being able to go about your business without having to worry about being perceived as a threat -- and having to act accordingly in all situations. Or being judged primarily on the content of your character and not the color of your skin.

Your reality isn't everyone's reality. And the sooner everyone realizes that the American experience looks a lot different from a black man's eyes, the better off we'll be as a nation.

I learned this from conversations I had with a black employee/friend of mine several years back. This guy is as personable as they come and can endear himself to any crowd. He came down from the Philadelphia area to Abilene, Texas, for this newspaper job and intentionally and very successfully ingratiated himself with the local market. So when he told me a year or two in about his fears of driving in our rural towns after dark, I was very surprised. I'm not exaggerating when I tell you this dude is legitimately one of the most kind-hearted people I've ever met, so I just assumed he'd be free of those anxieties -- a) because of the type of person he is, and b) because I'd never experienced them myself. That was a really naive/stupid assumption on my part.

His experience opened my eyes to the fact that my experience in this country -- and part of the country -- isn't universal. Things I've never had to think twice about are matters of life and death for my black friends. If the wrong person thinks the wrong thing about them, things can get really bad really quickly. That's something, as a white person, I've never really had to worry about. So being white hasn't made my life easy. But it's damn well made it easier.
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