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Comment by bcrosby95 | Hacker News Reader

Nah, social sciences don't say that. It's a common misconception - borne out of people who don't want to engage with what they're actually saying, or from engaging with people who don't know what social sciences actually say.

All they really say is some people have an advantage. It doesn't mean they have it easy. We get advantages from all parts of life, and refusing to engage with recognizing them is a decision, but I don't find it particularly healthy.

Due to various reasons outside of my control, my life has been objectively easier than others. It doesn't mean it was easy. Just easier. If even one or two of those things changed my life could have ended up very different.

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White privilege is a specific case of the phenomenon: “if you live in the culture built by your culture, you will benefit”, which is the whole point of culture in the first place.

A Japanese person has Japanese privilege in Japan, an Egyptian in Egypt, etc

If you’re “culturally American” in America (regardless of race), you will benefit.

If you’re White and culturally American in parts of America where White American culture dominates (like our institutions, which reflect a country that has been historically 90%+ White), you will benefit

If you’re White and in a place where non White culture dominates, you will be relatively disadvantaged. Most countries around the world, and even parts of the US (parts of Chicago where you have significant disadvantages from being White).

What parts of Chicago would those be, and what are the impacts of those purported disadvantages?

Englewood for instance, increased likelihood of murder being the main disadvantage.

No, you are much less likely to be murdered in Englewood as a white person than as a Black person.

First off fair and I even agree, but then you sort of concede my point anyway with "it's a common misconception".

A commonly-held belief is that that statement is true and we deal with all of the follow-on effects of that belief as a result.

This insight is key.

I've had challenges in my life. At no time have I ever lived somewhere for more than two weeks with no running water, because I was born American and sufficiently affluent and lucky to be both in towns with municipal water and in buildings connected to that water. So I get to completely cross off "Has clean running water all the time" from my list of needs and wants, and not everyone does.

... and I gotta say, potential employers like you a lot better when you've had a shower that morning.

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