Serious question: Why are people afraid to admit privilege?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am shocked by how many people are upset of the SAT adversity score. They do not want to admit the privileges that their children having growing up in a nice school district, safe school, etc. These are all great things! Everyone wants these things for their kids but sadly, many kids do not have access to these resources. Why are people so afraid to own that privilege and be proud of it while also working toward the same future for other kids? What are you afraid of? Honestly if you kid doesn't get into HPY and goes to say, UVA- what do you think will happen? Do you really think their future is lost? Are you afraid they will end up on the streets?

Seriously please help me understand...

Why do we need SAT scores in the first place? Shouldn't every child that finishes their high school be educated and prepared for a higher education institution by default? Therefore maybe it all should be lottery based form here? Every college takes applications and just runs a lottery. All chances equal. Especially for publicly own colleges, when the kids come from public schools.

[Anonymous]

^ Exactly. Poster presents a logical fallacy and expects an answer equally fallacious and simple. Not going to happen from me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:My husband is an outlier in this regard - and I appreciate that. He’s tall, white, handsome, grew up UMC in a tony Boston suburb, superb education (Nobles, GW, Hopkins). He was given a winning hand at birth, and talks about his luck in life. Yes, he works hard, but acknowledges that his success comes mostly from his circumstances and peer group growing up.

GW is “superb”?

He got his first master’s there. And depending on the program - yes.

I’ll take your word for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For everyone who admits privilege and wants for things to be equal, would you give your jobs (which you received due to privilege) to an underprivileged person? Would you give up your child's college admission so that an under privileged person could go in their stead?

This is the problem with his conversation. It is NOT a us versus them game. I don't have to give up my kid's college admission. He is talented, bright, and driven kid and will get into any number of good colleges. If he gets rejected from his first choice: for all I know, a smarter, more privileged person could be "taking his spot," not a less privileged one.

We WANT to believe it is the unqualified minority who is taking our spots because it is hard to believe our kids just didn't make the cut for some reason.

But either way, my kid will be FINE.

And I do not need to give up my job. What I can do is really i am in a competitive field. Sometimes people with better or worse dualities than me will get the promotions I feel I deserved.

Either way, I will be fine.

There really is enough to go around.

So then you would give his spot up? Yes or no.

I think her answer was a run around to say no for either the jobs or school. It's a lot of hand wringing and a lot of lip flapping with nothing to back it up. It's a form of NIMBY.

Her answer was not a "runaround."

She pointed out that your question has a false premise: you assume that there are only win-lose scenarios in life, in which one person wins and the other loses, which is the usual Darwinian nonsense trotted out by frightened, reactionary people who assume that a minority moving upward means that they will move downward.

You must live somewhere where there are limitless job and college openings. Of course someone wins and someone loses.

[Anonymous]

The mind reels about how the (alleged) side door LA crowd would have used this. So, uh, we’ll uh, put down that she’s from, uh, Compton....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For everyone who admits privilege and wants for things to be equal, would you give your jobs (which you received due to privilege) to an underprivileged person? Would you give up your child's college admission so that an under privileged person could go in their stead?

This is the problem with his conversation. It is NOT a us versus them game. I don't have to give up my kid's college admission. He is talented, bright, and driven kid and will get into any number of good colleges. If he gets rejected from his first choice: for all I know, a smarter, more privileged person could be "taking his spot," not a less privileged one.

We WANT to believe it is the unqualified minority who is taking our spots because it is hard to believe our kids just didn't make the cut for some reason.

But either way, my kid will be FINE.

And I do not need to give up my job. What I can do is really i am in a competitive field. Sometimes people with better or worse dualities than me will get the promotions I feel I deserved.

Either way, I will be fine.

There really is enough to go around.

So then you would give his spot up? Yes or no.

I think her answer was a run around to say no for either the jobs or school. It's a lot of hand wringing and a lot of lip flapping with nothing to back it up. It's a form of NIMBY.

Her answer was not a "runaround."

She pointed out that your question has a false premise: you assume that there are only win-lose scenarios in life, in which one person wins and the other loses, which is the usual Darwinian nonsense trotted out by frightened, reactionary people who assume that a minority moving upward means that they will move downward.

You must live somewhere where there are limitless job and college openings. Of course someone wins and someone loses.

DP. Privileged white people never think they’ll lose. Or that some can’t compete with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am shocked by how many people are upset of the SAT adversity score. They do not want to admit the privileges that their children having growing up in a nice school district, safe school, etc. These are all great things! Everyone wants these things for their kids but sadly, many kids do not have access to these resources. Why are people so afraid to own that privilege and be proud of it while also working toward the same future for other kids? What are you afraid of? Honestly if you kid doesn't get into HPY and goes to say, UVA- what do you think will happen? Do you really think their future is lost? Are you afraid they will end up on the streets?

Seriously please help me understand...

Why do we need SAT scores in the first place? Shouldn't every child that finishes their high school be educated and prepared for a higher education institution by default? Therefore maybe it all should be lottery based form here? Every college takes applications and just runs a lottery. All chances equal. Especially for publicly own colleges, when the kids come from public schools.

This would eliminate any discrimination of underprivileged kids. Every child would have an equal chance to get into any college and it would be the college job to educate them equally from there on. Because and anyway! why do colleges cherry-pick smartest kids and run on the hard work of level below them, the teachers and educators. How about a college to their own work and take any child and turn it into a great scholar. Then this will be a good college. Now the system is such that the best colleges picked the strongest kids and claim the superiority.
If they are so good, they should be able to stand up to the real life test.

[Anonymous]

Kids are tested ten thousand times a minute in every school, all the time and THEN you need SAT because?.. they are not tested enough yet and now you will really know what they know, so why the hell all that testing on all previous levels?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For everyone who admits privilege and wants for things to be equal, would you give your jobs (which you received due to privilege) to an underprivileged person? Would you give up your child's college admission so that an under privileged person could go in their stead?

This is the problem with his conversation. It is NOT a us versus them game. I don't have to give up my kid's college admission. He is talented, bright, and driven kid and will get into any number of good colleges. If he gets rejected from his first choice: for all I know, a smarter, more privileged person could be "taking his spot," not a less privileged one.

We WANT to believe it is the unqualified minority who is taking our spots because it is hard to believe our kids just didn't make the cut for some reason.

But either way, my kid will be FINE.

And I do not need to give up my job. What I can do is really i am in a competitive field. Sometimes people with better or worse dualities than me will get the promotions I feel I deserved.

Either way, I will be fine.

There really is enough to go around.

So then you would give his spot up? Yes or no.

I think her answer was a run around to say no for either the jobs or school. It's a lot of hand wringing and a lot of lip flapping with nothing to back it up. It's a form of NIMBY.

Her answer was not a "runaround."

She pointed out that your question has a false premise: you assume that there are only win-lose scenarios in life, in which one person wins and the other loses, which is the usual Darwinian nonsense trotted out by frightened, reactionary people who assume that a minority moving upward means that they will move downward.

You must live somewhere where there are limitless job and college openings. Of course someone wins and someone loses.

+1

I'm scratching my head about all this "there's enough to go around for everyone" nonsense. There's plainly not or there wouldn't be a huge and growing wealth divide.

[Anonymous]

Most people's lives are not as simple or good as they appear and many who have done well have done it due to their own hard work or just pure luck and haven't had anything handed to them. There is such a hateful bias to skin color. Despite being white, many of us have had very difficult lives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For everyone who admits privilege and wants for things to be equal, would you give your jobs (which you received due to privilege) to an underprivileged person? Would you give up your child's college admission so that an under privileged person could go in their stead?

This is the problem with his conversation. It is NOT a us versus them game. I don't have to give up my kid's college admission. He is talented, bright, and driven kid and will get into any number of good colleges. If he gets rejected from his first choice: for all I know, a smarter, more privileged person could be "taking his spot," not a less privileged one.

We WANT to believe it is the unqualified minority who is taking our spots because it is hard to believe our kids just didn't make the cut for some reason.

But either way, my kid will be FINE.

And I do not need to give up my job. What I can do is really i am in a competitive field. Sometimes people with better or worse dualities than me will get the promotions I feel I deserved.

Either way, I will be fine.

There really is enough to go around.

So then you would give his spot up? Yes or no.

I think her answer was a run around to say no for either the jobs or school. It's a lot of hand wringing and a lot of lip flapping with nothing to back it up. It's a form of NIMBY.

Her answer was not a "runaround."

She pointed out that your question has a false premise: you assume that there are only win-lose scenarios in life, in which one person wins and the other loses, which is the usual Darwinian nonsense trotted out by frightened, reactionary people who assume that a minority moving upward means that they will move downward.

You must live somewhere where there are limitless job and college openings. Of course someone wins and someone loses.

+1

I'm scratching my head about all this "there's enough to go around for everyone" nonsense. There's plainly not or there wouldn't be a huge and growing wealth divide.

So maybe this is an economic policy issue, not an access to opportunity issue. It’s just easier for those (POC included) who come from generational wealth/education to have access to better opportunities. Perhaps we’re better suited considering why people who work for a living - in the United States- suffer long-term financial insecurity, as opposed to keeping a system in place that ensures success only for a select few.

[Anonymous]

Not afraid to admit it.
In fact I love it!
My life is so awesome!
Everything has been easy for me. If I get pulled over, I always just get a warning. Career advancement was a breeze. I fit in at my country club. No one questions if I’m supposed to be ... anywhere. It’s just assumed that I’m where I’m supposed to be.
I also have very shiny, manageable hair and straight teeth.
Life is good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am shocked by how many people are upset of the SAT adversity score. They do not want to admit the privileges that their children having growing up in a nice school district, safe school, etc. These are all great things! Everyone wants these things for their kids but sadly, many kids do not have access to these resources. Why are people so afraid to own that privilege and be proud of it while also working toward the same future for other kids? What are you afraid of? Honestly if you kid doesn't get into HPY and goes to say, UVA- what do you think will happen? Do you really think their future is lost? Are you afraid they will end up on the streets?

Seriously please help me understand...

You are the best example of privilege -- perhaps that's why you can't understand others?

I suspect English is your native tongue, you didn't have to learn it as an adult as many of us had to.

I suspect you are a US national, so you were born with an amazing US passport -- anyone with it is IMO privileged.

I suspect you never had to make touch choices in your life. Leading a privileged life, nice things just came to you, and you can't understand the lives of million other people.

I suspect you never took math or science very seriously, or you would have noticed the inherent flaws in your argument and your ad hominem question.

In summary, you sound like a typical clueless entitled American, and you wonder why not everyone thinks like you.

Keep wondering...

[Anonymous]

If you kid doesn't get into HPY and goes to say, UVA- what do you think will happen?

Ostracization

[Anonymous]

We try to hoard all the opportunities and slam doors behind us, while telling ourselves we deserve it, we earned it, therefore this behavior is fair..

But if we stop to examine that there are definitely worthy people, capable people, who grew up poorer or scored 100 less on the SAT, then we would need to live with the fact that we do not GAF as long as we got ours

The illusion of having earned something by pure hard work, merit, and innate worthiness helps us sleep at night.