He is being obtuse in this thread, but the connotations of the word “privilege” ARE a big unforced error that present a barrier to White people accepting the concept. Too much of our social justice language of art has this problem and I don’t know what to do about it.https://twitter.com/matthewstoller/status/1041331007448854530 …
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Replying to @miniver
Connotations aside, privilege /denotes/ something important. Or did, before, you know...
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Replying to @djinnius
It is a necessary concept. And I was exactly the right person for the word “privilege” in “Unpacking The White Knapsack” to communicate it to me. But the word lands wrong with too many people.
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Replying to @miniver
Ted Kennedy straight-up killed Mary Jo Kopechne, and got away with it because of his last name. Private. Law. Was this concept worth killing to get a weaker one that many-to-most reject anyway?
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Opposing privilege(1) is the essence of the Liberal project. To accuse someone of exercising privilege(1) is, or should be, to accuse them of a crime. Was privilege(2) really worth it?
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Replying to @djinnius
And further muddying the waters, many elements of privilege (2) are things that SHOULD be universal rights, which require an ardent defense from liberalism.
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Replying to @miniver
... I could make this a tangent about conflating rights and entitlements, but let's not. Suffice to say I think humans are entitled to clean water, a meal, and basic shelter. As a non-exhaustive list.
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Replying to @djinnius
That’s a good point. Using the language of rights for entitlements is confusing. But then we have a connotation problem with “sense of entitlement”, which is what many SJ folks are often reaching for when they say “privileged”!
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Where "sense of entitlement" means thinking you have the right when you don't. It's the perfect storm!
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