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underpants

(182,826 posts)
Tue Oct 24, 2017, 03:39 PM Oct 2017

Poll: Majority of White Americans Believe They Face Discrimination

Fifty-five percent of white Americans surveyed in a new poll say they face discrimination in education, jobs, and other ways. The poll, run by NPR News, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, sampled 3,453 adults in the United States, including 902 white Americans. While a majority of surveyed whites said they think there is anti-white discrimination, only a small percentage reported that this is something they have actually experienced. Eighty-four precent of whites also said they believe racial and ethnic minorities in America also face discrimination.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/poll-majority-of-white-americans-believe-they-face-discrimination

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Poll: Majority of White Americans Believe They Face Discrimination (Original Post) underpants Oct 2017 OP
Really? ananda Oct 2017 #1
Yeah, I'm white & live in a minority community.🎻🎻🎻 Alice11111 Oct 2017 #4
well, it sucks when you lose your high status. top culture is polka, hummels + golf. pansypoo53219 Oct 2017 #2
to the privileged maxsolomon Oct 2017 #3
Actually true. Alice11111 Oct 2017 #5
Clearly, I am not one of that majority Bettie Oct 2017 #6
Pretty sad that most of them don't realize that success used to be due to default social setting haele Oct 2017 #7
Oh please Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Oct 2017 #8
"84% of whites also said they believe racial and ethnic minorities in America face discrimination." yuiyoshida Oct 2017 #9

ananda

(28,866 posts)
1. Really?
Tue Oct 24, 2017, 03:46 PM
Oct 2017

I didn't think it would be that high.

I guess propaganda and the endless press coverage
work.

Alice11111

(5,730 posts)
4. Yeah, I'm white & live in a minority community.🎻🎻🎻
Tue Oct 24, 2017, 04:55 PM
Oct 2017

Everyone faces some sort of discrimination in their life, but the people I have heard talk about reverse discrimination in the US & UK always turn out to be racist.

The discrimination most whites face in the US is no BFD compared to blacks.

I actually think it is good if whites, even kids, get a dose of what it feels like...it isn't just humiliating, but often scary...because so many do not even know when they are being racists. I was with family in Mexico & my Repub brother said, for the first time in my life, I'm feeling discriminated against. Our party, only anglos present, was being served late at an upscale private club & various excuses were being made. Bro kept looking around & thinking of reasons why this could be, problem with the manager on duty, etc. I said, it's the wall. He actually said that DT and the wall have nothing to do with it. $!@?!
He believes that! He is like Repubs who make excuses for the perv tape, otherwise known as Hollywood Access, and say it was just locker talk, fake news, whatever.

A quiet argument followed between my brother & me, that no one else heard, as our family is divided in this political civil war. I admit that I am seriously angered by our Pres every day. Bro finally exploded at me & took his toys, and child, and went home, back to the house. His 9 year old daughter, my niece, tearfully, told me later that he raged about me for an hour, making up things, such a typical Repub thing to do. Being the Dem type, I would never say anything bad about her father to her, so I just hugged her.
I speak Spanish, so I had a friendly conversation with the manager about other things, just to let him know we were not AHs, and we started getting good service.

Bettie

(16,110 posts)
6. Clearly, I am not one of that majority
Tue Oct 24, 2017, 05:05 PM
Oct 2017

There is no anti-white discrimination.

Though to be fair, what some of these people perceive as anti-white is the simple fact of other people being treated like human beings.

That seems to bother a lot of white folks, as if they are the only ones deserving of that status.

Also, to several of my right wing relatives, being called an asshole (when they were clearly acting like one) by a POC or woman is an act of discrimination.

haele

(12,659 posts)
7. Pretty sad that most of them don't realize that success used to be due to default social setting
Tue Oct 24, 2017, 05:14 PM
Oct 2017
Disclaimer - I grew up in the 1960's/1970's - where there was nothing subtle about Discrimination and Rights - when just looking at someone in a "higher social position" the wrong way could get you ostracized or killed.
Sure, there were "diamonds" and "trash" in every ethnic, gender, or cultural category that could face social or economic discrimination, but for the most part, what is listed below has been pretty much the way U.S. society has been.


From my personal historical analysis from inception to, well, about 2008 -
The Default Stereotypes for Social Success and/or Respect in the U.S.(everything else being equal):

1) Appearance of Access to Money
2) White
3) Male
4) Looks/Health/Lack of obvious Disability
5) Celebrity/Family and/or Church Connections


Lesser beneficial stereotypes:
6) Business Ownership
7) Level of Education leading to a Profession (Doctor, Lawyer, Engineer, Teacher, etc...)
8) Career/Employment with Authority or Enforcement position (Governance, Policing, Public service, Military)
9) Land Ownership
10) Primary Responsibility for Dependents (both working parent or stay-at home parent)

One should look at this as a point system, to make it more plain as to what "grants" privileges in this society, with the first position with the most point at 10 and the lowest position at 1, for a total of 55 points, 56 if one wants to start off with "Employed Citizen/Resident, native born or naturalized".
That's always been a step above Criminal/Felon/Delinquent or Non-Productive Citizen/Resident, which is generally rated as 0 - even if they are children, disabled, or elderly.
We are a cruel country to those who can't "be active", which I suspect comes from a virulent Calvinist trait amongst most of the early European settlers.

So, even though he's had pretty much everything handed to him, a guy like Donald Trump can be considered "successful" with 51 out of 55.
I'm granting him #4 basically because he's relatively healthy, and at least to the majority of people who don't vomit at the sight of him, he's cultivated the "look" of a success businessman or used car salesman (take your pick).

Historically, Access to Money or wealth automatically buys Respect and Power in the U.S. Increasingly, it seems that lack of access to money is now becoming codified as grounds for revoking rights as a citizen.

It's almost as if "you can't buy enough to live an American Lifestyle, you don't deserve the right to be an American".

After that, when you think of the Average Successful American as Media has portrayed one - what comes to mind?
A Healthy "Responsibly Moral" White Man with a happy family and a good social network around him.
Moral Hazards have always been anathema to Americans - a weakness, which means that the appearance of Godliness is a "strength".

After that, it's just a measure of where people generally fall out in average social settings. So the average White Male Worker with minimal education and no land ownership would see 26 "social" points to equivalent White Female Worker's 18 points and equivalent Minority Male Worker's 17 points when it comes to looking for a job. (Minority Female Workers historically faced a greater loss of social points - they typically had a social ranking averaging around 10 points...)

That same social benefit will occur in most police or authoritative interactions; the caveat being that while most White females and Minority Females face a default patronization, and most Minority Males faced a default criminalization.

For "White Americans" to believe they face discrimination is to pretty much admit that somehow, they've got the idea that White is no longer considered a "default", and they can't depend on that specious 9 point social advantage they they've been using over those who aren't White, (all other situations being equal). That's a major social drop for most Americans.

The only pity I feel for them is that they have so little confidence in their own abilities and that they apparently never realized that they depended so much on one particular social default to be able to compete with their fellow citizens, instead of their own talents and strengths.

If being "white" is no longer so important to get a job, a loan, or social respect any more, one needs to stop depending on social expectations to be able to get ahead...

Haele

Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

(108,021 posts)
8. Oh please
Tue Oct 24, 2017, 05:18 PM
Oct 2017

This white guy feels so disenfranchised...not.

Those who feel that way probably live in an insular community.

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