Tuesday, April 30, 2024

The White Privilege Protests

That seems to be the attitude percolating through much of these protests: That they can break the law, engage in shenanigans, including occupying and trashing the interior of buildings, and nothing bad will happen to them. They'll get to go back to school, graduate, and go on to have fine careers with no indication of committing felonies or misdemeanors.

Because they are (mostly) white kids who have known privilege all of their lives, the kind of privilege when the cops pull over their parents, the cops call them "sir" or "ma'am" with not even a prospect of a beat-down.

Maybe I'm wrong.

I don't think I am.

See, in those schools, in the graduations coming up, there are some kids who are the first ones in their families to graduate college or get a professional degree. To them and their families, graduting college (or medical or law school) is A Really Big Deal. The families are justifiably proud and they want to take in the event; an event which is being canceled or disrupted because a bunch of white kids who couldn't have found Gaza on a map seven months ago are now pitching tantrum like a pack of lemmings who can't find the cliff edge.

And I don't think I'm wrong about that, either.

7 comments:

  1. I was looking for an affirmative defense for:

    Afluenzia,
    Stupidity,
    Ignorance,
    I didn't do it,
    Not me,
    He did it,
    TOFF said I could...

    Came up dry on that well.

    Eck!

    ReplyDelete
  2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDSPwexlyTo

    ReplyDelete
  3. And they're not helping their cause, to boot.

    -Doug in Sugar Pine

    ReplyDelete
  4. I don't think it's a stretch to compare their mindset to the Jan6 rioters. Their involvement isn't so much idealism or empathy, at least for for some, but they were just waiting for something to get enraged about. Same pew, different church.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dan, there was an interesting story that suggested linking the college stuff to moves the Right has made against colleges and universities over the past 20-30 years. It’s not a bad theory, and it parallels the 60’s in a number of ways. While it’s easy to throw rocks at these protestors, it is those privileged white kids who HAVE to be involved if there's any hope for success in the long term. If the protestors were minorities, immigrants, or some other easy to demonize group, we’ve seen what happens. The loud and stupid will be culled from this series of protests, meanwhile at some schools pro-Gaza and Jewish groups are holding joint demonstrations and having meetings together to engage in constructive protest. The media, as we all know, follows the headline grabbers on both sides.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm going to bet, without any knowledge of the facts, that the flow of money for the protests is being examined.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I add the influx of people from outside the school/Uni or even the same state. Outside agitators...


    Eck!

    ReplyDelete

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