General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: If you are the member of a privileged group AND call yourself progressive [View all]wickerwoman
(5,662 posts)I don't see that it breaks down at all.
The OP's point is that if you don't belong to a minority group, you don't get to tell members of that minority group what is or isn't offensive to them.
If you're a black woman, you still don't get to tell gay people when it is or is not OK to use the word "fag".
If you're not Jewish, you don't get to make the call on whether or not a Holocaust joke is really funny or offensive even if you are Hispanic or disabled.
I actually find it somewhat mindboggling that this needs to be explained to grown-ups and doubly so on a "progressive" message board.
Most people have levels of privilege. They're actually pretty easy to identify. Ask yourself honestly if you would want to trade identities with another person and if the answer is "no, I don't want to face prejudice at job interviews/home searchs/bank loans/encounters with police" or "no, I don't want to be called slurs" or "no, I don't want the shit kicked out of me by random strangers" then ding, ding, ding, you have identified an area of privilege. You may not be privileged in other ways, but you probably are privileged in some. And pretending you're not, that it's all a level playing field and that you've never in your entire life been given any unfair advantages in anything, is self-delusional bullshit at best.