Hey Raymond.

I can tell you are a genuinely good guy.

"Now before we go all ranty on me I have a few things to say. I do recognise my privileges. I'm intensively aware of what I naturally have easier than other people, on gender, on race, on economic standing, on geographical location. But I'm also aware of my distinct disadvantages also. I'll teach my son all this. I'll teach him how to use his privilege to better the lives of others, and I'll teach him to get help with his disadvantages."

It's really fucking amazing that your views are about connection rather than separation - that's beautiful. We definitely need more folks like you in the world that acknowledge this.

Thank you for teaching your son to utilize privilege to better society.

It SUCKS that the way that that person came at you was from a malicious point of view rather than a constructive one.

We are still working on creating a more equitable future for everyone. I can guarantee that the views that are FILLED with hatred will die out.

We should also recognize and embrace our differences.

Slavery wasn't very long ago and black people are being incarcerated at disproportional rates compared to any other demographic of people.

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2017/12/15/a-mass-incarceration-mystery

It's obviously getting better according to the graphs presented in this article

Yes I shouldn't be treated differently from a person in a wheel chair.

But since most houses are built with stairs and not ramps, essentially I am being treated differently than folks in wheel chairs.

Mentally, I know that both myself and the person in a wheel chair should be treated the same.

BUT, the way this system is built treats people that can walk way better than people with wheel chairs.

Where folks are really coming from when it comes to privilege is not about what we THINK is right. But what are the ACTIONS that we're taking to SHOW what we KNOW is correct.

Our current system, although changing drastically, still has a lot of undoing of institutional racism. Which means not INDIVIDUAL racism, but institutional - the fact that racism is embedded in the fabric of the system we live in and how we're changing that.

I can believe that people aren't being racist toward me because I'm black all I want. But the truth is that people are being discriminated against ALL the time and it's not just about me at that point.

Extreme social justice folks can be equally as sheltered as folks that claim that white people are superior to black people.

It's about listening to everyone's story like you said raymond.

And those people who came at your jugular weren't taking the time to listen to where you're coming from.

Which is definitely not progressive at all.

The way I view success isn't based on my race, gender, sexuality, social class whatever, it's based on what I'm contributing to the planet.

However, it'd be dumb of me to think that people don't have an inherent bias against me because of my skin color, gender, sexuality, etc.

It's important to educate ourselves about the system we live in and do our best to do it in way's where we understand everyone's perspective, and try to get out of our own heads so much.

Having education forced onto you is NOT the way that should have been done.

Even as someone who isn't a white male, I've had folks come at me and call me names and I'm BLACK. It's stupid. And not effective.

It's still important to recognize that white privilege exists in America. Because America is basically governed by white men - even though we're growing and becoming a lot more equitable. Apparently, the 114th congress is the most diverse, even though it's 80% men and 70% white.

The richest people in America are white men.

The banks in America are owned by white men.

All except 1 president, white and male.

So times are changing. Humans tend to favor folks that are similar to their own. It takes a lot of energy to even consider that our own view's might be wrong, because it's often tied to our emotions and beliefs we started cultivating as children.

It's worth including the status that you posted in your post so that folks can get the whole entire story - I'm personally curious about what you said to start all of this and I would hope other people are too, just to get the full story - I also understand that you are just ranting about the whole scenario and may not be comfortable sharing that information.

This issue is VERY complex. It's easy to write it off and go "crazy social justice freaks" or "Stupid white people" - it goes so much deeper than this comment or even this post.

As far as humans go, we have a LOT of room to evolve.

Things are messy right now. They will clear up in the next few centuries, ideally sooner so that we can live with each other in harmony rather than come at each other with hate.