Pillow Hat posted:

I would agree. I think there is a critical leap that is very difficult for so many white people to take where they look at themselves and realize how much of who they are is attributable to white supremacy. Just the other day, my racist uncle told me I should be against Affirmative Action because that's the only reasonable way to understand why I didn't get into my home state medical school. (I am a white man.) It would be much easier for me to agree with him, and I wouldn't have to deal with accepting the fact that I'm just not good enough. It's harder (for people in general) to say, "No Racist Uncle, you are wrong. The fact that I am a white man is actually not the reason I didn't get into medical school. Furthermore, being a white man, I have been at an advantage every step of the way leading to this point. I should be expected to have a more competitive application than, say, a black woman all other things being equal." (Plus, you know, I got into an out-of-state med school. So I'm actually more inclined to say it came down to some extent to the human component of admissions than anything AA related.)

But anyway, gently caress what makes me feel good about myself and how hard I worked. It's obvious to me that I have been the beneficiary of white privilege at every step of the way (in addition to a bunch of other types of social privilege). If I were a black woman, I would not be in medical school, plain and simple.