MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > Can people stop saying the college cheat...

Can people stop saying the college cheating scandal was white privilege?


It had nothing to do with white privilege. It had everything to do with rich privilege. Do you really think if Denzel went up to Yale or Harvard and said "I'll give you one million dollars to let Denzel Jr. in", they would have turned him down because he was black? Are you telling me racial minorities don't have money of their own?

Also, not everyone who was involved was white.

reply

If whites are so privileged, why did they have to cheat the system?

reply

"If whites are so privileged, why did they have to cheat the system?"

Flawless logic. We could also ask why rich businessmen feel the need to embezzle money, cheat taxes etc. if they are so rich. They must actually be poor then right?

Fair point on Denzel but the white privilege comments apply more to the older legacy money e.g. 5th generation children of rich, white Americans. This older money typically just donates to get their kids in.

Also, white privilege applies since people would assume these people's kids got in due to intelligence or skill. Meanwhile a black A student gets labelled with the undeserving AA brush.

reply

"Also, white privilege applies since people would assume these people's kids got in due to intelligence or skill. Meanwhile a black A student gets labelled with the undeserving AA brush."

FlawED logic. One, you assume that's what people assume. Two, that has nothing to do with the reason these kids got into college. Black parents with money could've done the same thing. Who knows, maybe they did.

reply

"One, you assume that's what people assume"

Not an assumption, you can look up people's thoughts on AA and assumptions for yourself e.g. the comment section for any article on Abigail Fisher.

"Two, that has nothing to do with the reason these kids got into college. Black parents with money could've done the same thing."

Read my whole comment before you start typing. Here is my response to that point...again.

"Fair point on Denzel but the white privilege comments apply more to the older legacy money e.g. 5th generation children of rich, white Americans. This older money typically just donates to get their kids in."

reply

Abigail Fisher has nothing to do with this case. But even if people criticise Affirmative Action, that doesn't mean they label every black A student with an "undeserving AA brush". That's YOUR assumption.

"Read my whole comment before you start typing."

I did, honey, and your white privilige statement came AFTER you made your Denzel comment (with another unrelated argument about "old money"). You insist that white privilege plays a rol in this case, but a rich, black kid could've gotten in the same way. Non-wealthy black A students have nothing to do with this.

reply

"But even if people criticise Affirmative Action, that doesn't mean they label every black A student with an "undeserving AA brush". That's YOUR assumption.

I didn't say "every." You said I was making an assumption about AA judgment and argued it doesn't happen, the Fisher comments are an example of people SOMETIMES assuming black people don't belong.

"I did, honey, and your white privilige statement came AFTER you made your Denzel comment (with another unrelated argument about "old money")"

What difference does it make that I made the privilege statement after the Denzel one? Read the whole message, it's not that long. Old money is not unrelated. I said old money people are the ones who benefit from white privilege, with families that made their money many generations ago. Do you understand?

reply

"That's YOUR assumption"

Honey, that's not an "assumption", that's the opposite of an assumption! I'm not reading more into it than what's being said.

I did not argue it doesn't happen. I said that it's an assumption on your part that people assume these kids got in based on intelligence or skills, while labelling a black A student with the AA brush.

You made a general statement, one that has nothing to do with this case since it played no role in these kids getting into college.

Do I need to say it again? Even after your Denzel comment you insisted white privilige was involved. No, it wasn't. Labelling poor, black A students has nothing to do with it. And a rich, black kid could've gotten in the same way.

"Old money" is unrelated because if people bring up the white privilege argument it has nothing to do with old money, since all these people are new money. I hope you get this.

reply

What cracks me up is that the "That's YOUR assumption" part was copied and pasted from your message. I like doing that to give context for what I'm saying and you didn't even realize you were responding to your own words.

I'll just end the argument man. We're going in circles. Your reading comprehension is terrible.

Peace.

reply

What cracks ME up is that YOU fail at quoting. I also like to use quotes for context, but at least I place the quotation marks correctly. When YOU don't do that, ofcourse it's not clear whether they're your or my own words.

Also funny how you use that as a deflection to ignore the rest of my post.

Your writing skills suck and your argumentation is even worse. Were you unable to attend college due to wealth privilege???

reply

Never came back to respond to the actual points of my post, huh? I hope you went back to finish high school.

reply

Lol, well that was entertaining.

reply

"Deleted"? So what are you going to do now, Ryker? Post a Youtube video crying about how mean I am?

reply

[deleted]

Help! I'm oppressed by toothless rednecks! They have all the institutional power!

reply

This and also pimpfranklin makes me giggle.

reply

To the OP. Do you realize Hollywood has long held the mentality that black actors (as a whole) aren't as marketable as white ones? Movies like Straight Outta Compton and Black Panther are definitely helping to dismantle that idea, and of course we have figures like Will Smith. However, Denzel, Will, The Rock, Michael B. Jordan etc. are still exceptions to the rule in Hollywood, hence nowhere near as many A-list black actors (even if we factor in the black pop. relative to the white pop.) That is an example of how white privilege affects who becomes a rich actor in the first place. White privilege doesn't just mean no black people can succeed.

reply

Why are you attributing this to Hollywood? 40 people were charged. All it takes is for some rich guy who won the lottery, invested in some stocks or even earned it through a high paying job, to bribe his way into these colleges. Let's just say Will Smith was one of the people being charged, would the white privilege argument still work? This is about wealth and wealth only. Literally this could not have happened without being rich unless they performed some sexual favours, but that's a whole other argument.

And like I said, not everyone who was arrested was white.

reply

"Let's just say Will Smith was one of the people being charged, would the white privilege argument still work?"

Yes, because like I said: "Do you realize Hollywood has long held the mentality that black actors (as a whole) aren't as marketable as white ones? Movies like Straight Outta Compton and Black Panther are definitely helping to dismantle that idea, and of course we have figures like Will Smith. However, Denzel, Will, The Rock, Michael B. Jordan etc. are still exceptions to the rule in Hollywood."

Reading comprehension is dying.

The issue is, you (and most people) think white privilege means every white person is better off and has it easier than every black person. What it really means is odds are generally in white people's favour e.g. odds of being a famous movie star and being in a position to bribe uni officials.

reply

Funny how you say reading comprehension is dying when you assume so many things I never said.

Nothing you said in your strange diatribe proves anything about this specific case. How can you say it's white privilege where there were at least 4 (that I know of) non-white people who were charged in this admission scandal? Everyone involved here was rich. Literally everyone. At what point is it not white privilege anymore?

You said: "Do you realize Hollywood has long held the mentality that black actors (as a whole) aren't as marketable as white ones?" That is irrelevant to this case and the fact that there are "people of colour" charged in this who were in positions of power goes against your strange point. I don't care what the odds are, in your words, "being a famous movie star and being in a position to bribe uni officials". They did it. The odds don't matter. They shouldn't get off just because the odds are against "people of colour".

reply

"Nothing you said in your strange diatribe proves anything about this specific case."

What are you not understanding about how being white makes it easier to be an A-lister in Hollywood? I am using that as an example of how it makes it more likely for actors involved in this to be white and to have this opportunity to bribe Unis/

Exceptions to the rule (some black actors) does not mean the rule is false. They are EXCEPTIONS. The odds are not in their favour as much as it is for white actors. It really isn't that hard to understand.


reply

What are you not understanding about how being white makes it easier to be an A-lister in Hollywood?


Again, irrelevant. Like I said earlier, this isn't about Hollywood. Only two of the people are Hollywood actors. This is about college administrators taking bribes. Taking out 4 people of colour and saying they're exceptions to the rule doesn't negate the fact that money was the main issue here, not race. Literally nothing about this specific case indicates that being white gave them an advantage to get in. The fact that at least 4 people who got charged were involved proves it. So say: " The odds are not in their favour as much as it is for white actors" just proves that you think that if more minorities were rich, they would be involved even more than the amount who were already charged .

reply

Yes money is the main issue and he's saying that white people are historicially more likely to be rich in the first place, either from family money or from Hollywood money.

Different contexts and different time scales, but the same argument.

reply

"Yes money is the main issue and he's saying that white people are historically more likely to be rich in the first place, either from family money or from Hollywood money.

Different contexts and different time scales, but the same argument."

Wow, it's a miracle. Someone understands something I explained clearly. Thank you. I used Hollywood as an example since I though it would be easier to explain for the OP.

reply

I know what Ryker is saying. But what I am saying is the fact that there were multiple people who were not white that got charged in this case, it's not white privilege. Like you said, "different contexts". I am talking about this specific event.

If a white cop killed a black man, was he killed because of his race just because there are cases of it? If there's no evidence of it, then no.

reply

"But what I am saying is the fact that there were multiple people who were not white that got charged in this case, it's not white privilege."

And what I am saying is that "oh there's some black people" doesn't mean white privilege doesn't exist.

It is like saying "oh the US has a black president, racism must be dead." What I have (repeatedly) tried to explain is that white privilege explains why MOST of the people in this scam are white. Pointing to a few black ones to say white privilege is null and void does not win the argument.

White privilege does not mean EVERY white person is rich and no black people are. It only means the system gives the edge to white people and makes it MORE likely for them to succeed.

reply

"And what I am saying is that "oh there's some black people" doesn't mean white privilege doesn't exist."

I see, you're one of those folks that turns everything into a race issue. Nobody's arguing it doesn't exist, just that it doesn't exist in this case.

Your argument of black people not being rich is totally besides the point and a strawman, because this scandal has absolutely nothing to do with race, let alone race privilege. Let's say the majority of the people involved own a Mercedes, because, you know, that's a rich people car. Does that mean it's Mercedes privilege?

You can't just dismiss that people of color were involved. Who cares if they're a minority, black people are a minority anyway. Also, entertainers were involved. And we all know plenty of entertainers who are black and rich. I gave you the example of Dr. Dre, who financed an entire wing at his daughter's university.

You're grasping at straws. Look for something else to use for your race agenda. This is not it.

reply

The way Ryker makes it sound like is as if 20 black people were charged and four white people were charged, it would still be white privilege because someone somewhere has been screwed by the system.

reply

The system you are talking about in this college scandal involved a Black man accepting bribes. You're telling me that this black man is helping white privilege? No. If anything, he got money out of it.

It's strange how you bring up race. Why not getting up homeless people? They wouldn't have the opportunity to do it because they have no money. Is it now real estate privilege?

reply

Omfg, how are you still not getting this man? Now it just seems like you're trolling.

I'll try one more time. Don't know how else to break it down for you.

"White privilege does not mean EVERY white person is rich and no black people are. It only means the system gives the edge to white people and makes it MORE likely for them to succeed."

That means black people CAN succeed as well, it is just harder. Example, the US still has racism, Obama still became president. Not as likely for a black man to make it (as historical stats on presidents show) but he still did it IN SPITE of the system. If you still respond "but a black guy" then I'm not going to bother responding again.

Edit: This comes across even more as trolling after I saw your post about Jordan Peele. You acknowledge subconscious bias affecting casting decisions -- where (mostly) white directors hire white actors disproportionately- and now you're acting like the concept of that bias affecting career progression is alien to you.

reply

You never would've made it in college, considering how you keep bringing up false arguments and dismiss actual arguments.

It SO does matter black people were involved and that tons of wealthy people in the entertainment industry are black.

reply

You're not answering anything I'm saying. You're bringing things up that are irrelevant to this specific case. I am talking about A and B, but you're saying "well, what about C"? C is irrelevant.

reply

I'm done here man. The example about Peele was trying to illustrate white privilege, since you weren't understanding the other examples.

reply

He just can't stop with the false arguments. Even if he can prove that the majority of wealthy white people are wealthy because of their race, how does he know if any of the people involved profited in any way from their race? It's just pathetic to make these assumptions. This guy is obsessed with race.

reply

It's strange that he's bringing up race. I mean, 95% of the people involved here are Americans. Is it also American privilege to him? Those poor immigrants never get their chance!

reply

Isn't it funny how he forgets about all the rich and famous black athletes and musicians? Are they not A-list? I seem to recall Dr. Dre financing a whole new wing at his daughter's university.

reply

The fact that 4 non whites were charged throws that whole white privilege thing out the window. Why is he throwing out four separate people as exception to the rule?

reply

Because it doesn't fit his narrative.

reply

To the OP. You're absolutely right! This has NOTHING to do with race, but with wealth instead. People just like using this stuff for their own agenda.

reply

Precisely.

But you know what the problem is, don't you?

The US has been conditioned to despise egalitarianism and socioeconomic fairness, associating it with 'Communism'. Instead it embraces a dog-eat-dog zero-sum-game capitalist system that pits everyone against one another with the ultimate goal 'to be the richest person in the world'. Thus, instead of acting in cooperation and targeting the 1%, the masses still believe that they have a shot at wealth (hey, maybe their ship will come in and they'll win the lottery one day). Like John Steinbeck said 'poor Americans are temporarily embarrassed millionaires', and that there problem isn't the rich keeping them down (after all, they want to be rich too, one day, so why would they begrudge the very people they aspire to be). No the problem must be anyone else who doesn't look like them and who will get in the way of them becoming rich.

So for white people, that's the blacks. For black people, that's the whites. For women, it's men. For men, it's women. And so on and so on.

reply

Yeah. I would say it's more a case of class-based entitlement rather than white privilege.

reply

I don't think it's white privilege at all. Especially since it wasn't just white people that got charged.

reply

Yep.

reply

The logic seems to be 'more white people than black people are wealthy, and wealthy people are the ones that used their money and power to get their children into top colleges without having to do any work, thus this is white privilege'.

This idea ignores the fact that, as with any and every race, there are more poor white people than rich white people, and that we already have a term for what these people did: 'socioeconomic privilege'. It's just not used very often.

reply

"The logic seems to be 'more white people than black people are wealthy, and wealthy people are the ones that used their money and power to get their children into top colleges without having to do any work, thus this is white privilege'."

Exactly. Complete lack of logic.

reply

No they can't stop saying "white privilege" they can't help themselves. If this were to happen with Muslims or Blacks or Asians than they would still blame it all on "White privilege".

reply

Well it was white thing as why now it has a tv show about it. They wouldn't okay that to something that wasn't white.

reply

You know what, I don't even think this is a case of wealth privilege. It's not like they got anything for free because they're wealthy. They paid for it with their own money. Privilege might be if they get away with it.

reply


Good luck with that. The PC mob uses that tired old cliche for just about everything.

😎

reply

PC mob? That's racist!

reply


LOL.

😎

reply