MovieChat Forums > Jussie Smollett Discussion > i wish i had black privilege

i wish i had black privilege


man oh man its sure great to be a gay black libtard in this day and age

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That really isn't something you should wish for. This Jussie idiot paid his way to freedom... But he is the minority. Think of what happens to all the other people who cannot buy their way out. Or who are persecuted and attacked for real because of who they are :(

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Well, you could try to fake it like some people who've decided to "identify" as black. The white chick who decided to identify as black also sent hate mail to herself because apparently you just don't get hassled as much as we've been told if you're black. At least, not in a showy enough way to impress people with your victimhood -- which is what I think she was after. And Smollett, too, come to think of it.

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She still denies she sent hate mail to herself, but I'd be curious what happened to the food stamps charge. I've never read anything that she was arrested or spent any time in jail for EBT fraud.

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The supply of racism by white people just doesn't meet the demand. That why we have these hoaxes. The real racists get impatient and attack themselves, and blame the people they hate.

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Yeah, look how many were appointed by Trump in his cabinet and as head of departments.

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Jussie Smullette is Jewish, and there are an awfully lot of Jews in Trump's cabinet for being only 2% of the population. Are you saying there's a "Jewish privlidge", or are you saying Jews just work harder than blacks?

Drop the clown world act.

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The Jewish religion descends from the matrilineal line - not patrilineal, therefore Jussie isn't Jewish. He was brought up Catholic.

Anyway, the OTs subject is about being black and gay. Try to keep up and stop trolling!

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i didnt know he had jewish privilege. lucky dude i really wish that level of privilege

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His father abandoned him when he was young. How is that a privilege?

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poor dude. i feel so bad for him. its not even a big deal he tried to start a race war now that i heard his daddy didnt love him....

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Lots of people have been abandoned by one or both parents who are in jail for lessor crimes. I'd call that privilege. The bottom line is that this guy should be in jail regardless of the circumstances of his childhood.

Better people have been through worse and gotten less out of life. This dude is shit and deserves to be treated like shit. But don't you worry, he'll be making bank again soon enough. The injustice won't mean anything to anyone who goose steps to his political drum.

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Why are you advocating parents to abandon their children?

His parents divorced and he didn't see his father for a while. They reconciled before his father died.

Obviously, the prosecutors dropped the case because it was weak. Move on nothing to see here.

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You honestly think I'm advocating that parents abandon their children then want me to take your word about there's nothing to see here? You're a funny person.

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"Lots of people have been abandoned by one or both parents who are in jail for lessor crimes. I'd call that privilege. "

Your words. Abandonment is a privilege.

The story is yesterday's news. Nobody cares now which is why it's not in the press.

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No, it's only dormant news until the much awaited next twist which will once again become, " breaking news."

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Oh Keelai. It's people like you who make people like me look bad.

How can we expect anyone to take the political left seriously when some of us lie and obfuscate so blatantly?

estcst clearly didn't say that being abandoned by one's parents is privilege. It was clear that they meant that Jussie was privileged in comparison to those people who has been absfoned by their parents and who'd ended up in jail for lesser crimes.

With all due respect, either your reading comprehension is poor, or, as is more likely since I don't believe you to be so stupid, you're intentionally misunderstanding him in order to avoid engaging with his actual argument (which, I hasten to add, I don't necessarily agree with).

Anyway, Jussie's dad sounds like an utter dipshit. Apparently he's a Russian-Polish Jew who resented being referred to as white (*eyeroll*), and appears to have suffered from small man syndrome (it's all there in this interview: https://www.out.com/entertainment/2016/1/28/exclusive-jussie-smollett-being-black-and-gay-hollywood). It sounds like Jussie's parents only divorced when he was already 15, so nearly an adult, and that he was still around after the divorce. But judging by his small man syndrome and refusal to acknowledge his whiteness (sorry, but how many black Russian-Polish Jess do you know?) it appears he may have been an unhealthy influence on his son, and most likely the one who encouraged Jussie's tendency towards fantasies.

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Stop stereotyping. Not all Jews are white. Not everyone in Russia or Poland is white. His father looks racially mixed which would explain why he didn't identify as white. Unless you have the man's DNA results or personally know his ancestry, I suggest you stop labeling and judging him.

BTW, I know a few black and bi-racial Russians personally and historically like Alexander Pushkin, Russia's greatest poet and novelist, considered the father of Russian modern literature. His ancestor Abram Petrovich Gannibal, a Russian general and military engineer was black. Both were members of Russia's nobility. There are many black people living in Russia today.

One of the top black Russian celebs is Yelena Khanga whose grandmother was of Polish-Jewish descent. Fewer blacks in Poland, but John Abraham Godson was sworn into Parliament ten years ago. He married and has four black-Polish children.

My reading comprehension is excellent. Equating parents who involuntarily leave their children because they are jailed on a minor charge with a parent who willfully abandons a child makes zero sense. Adding "privilege" to this flawed setup is a non sequitor.

Stop trying to label me. I'm not an ideologue.

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The article I linked, if you had bothered reading it, made no reference to Jussie's father being anything but Russian-Polish Jewish. It didn't say he was also of black African heritage.

And before you try and catch me out, and say 'you shouldn't assume that all Russians and Poles are white', I'd be inclined to agree, but the overwhelming majority of Russians and Poles are white, and there are more Russian and Polish Jews per head than there are Russian and Polish people of black African descent, and yet the article felt the need to point out Jussie's father's Jewish ethnicity.

My guess is that Jussie's father is appropriating a black identity on the basis of his Jewishness. After all, the white supremacist far right still consider Jewish people to not be white. Still, it's sad that anyone should want to go by the KKK's categorisation of Jewish people.

Of course there are many biracial Jews, and there are African countries like Ethiopia where Judaism is the national religion (although unfortunately, Ethiopians have not been embraced and regarded as Jewish by large segments of the Israeli establishment), but by-and-large when one refers to Ashkenazi Jews, one is referring to Jews of white Eastern European descent, just as Sephardic Jews refer to Jews of Southern European and Mediterranean descent, like myself.

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Just because most Poles and Russians are white doesn't mean all Poles and Russians are white. Nonwhites in those countries still exist. BTW, he is also Romanian. You have an illusion in which you believe countries are homogeneous and people never intermarry.

There could easily have been a nonwhite ancestor who wasn't talked about because of racism. His father looks mixed especially re: his nose and lips. If you can put ego aside and take an honest look at his photos, you'll see what I mean. Maybe he came to the conclusion he wasn't white because of his features.

http://dailyentertainmentnews.com/breaking-news/jussie-smolletts-parents-janet-joel-smollett/

http://wikinetworth.com/uploads/images/joel-smollett.jpg

https://www.picsbud.com/thumbs/NmQjBHSTSuegg4IGeTUpjUSJqYLFThclkkqT-4GhibbelqUTYZTaDvdhISwKlPixuZidvJEyEYmmpowvC5_EBw.jpg

Ethiopia's main religion is Christianity then Islam. The Jews were a small minority who fled because of persecution.

Not all Jews are white. The original Jews were brown-skinned including Jesus. That's the norm in that part of the world and era.
https://twitter.com/TheRaDR/status/1089593913395105792

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I've been told I have a 'black nose and black lips' maybe I should go all Rachel Dolezal and appropriate a black identity. What do you think?

Also, I never said that Russia and Poland were homogenously white, nor have I ever claimed that about the Jewish community, but even if Jussie's dad has black ancestry, as many of us whites, myself included, do, I doubt he was raised as a black man in a black community.

Also, where do you draw the line? All whites can trace their ancestry back to Africa. So, are we all black? Is racism just an illusion?

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Don't change the subject.

It's obvious that he is mixed by his photos. Neither one of us knows this man or his family. If he didn't feel comfortable identifying as white because of what he personally knew about his ancestry then it isn't for you to judge. Let it go!

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A lot of Ashkenazi Jews can be mistaken for black.

Look up the filmmaker Ed Zwick:https://thefilmstage.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Edward+Zwick+12th+Annual+AFI+Awards+Red+Carpet+MDoSvhgF08Rl.jpg

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He looks more Middle Eastern. He's Russian and Polish too.

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He is of Russian and Polish ancestry, but that's my point. Perhaps Zwick and Jussie's father have some distant black ancestry, but the point is, it's likely distant, and not really significant enough to seriously describe oneself as 'black', at least not in a sense used outside of the far right.

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I never said all of that. I said perhaps he didn't identify as white because of the way he looked. We don't know his DNA or reason(s) for his decision. Judging him on personal guesswork is wrong. Let him rest in peace.

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Okay, I won't argue it anymore.

Still, I tend to go by ancestry, not how one looks. I could claim all sorts of ethnic, even racial, backgrounds based on how I look and what I've been mistaken for.

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I should be clear that I was basing my comment on MY opinion - not Joel Smollet's. I just thought it was unfair to knock the guy when we don't know him.

I had even walked back my original comment about his "abandoning" his family when I saw subsequent family photos and read tributes from his family.

I thank you for an interesting debate. A truce sounds good.

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Not being in the jail is privilege.

You're either and idiot or a troll. Probably both.

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"i wish i had black privilege "

"i didnt know he had jewish privilege. lucky dude i really wish that level of privilege"

So there's black privilege. Jewish privilege. And now "not being in jail privilege".

Stop spewing incoherent bigoted nonsense.

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With all due respect, I'd say 'not being in jail' represents a privilege if you're unlucky enough to be in jail.

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Not being in jail is a norm instead of a privilege since it applies to almost the entire population.

A privilege = a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group.

That poor sap who is in jail because he's unlucky instead of guilty appears to be a victim of a miscarriage of justice.

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If you're white enough and/or rich enough and/or famous and well-connected enough to evade justice for crimes that most others would go to prison for, I'd say that was privilege.

Bear in mind that most people don't commit crimes.

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The case against Smollett was extremely weak. The check's memo contradicts the brothers by stating for physical training.

Another potential issue is that Smollett was a fairly successful actor (as are his siblings) on a popular TV show who didn't need a cheap publicity trick. But, the brothers were struggling actors who could have set him up to further their own careers by making up this lie.

It doesn't have to be true. A defense lawyer only needs to create some reasonable doubt.

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NC is an anti-Semitic racist bigot, but if we're being intellectually honest here, rather than evading the truth of the matter, I'm sure he's referring to ethnic and cultural, not religious Judaism.

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NC is a confused mess. He referred to Jussie as black. And obviously Jussie culturally and ethnically identifies with being black. That leaves the Jewish religion which is matrilineal.

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You've contradicted yourself.

You, quite rightly, argued in a separate thread that one can be both Jewish and black. One doesn't preclude the other, yet this is, strangely, what you seem to be saying here.

Jussie is biracial. He has a white Jewish father who was present for the first fifteen years of Jussie's life. That constitutes an important part of Jussie's ethnic background, every bit as much as his black ancestry.

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Actually, I agree with you. But Jessie identifies himself as black. Ditto Obama and Hallie. Historically in America, biracial is still considered black. In other countries, it can be something else like white, mixed, colored, biracial, Indian, etc. Each country is different.

"That constitutes an important part of Jussie's ethnic background, every bit as much as his black ancestry."

This is where I have to disagree. It's very common for one culture to dominate in a family when parents are of two different ethnic/racial/religious backgrounds which is one reason the child identifies strongly with only one. That doesn't really mean the child despises the other. Maybe it's just easier for parents to focus on one.

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I'm going to be pedantic here and say that neither Obama nor Halle are Jewish, as far as I know. But I understand what you're saying, and I actually agree, almost entirely.

It stands to reason that a biracial individual, especially one who has grown up in a country like the USA with such a stark racial history, particularly with respect to the legacy of racism, will more often than not identify as predominantly black, even if, like Obama and Halle, they were raised by single white parents.

You're also right to call me out in saying that Jussie's Jewish heritage is 'every bit as [important] as his black ancestry'. I suspect you're right, and that constitutes exaggeration on my part. Still, I wouldn't be surprised if his Jewish ancestry is still somewhat important to his sense of identity, if not maybe as important as his black heritage.

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"...Jussie is biracial. He has a white Jewish father"

I didn't address Jewish heritage because you appeared to be focusing on race. Another thing is that Americans will consider a biracial person black if he/she has any black features so the person doesn't really decide for oneself. There are exceptions if the person looks white like Jennifer Beale or Gabrielle Reece.

"I wouldn't be surprised if his Jewish ancestry is still somewhat important to his sense of identity"
He went to a Catholic school. It would be extremely difficult to bring up a child as both Jewish and Catholic since the religions have contradictions.

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But once again, I'm not necessarily thinking of Judaism purely as a religion, but as an ethnicity.

If Jussie's Jewish ancestry can be traced back to Poland/Russia it's likely that his father's family escaped either the turn-of-the-century pogroms or survived the mid 20th century Nazi occupation of Europe. Either way, that means there is a history of quite recent oppression on his father's side of the family (but it has nothing to do with being black).

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[deleted]

Keelai = IQ of the average lib, around 60

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I'm a lib. My IQ is much higher, as is the IQ of the average progressive liberal according to published research.

Unfortunately, you're always going to get the odd naïve and poorly educated pseudo-liberal, often a member of the younger generations (my guess is that Keelai is a Millennial or younger) who makes the rest of us rational, intellectually honest, and hard-headed progressive liberals look bad.

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I never said I was liberal.

Personal attacks happen when one can't debate a topic in an intelligent way. I didn't expect much from tom8 whose many posts appear to have been deleted by the moderators for trolling. Why lower yourself to his/her level of personal attack?

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I'm sorry.

Now that I have spoken more with you and come to a greater understanding of where you're coming from, I do see the error of my comment, and take it back.

I was being a glib and smug wiseass, and I was hypocritically doing something I've always spoken against. I was contributing to bullying simply because it sounded funny at the time.

Once again, I apologise.

I still think some of your arguments initially came across, at first glance, as naïve, but now that we have engaged in further discussion I do see that you're a lot smarter and more sophisticated in your thinking than I initially took you for.

I still stand by this sentence "Unfortunately, you're always going to get the odd naïve and poorly educated pseudo-liberal, often a member of the younger generations who makes the rest of us rational, intellectually honest, and hard-headed progressive liberals look bad" in principle, but I now realise that it does not apply to you, and have thus excluded the part in parenthesis.

My bad.

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All's good.

I don't have a problem with insults and name-calling as long as you include it within a comment related to the subject after all I'm not that thin-skinned and I don''t mind giving an insult or two myself. But, tom8 was just insulting without adding zip to the dialogue.

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I'm sorry.

It's very good that you're thick-skinned, but that's not a defence for my rudeness.

I shouldn't be so rude to or about someone who speaks to me in good faith. Trolls on the other hand...

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I didn't expect much from tom8 whose many posts appear to have been deleted by the moderators for trolling. Why lower yourself to his/her level of personal attack?"

of course, libs like you always run to the report button. Censorship is your biggest ally and everyone else is a troll or a russian bot.


😆😅

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I never reported you and have no plans to do that nor to put you on ignore.

If you understood and respected Democracy, then you'd know it needs different opinions, viewpoints and multiple political parties to keep it healthy. Hold our politicians (all parties) to a higher standard, educate yourself, don't blindly follow nor support anyone who doesn't deserve it. Multiple hostile foreign governments want to destroy the U.S. and other democracies from within by creating discord among the people and are attacking our institutions. They were able to be successful in both the U.S. and Britain because the citizens allowed themselves to be exploited. We should be standing strong together against these attacks instead of name-calling and seeing each other as an enemy.

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