History is what it is. But, let's suppose that the history of the United States had never included slavery. Would this still mean that white privilege is a concern, or, would it mean that those who ended up here, through immigration or other migrations of choice, were subject to the same rights, obligations and privileges as every other resident, race, color and/or national origin, notwithstanding? Would it mean that a book about white privilege would have no traction, or that questions about equality would have to be framed differently? Your point about buzzwords is obvious: there are dozens of them. I am white (you knew that from reading this comment). And, I suppose, in the general view, that genetic fact renders me privileged. Sobeit. That fact, and, 99 cents gets me a cup of coffee at the corner Get Go convenience store. I'm going to have to move, though. Increases in property taxes; school tax levies and other living costs are rendering my retirement income null and void. So much for, uh, privilege. Yeah...

America is a violent nation, from Day One. That violence, so persistent, has melded with strident capitalism. These two define the State in deeds. The words are considerably less authentic, as they always are when measured against action.

In remains to be seen whether or not a nation conceived in violence and dedicated to the proposition that all men and women can achieve class exclusiveness through wealth will perish from the Earth sooner or later.

This discussion really missed the mark. Take the example of a Black person experiencing unwarranted violence or even murder at the hands of a police officer. You argued whether the differential treatment represents white people having a "privilege", or are just being treated like anybody deserves to be treated. Or from the other side, is the Black person lacking a privilege, or being denied their rights? I probably can agree with your answer, but the answer is irrelevant because it entirely misses the point. What you need to look at is all the other people - the ones not involved in that incident. All Black people are burdened with the knowledge that they are subject to such treatment. They can't live a single day without the threat of mistreatment affecting everything about their lives. Only Black parents have to have "the talk" with their kids, to explain how to best reduce the chances of being killed by a cop. White people have the privilege of never having to think about this. We can go through our days carelessly, in that regard. That changes everything. Of course the Black person who is targeted, has their rights violated. But the *expectations* that white people get to have, and that others, especially Black people, distinctly don't get to have, certainly seems like privilege to me. You made an analogy about country clubs granting privileges. And yes, it's very much like that. White people are very much in the club, and people of color, especially Black people, are very much not.