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.

I have noticed a new phenomenon in the race war, and am wondering if anyone else has seen this.
Since Black Lives Matter, maybe even sometime before, there has been a shift. Where before there seemed to be solidarity among non-white groups, there is now an apparent widening rift. It was barely perceptible at first, but is now obvious. To me, anyway. I am wondering how/why this has transpired. Looking at the recent election, I stumbled upon a clue---I think. Vice President Harris is from a multi-ethnic background , if I recall correctly. So, besides being the first female VP, she had another barrier to overcome. Or several? More than once during the campaign, her racial origins were brought to the fore; affirmed and emphasized...as if to honor them equally; as if that were a mandatory act and less would have been disrespectful. This is interesting and perhaps demonstrative. Here we have a well-qualified and respected professional, who happens to be female and from a diverse family lineage. Her racial profile became almost as important as any of that. Hoping again that I am just flat wrong, I can visualize greater dissent among people of color. Unless
we get hold of this trend before it clamps on to us...

This last week reached a new low for the brotherhood of man. A sophomore at a state university has received death threats, because he missed a free throw in a basketball game. March madness, indeed. To the morons who authored these threats, i say: go find yourselves a hole in the ground, and crawl into it. I did not send anything about this to the local newspaper. They are unresponsive to such concerns. Well. Well. Well...