Charles
On Fri, Aug 16, 2013 at 12:25 PM, Carrol Cox <cbcox at ilstu.edu> wrote:
> I think I've got a metaphor dramatizing the difference between _privilege_
> and _rights_. In Rumania, in Hungary, in Austria, & in Germany, there was
> at
> least one waitress or waiter who understood and spoke _some_ English. In
> the
> railway station in Budapest we encountered a porter who spoke English, & he
> found us a taxi-driver who spoke English.
>
> I doubt that speakers of Farsi, Estonian, or Arabic would have been so
> lucky.
>
> Now, no one has the _right_ to find English speakers in Budapest; it is a
> pleasant privilege to have, however, and I think it is a privilege 'gained'
> by over two centuries of imperialist aggression by Anglos. An note, there
> is
> no way 'we' can reject that privilege -- and if we did somehow it would
> gain
> no advantage for speakers of Arabic going into a Budapest restaurant.
>
> Now, it is _not_ a privilege but a _right_ for any of us to walk into a
> government office and be served by someone who speaks English. It OUGHT to
> be a right of any Spanish-speaker in the U.S. to find Spanish speakers in
> government offices, courts, etc. Surrendering the _right_ (not privilege)
> of
> Anglos to speak English in Court would not help Spanish speakers. We
> should,
> if we are serious leftists, join with Spanish speakers to make Spanish in
> addition to English an official language in the U.S. -- but "checking" our
> right, not privilege, to speak English in court would not help that
> struggle.
>
> Now -- _every_ resident (not merely every citizen) of the U.S. should have
> the RIGHT to walk down a street (anywhere) at (say) 1a.m. and not get shot
> or roughed up or hassled (stop and frisk)ed). It is NOT a privilege, but it
> is a Right. For whites to surrender that right would not in any way help
> Black and Brown people.
>
> And so forth.
>
> The renunciation of Privilege by one group, even if possible, would not
> help
> those who are deprived of it.
>
> Carrol
>
> P.S. Let me repeat one point: However technically inaccurate the slogan may
> be, the slogan "Fight Racism" must be a core slogan of the U.S. left; in
> our
> practice we must concretize it.
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org [mailto:
> lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org]
> > On Behalf Of Doug Henwood
> > Sent: Friday, August 16, 2013 1:37 PM
> > To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> > Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Check your privilege?
> >
> >
> > On Aug 16, 2013, at 2:32 PM, JOANNA A. <123hop at comcast.net> wrote:
> >
> > > I don't quite get this "check your privilege" business.
> >
> > We've solved this one on Facebook!
> > ___________________________________
> > http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
>
>
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