http://kinfolkkollective.com/2016/03/21/you-gon-learn-today-on-the-revocation-of-white-privilege-in-north-korea/

You Gon’ Learn Today: On the Revocation of White Privilege in North Korea
Posted on March 21, 2016 by LaSha Standard

“That’s what the hell he gets. Good for him!” My mother had uttered those words in her typical matter-of-fact tone one morning as she watched the news. “He” was Michael Fay, an 18-year-old from Ohio who had confessed to vandalizing cars in Singapore, and was subsequently sentence to six lashes from a rattan cane. I was in sixth grade and all I could imagine was how horrible the pain would be. My mother was unmoved at the thought, remarking, “He earned that.”

I thought about my mother’s words a few days ago while watching video of 21-year-old Otto Warmbier, another man from Ohio who last week was convicted of subversion for stealing a propaganda banner in North Korea, and sentenced to 15 years hard labor. Just as in Fay’s case, I was shocked by the severity of the punishment. I’ve tried to imagine spending a decade and a half performing what the North Korean state deems hard labor and I can’t. But I’m not 11 anymore, and now, my mother’s callous reaction to Micahel Fay’s sentence is my reaction to another young white man who went to an Asian country and violated their laws, and learned that the shield his cis white male identity provides here in America is not teflon abroad.

As shocked as I am by the sentence handed down to Warmbier, I am even more shocked that a grown man, an American citizen, would not only voluntarily enter North Korea but also commit what’s been described a “college-style prank.” That kind of reckless gall is an unfortunate side effect of being socialized first as a white boy, and then as a white man in this country. Every economic, academic, legal and social system in this country has for more than three centuries functioned with the implicit purpose of ensuring that white men are the primary benefactors of all privilege. The kind of arrogance bred by that kind of conditioning is pathogenic, causing its host to develop a subconscious yet no less obnoxious perception that the rules do not apply to him, or at least that their application is negotiable.

Headline after headline has highlighted that Otto Warmbier is a student. His Linkedin profile states that he is majoring Economics with a minor in Global Sustainability and is a Managing Director of an “alternative investment fund.” A man reared in this country who studies the globe as a part of his higher education curriculum must have been at least passingly aware of the notoriously strained relationship between the United States and North Korea. Surely he had read the stories of Jeffrey Fowle and Matthew Miller, other white American men arrested in North Korea for “petty crimes” who were subsequently sentenced to hard labor.

Yeah, I’m willing to bet my last dollar that he was aware of the political climate in that country, but privilege is a hell of a drug. The high of privilege told him that North Korea’s history of making examples out of American citizens who dare challenge their rigid legal system in any way was no match for his alabaster American privilege. When you can watch a white man who entered a theatre and killed a dozen people come out unscathed, you start to believe you’re invincible. When you see a white man taken to Burger King in a bulletproof vest after he killed nine people in a church, you learn that the world will always protect you.

Coming from a country filled with citizens who lambaste black victims of state sanctioned violence by telling us that if we obey the law, we wouldn’t have to face the consequences, Warmbier should’ve listened. If he had obeyed North Korea’s laws, he would be home now. In fact, if he had heeded the US Department of State’s strong advisement against travel to North Korea, he would be home right now. And if Eric Garner is to be blamed for his own death for selling loose cigarettes or if Sandra Bland is dead because she failed to signal when changing lanes, then Otto Warmbier is now facing a decade and a half of hard labor because he lacked both good judgment and respect for the national autonomy of a country which has made its hatred for and vendetta against America unequivocally clear.

And while I don’t blame his parents for pressuring the State Department to negotiate his release, I wonder where they were when their son was planning a trip to the DPRK. Didn’t they impress upon him the hostile climate that awaited him? Didn’t they rear him to respect law and order? Did they not teach him the importance of obeying authority?

What a mind-blowing moment it must be to realize after 21 years of being pedestaled by the world simply because your DNA coding produced the favorable phenotype that such favor is not absolute. What a bummer to realize that even the State Department with all its influence and power cannot assure your pardon. What a wake-up call it is to realize that your tears are met with indifference.

As I’ve said, living 15 years performing manual labor in North Korea is unimaginable, but so is going to a place I know I’m unwelcome and violating their laws. I’m a black woman though. The hopeless fear Warmbier is now experiencing is my daily reality living in a country where white men like him are willfully oblivious to my suffering even as they are complicit in maintaining the power structures which ensure their supremacy at my expense. He is now an outsider at the mercy of a government unfazed by his cries for help. I get it.

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Watch For The Hook
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy9Fun9CuZ4

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Everything looks like Oprah kissing Harvey Weinstein these days

Like I'd have expected to see that photo of dude eating a whopper in cuffs and a vest all over the Internet.

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Watch For The Hook
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy9Fun9CuZ4

What part of killing 9 people in a church earns you fucking Burger King? They shouldn't have given him gum

did you read what the judge said about his family ?

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so they grabbed him something from the closest place that was open. Folks tend to think they brought him the paper crown and tray mats with the coloring activities.

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Everything looks like Oprah kissing Harvey Weinstein these days

"I said wit' cheese!"

Cop went and put cheese on that whopper tho. And got him some fries.

Because I've seen pictures of Muhammad & Malvo & Colin Ferguson & shit I guess

I chose to never talk about it on twitter because I didn't want to appear to discredit the whole issue but all the false equivalences irked the shit out of me

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whenever you did these things to the least of my brothers you did them to me

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whenever you did these things to the least of my brothers you did them to me

What's petty?

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Somehow that seems to be the tone of the article and I say that as someone not really shedding tears for this kid but also not happy about his (or his family's) predicament.

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Everything looks like Oprah kissing Harvey Weinstein these days

"The hopeless fear Warmbier is now experiencing is my daily reality..."


>Somehow that seems to be the tone of the article and I say
>that as someone not really shedding tears for this kid but
>also not happy about his (or his family's) predicament.

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i.e. Dylan Roof

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Everything looks like Oprah kissing Harvey Weinstein these days

is indeed the point in this article I knew this person was highly self absorbed & dependent on her identity to the point she was unable to find anything to sympathize with in another's pain simply because of his identity

Its childish & petty

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whenever you did these things to the least of my brothers you did them to me

White Privilege

>is indeed the point in this article I knew this person was
>highly self absorbed & dependent on her identity to the point
>she was unable to find anything to sympathize with in
>another's pain simply because of his identity
>
>Its childish & petty


Setting the bar really high, don't lower it.

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& unable to feel empathy for someone not like herself the author was


I assume she's young, brash but inexperienced & lives in some sort of pseudo academic bubble

The idea that it was inherent feelings of privilege that made him think he could get away with it & not just pure foolishness could be true but you have to assume a lot & then you have to further translate those assumptions into partying over someone doing 15 years hard labor in North Korea as some bizarre form of racial justice

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whenever you did these things to the least of my brothers you did them to me

conclusions about her and the article off that. If you set the bar high for her you can't lower it for yourself. Where is your empathy for her ?


>& unable to feel empathy for someone not like herself the
>author was
>
>
>I assume she's young, brash but inexperienced & lives in some
>sort of pseudo academic bubble

I doubt it.

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One of the most maddening things about Black folks sharing their experiences of racism is that white folks often just don't trust that Black folks are telling the truth about what they face

Many seem to just assume that these things are made up or exaggerated & just don't just or won't trust the overwhelming amount of experiences Black folks have shared

the CRM knew this, that's why they wanted the TV cameras to show white America the hoses & dogs

But in *this* piece the young lady did not share any of her personal experiences

And i will work with the assumption that 15 years hard labor is very hard for anyone to deal with, bro or no bro

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whenever you did these things to the least of my brothers you did them to me

"brash but inexperienced & lives in some
>sort of pseudo academic bubble "


>But in *this* piece the young lady did not share any of her
>personal experiences


Almost the first thing she said was

"I could imagine was how horrible the pain would be"

when she mentioned the other case where the white guy got lashes.

>And i will work with the assumption that 15 years hard labor
>is very hard for anyone to deal with, bro or no bro

He will not do 15 years.

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i was instructed to assume that what she has faced is obviously comparable to this guys specific struggle

Perhaps she could have given some details & specifics & I certainly would have trusted that she was being true

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whenever you did these things to the least of my brothers you did them to me

when you said she was

"highly self absorbed & dependent on her identity..."

"brash,inexperienced" living in a pseudo academic bubble.

>i was instructed to assume that what she has faced is
>obviously comparable to this guys specific struggle
>
>Perhaps she could have given some details & specifics & I
>certainly would have trusted that she was being true

She gave you all the details you need with this paragraph

"The hopeless fear Warmbier is now experiencing is my daily reality living in a country where white men like him are willfully oblivious to my suffering even as they are complicit in maintaining the power structures which ensure their supremacy at my expense. He is now an outsider at the mercy of a government unfazed by his cries for help."

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Group of people into one convenient unworthy of empathy into one pile

Its called profiling

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whenever you did these things to the least of my brothers you did them to me

"I knew this person was highly self absorbed & dependent on her identity to the point she was unable to find anything to sympathize with in another's pain simply because of his identity

Its childish & petty"


brash, inexperienced

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It reads like the thoughts of someone with little experience beyond her bubble of self congratulatory racial consciousness

Someone who assumes the pain of others is not only unworthy of her sympathy but sometime to celebrate as some twisted form of karmic justice for the white man

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whenever you did these things to the least of my brothers you did them to me

if you ignored everything that challenged it.


>It reads like the thoughts of someone with little experience
>beyond her bubble of self congratulatory racial consciousness
>

No, it was researched and supported. Her points were backed up with facts. You did not provide anything except opinion and you admit it's just an assumption.

>Someone who assumes the pain of others is not only unworthy of
>her sympathy but sometime to celebrate as some twisted form of
>karmic justice for the white man
>

No all of that is extra from you.

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she's not exactly open to dialogue

I mean if she's not young she sure types like it

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whenever you did these things to the least of my brothers you did them to me

internet is proof of something. You really want to stay with that ?

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Keep deflecting

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whenever you did these things to the least of my brothers you did them to me

but if you want to go down this path.

>Keep deflecting

You assume she is

"highly self absorbed & dependent on her identity..."
"brash,inexperienced" living in a pseudo academic bubble
not open to dialogue

because she types young in her comment section. The place where crackpots are making ridiculous counter arguments.

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Her daily reality is in a work camp?

She said he now knows her daily reality. I wonder how she managed to sneak off to a computer to type that.

I wonder if she thinks the NBA is the equivalent of plantation slavery too.

There’s a valid sentiment in there, but she missed the boat in a big way.

It’s the same mentality expressed when a white person is unjustly convicted of, well, anything, or when a man is falsely accused of rape.

This doesn’t balance the scales in any way. Oppression of anyone is just that: more oppression. Injustice is injustice and should be viewed as just that, an injustice. Adding more injustice to the privileged group doesn’t lessen injustice toward a less privileged group. The fact that black males in America are treated unjustly and disproportionately punished by our legal system doesn’t make this punishment of a white male at the hands of North Korea acceptable.

Her whole ideology is counterproductive. If anything this should be used to shine a light on parallels here on American soil. I understand the sentiment here, but it’s terribly misguided.

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Watch For The Hook
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy9Fun9CuZ4

I know it’s the family gimmick to cherry pick statements and present them completely out of context so I’ll give you a pass.

miss this part?

"The hopeless fear Warmbier is now experiencing is my daily reality living in a country where white men like him are willfully oblivious to my suffering even as they are complicit in maintaining the power structures which ensure their supremacy at my expense. He is now an outsider at the mercy of a government unfazed by his cries for help. I get it."


>I know it’s the family gimmick to cherry pick statements
>and present them completely out of context so I’ll give you
>a pass.

You just did the same thing with your, is she writing from a work camp comment.

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They would do the same to anybody else of any color. And have.

There's something like a million white people in jail in the US. We don't think their cries for help go unheard?

**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

who is they in reply 27 ?

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>They would do the same to anybody else of any color. And
>have.


Did you read the link in topic ?

If your answer is yes, did you understand it ?

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It's an application of idealogy that does not apply. Not to mention being factually wrong (it wasn't a frat-prank and he was not 'unwelcome' in NK).

Your reply had nothing to do with what she did write.

>It's an application of idealogy that does not apply. Not to
>mention being factually wrong (it wasn't a frat-prank and he
>was not 'unwelcome' in NK).


She got a few things wrong but she was right about the big picture.

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because it's necessary to be true for her alleged parellel to exist. Namely....that he is now experiencing what black people in America do on a regular basis:

The hopeless fear Warmbier is now experiencing is my daily reality living in a country where white men like him are willfully oblivious to my suffering even as they are complicit in maintaining the power structures which ensure their supremacy at my expense. He is now an outsider at the mercy of a government unfazed by his cries for help. I get it.

In order for that parallel to be true....Warmbier's race would have to be relevant in his punishment. It's not. So there's an underlying assumption she's using that the North Koreans are doing this because he's white. They're not. There are South Koreans being held in work camps for similar offences.

So there's an underlying assumption she's using that the North Koreans
>are doing this because he's white. They're not. There are
>South Koreans being held in work camps for similar offences.

She's drawing a parallel between how he must be feeling and how she feels on daily basis. He feels helpless because he's in a country where the government doesn't care about his feelings/situation. She's in a country where the government doesn't care about hers. That's the parallel she's drawing.

that she can even come CLOSE to how he's feeling. Is she even IN an American jail? He's gonna serve 15 years of hard labour....in the most brutal, heavy-handed dictatorship in the WORLD.....for stealing a sign.

Here she is opining on the internet. Did she write this piece before or after lunch? lol Paralleling her experience with him? How idealogical can you get?

She doesn't 'get it' and neither does anyone else here. If she did...she wouldn't offer disguised faux-empathy which in reality is prejudiced judgment.

she's just a Black woman what would she know. Let the white man tell her what and who to compare her experience too.

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Either way im not going back n forth with u anymore.

>because it's necessary to be true for her alleged parellel to
>exist. Namely....that he is now experiencing what black
>people in America do on a regular basis:

He is

>The hopeless fear Warmbier is now experiencing is my daily
>reality living in a country where white men like him are
>willfully oblivious to my suffering even as they are complicit
>in maintaining the power structures which ensure their
>supremacy at my expense. He is now an outsider at the mercy of
>a government unfazed by his cries for help. I get it.

Did you miss that last sentence ?

>In order for that parallel to be true....Warmbier's race would
>have to be relevant in his punishment. It's not. So there's
>an underlying assumption she's using that the North Koreans
>are doing this because he's white. They're not. There are
>South Koreans being held in work camps for similar offences.

No it wouldn't. When she said this

"He is now an outsider at the mercy of a government unfazed by his cries for help."

that was enough. She is not saying North Korea is doing this because he is white she is saying Blacks in America face the same kind of justice system in America that Warmbier is facing in NK. While his white privilege protects him in America, that's not the case in NK.

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Any further correspondence will happen only after you stop being a coward and use your real login, mr/mrs alias.

Otherwise, happy Troll Day and all but I won’t be participating.

It's not often that I get offended by anti-white sentiments here. Cheering on white people dying of opiate addiction and stuff like this are the only examples where the head that rears is so ugly to me.

I'm out too.

>Any further correspondence will happen only after you stop
>being a coward and use your real login, mr/mrs alias.
>

This is my login, drop the paranoia and come down off your white high horse.

>Otherwise, happy Troll Day and all but I won’t be
>participating.
>

Thank you for announcing you will not participate.