On this one we will have to disagree
This is a time for reflection then. You honestly think that people will have no more trouble accepting that white people benefit from racism, something you even distance yourself below, than they do believing that racism has harmed black people. For one thing, how many people would say yes to one category (that white people benefit from racism) and say no to the other (that racism has harmed black people). To accept the first, you essentially
cannot reject the second, but the reverse is not true. The Venn Diagram of people here is one of the many things that makes it self-evident.
You're demonstrating what is known as selective rigor.
The question then is how?
Some of what CRT advocates for would be ways to address that.
CRT doesn't claim that racism is beneficial to society, quite the opposite it argues that it's harmful to society.
And "white people" do not.
(emphasis added)
It perfectly possible for elements of society and/or individuals to benefit (directly or indirectly) from something that is overall harmful to society.
I stated as much:
Sure, an individual (like Trump) might stand to benefit
It should be evident that this is inclusive of the group of people that, for whatever reason, have attached their success or happiness to his success.
I would also have to disagree that white people do not benefit, white people are statistically less likely to be stopped by the police, less likely to be arrested , less likely to be charged, imprisoned and more likely to receive longer prison sentences than black people.
That's not a benefit. Demonstrate how stopping more black people, arresting more black people, charging or imprisoning more black people benefits white people. You cannot. It harms everyone, white people, police, all of society. Everyone. White people
do not benefit from this.
The US legal system benefits white people over blacks, now you can argue that you see this as it disadvantages black people over whites, but that simply semantics, in the case of an imbalance one side is benefited and the other disadvantaged (and that's just one example).
Prejudice against black people in the judicial system does not benefit white people, it harms white people.
...from that link:
"Critical race theorists believe that racism is an everyday experience for most people of color, and that a large part of society has no interest in doing away with it because it benefits White elites."
From wikipedia:
"
White privilege is the set of social advantages, benefits, and courtesies that come with being a member of the dominant race (i.e. white people). "
From wikipedia again:
Lawrence Blum refers to advantages for white people as "unjust enrichment" privileges, in which white people benefit from the injustices done to people of color, and he articulates that such privileges are deeply rooted in the U.S. culture and lifestyle:
When Blacks are denied access to desirable homes, for example, this is not just an injustice to Blacks but a positive benefit to Whites who now have a wider range of domicile options than they would have if Blacks had equal access to housing. When urban schools do a poor job of educating their Latino/a and Black students, this benefits Whites in the sense that it unjustly advantages them in the competition for higher levels of education and jobs. Whites in general cannot avoid benefiting from the historical legacy of racial discrimination and oppression. So unjust enrichment is almost never absent from the life situation of Whites.
[15]:311
One of the tenants of CRT is that white people benefit from racism. They do not. White people who own houses are denied a corresponding rise in home prices if fewer people are permitted to buy houses. White people gain nothing from an uneducated population, from a less productive population, from a population that is less able to
create wealth. We are not in competition for jobs or higher education, or yes, even housing. We grow
together as a population, producing
our own wealth and in the process raising the standard for
all people. This notion, that white people are afforded some kind of benefit from holding down others is not just wrong, it fosters racism among white people who buy in. And it fuels not just hatred toward illegal immigration, but resistance to
all immigration.
Convince a white person that they'll be harmed by black people being able to buy houses or get into college and you've convinced a white person to rail against immigration of any kind - and to incorrectly view the economy as a fixed pie that they are unwilling to share. It is detrimental to the development of society, and deeply detrimental to white people. Not only does it foster resentment, stifle education, and stifle wealth creation, but it breeds deeper xenophobia that stirs international conflict and prevents cooperation across borders.
The notion that white people somehow benefit from racism is not just wrong, it's deeply toxic.
