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Comment by basurihn | Hacker News Reader

I know a lot of poor white dudes in West Virginia. Amazing how being white and male brought them luck and overrode all forms of class discrimination against them...

Oh wait, no it didn't.

Funny how I can dress in a hoodie, fake a pimp walk, and get an equal amount of discrimination against me.

Or put in some fake teeth and speak with a southern accent.

Or just be myself and experience discrimination when in a poorer neighborhood.

Its mostly about class nowadays, except in isolated bumfuck areas way out of the cities.

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You also are smart enough to understand that socioeconomic disadvantages are orthogonal to racism and sexism and that your 'poor white dudes' would have an even harder time of things if they were, say, black women.

Seriously, cut the crap. This is not a particularly difficult concept to grok.

Its an easy concept to grok, but I ain't buyin it, homes.

Sure, you can be born poor, and that makes life hard. I've seen it, or more appropriately my dad did.

And while he picked himself up by the bootstraps, thats increasingly hard to do nowadays.

Ask my poor white brothers who have a HARDER time than someone who can get the Racial Bonus of Hiring +1.

Its your stupid obsession with the decades-expired innate disadvantage of color which is getting you mocked, and for good reason.

The grass is always greener.

I am not sure what that means in this context. I will assume I have touched a nerve and you wish to rebut. Your rebuttal asserts that a black woman would enjoy my brothers' advantages, and vice-versa. Except the saying is advice to stop worrying about one's life situation, which seems counterintuitive to whatever point you were trying to make.

If I'm incorrect, I'm sorry for misreading you.

Well, there's a lot more to being a poor white dude from West Virginia than "socioeconomic disadvantages". They are, in fact, a racial subgroup that get's discriminated against.

Mormons are fair game too.

LOL can you imagine if the South Park writers made a Broadway play mocking Muhammad?

I can only imagine all of the openminded liberal attendees laughing at all of the mockery like they laugh at the mockery of the Mormon religion.

The current chattering class views on race are fucking sick.

Mormons aren't a race.

Also, it appears that the overwhelming reaction to the musical is that it's not mockery. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_Mormon_(musical)#L...

Well, "race" is an antiquated concept, without any coherent biological basis. Black African-Americans just happen to carry particular genes that affect skin color. Many Americans descended from African slaves are nominally white. Including many of those poor white dudes from West Virginia. AncestryDNA and 23andMe have blown many minds ;)

Edit: And about Mormon reaction to the musical. That's just evidence for their coolness :) I mean, can you imagine the reaction to the Islamic equivalent?

That'd be a trip :)

In Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy, there's an Islam-like religion. Its prophet is a cannibal ;) I doubt that'll ever make it to HBO.

Let see here, a black woman will:

live longer than a white man.

Less risk to end up childless.

Less risk to end up homeless.

In average have bigger social network for support.

Less risk to end up in jail.

Less risk of being killed by violence.

Less risk to be killed at work.

How are those benefits weighted compared to the disadvantages? How much is a few extra years in life expectancy worth today.

Somebody get the New York Times on the line - this guy knows a bunch of poor white dudes in West Virginia.

Hopefully someone smart enough to explain my point to the New York Times. Their journalists are a little... dense.

No need to be rude, man. I just wanted to call attention to your post because you clearly have had some truly unique life experiences and undoubtedly have important things to say. Perhaps a memoir somewhere down the line?

Wow, all that insight from one post? I think I should be reading your memoir, instead. Clearly your insight even exceeds your subtle mastery of irony!

Totally sorry if I was rude. I can help you with what those words above mean if you like.

Appreciate the kind words. Thanks, bud!

Its a shame, really, I actually agree with a lot you have to say.

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