Affirmative Action for Homo Habilis

How antiracist and anti-speciesist writer Carron J Phillips of Deadspin demonstrates the remarkable success of such programs

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Not everyone has white privilege. Not everyone can show up to a job interview and be told by the hiring manager, “I’m so sorry we kept you, a straight white man, waiting while we finished rolling out the red carpet. That red carpet should have been ready for you to step onto the very second you arrived. I really hate that we made such a bad first impression on someone as fair-skinned as you! The employee — nonwhite, of course — responsible for this delay has been fired and lynched. I hope, at least, that the limousine ride was comfortable! Please let me know if there is anything we can do to convince you to come work for us. You tell us the salary you want, and we will double it, whatever it is!”

Because that’s what happens whenever I, as a straight white man, show up anywhere: the privileges just start flowing my way. I go to the bank, and they rip up the loan paperwork they were working on. Why? Well, as the branch manager told me, “We prepared a loan with the standard terms — you know, the terms we give to all those people of color [eye roll] with a credit score similar to yours. That interest rate is far too high for a man of your complexion. Tell you what, rather than you paying us interest, why don’t we pay you interest! So just go ahead and take the money, and then we’ll deposit an interest payment into your account each month until you decide to pay it off? How does that sound?”

Yes, being white is a privilege, not a right. That’s why we are being replaced in our own countries (like Ireland): our governments cannot afford to maintain our privileged lifestyles anymore.¹ Budget cuts will require new populations that are used to fewer privileges, so Western governments are creating a citizenry that doesn’t expect expensive luxuries like the Rule of Law, civil liberties, transparency and accountability in government, etc.

However, all this talk about “white privilege’” masks an even more invidious form of bigotry and oppression: modern-human privilege. For Neanderthals, Denisovans, and Australopithecines, modern civilization is fraught with Homo Sapiens Sapiens supremacist systems and laws. For surviving members of Homo Habilis, however, the discrimination is even worse. Just ask Carron J Phillips.