So you've experienced discrimination and poor treatment? I'm sorry to hear that. But how does that justify you telling other people how they should feel about theirs? Or even to go so far as to tell them they aren't experiencing it?

I don't doubt you when you say you've had your share of struggles and mistreatment. Hell, we've all had something. What you had to deal with sounds particularly awful.

But there's a difference between personal discrimination and institutionalized discrimination. And that difference is power! As a white man, you have power women and people of color don't, especially women of color. This is what is meant by "white privilege."

No one is trying to take away your right to vote, to control your reproduction, deport you for being brown, or spy on you for being Muslim. You are far less likely to be shot by police, thrown in jail on false charges, die prematurely, be born into poverty, or live in slums without reliable services or utilities.

White men like you and I have the luxury of knowing that they are over-represented at every level of government, industry, and civil authority. This is something you were born into, and its something you will pass along.

You don't know this, because you've never had to think about it. Being privileged, whatever personal struggles you have, is not something you've been without.