Agree. Nobody wants to hear the smarmy, "Well it could be worse" response. "Oh your mother died from improper diabetes care in the bass-ackwards Allegheny hospital system? Well it could be worse. You could be BLACK." Jesus. Applied on the individual level, which is truly the only place that changes anything, the "white privilege" approach is appalling. At a certain (higher) class level in society, it functions as a progressive tax on moral superiority, but below a (still pretty high) income and class level, it's a regressive bludgeon.

I really think it is not that a broke-ass white person can't think critically (and I don't think you said that, I'm just clarifying), since mostly they can, and maybe a few can't, but more importantly, they've got other shit to worry about in their lives that takes precedence over making space in their brain and time in their daily activities to develop a nuanced and informed view of racism in post-9/11 America. You have to take care of people's basic survival needs and health problems and fears for their children before you expect (keeping in mind that "expecting" is SUCH a class-privileged stance) them to want to sit down and talk about "What The Confederate Flag Means to Me" with a black person.

(I just thought of the best argument against me, but I have to go get a haircut.)