Right--The bit you have to explain to those who don't yet understand this is that, yes, as a man or white man you can be discriminated against, bad things can befall you, you can be poor, you can be hurt/abused/demeaned/sexually assaulted/raped/bullied, etc. Anyone who says otherwise is being disingenuous or is undereducated on the very point they are trying to make. However, an entire system of power as it relates to gender and race is not tiered against you from birth. Historically, you benefit in certain respects from your gender and race if you are a) male, b) white. You are considered the "default human" (fucked up if you look at this as a woman, gender-fluid person, POC, etc..--people who will never be "default").

To give an example of a common misunderstanding or what I view as a lack of awareness really. I'm a writing tutor. Something I have to deal with all the time is when students write "mankind" or "man" in the generalizing sense, that is, making some point about humanity. I explain to students (college age) that it's not offensive to me, per se, but it is at this point antiquated. Why? Because it is now considered more inclusive to say "humankind" or "humans." I shit you not, probably two-thirds of the students I have this conversation with counter my explanation with, "Oh, but I prefer 'mankind/man/men' because it sounds better," or, my favorite, "sounds more powerful." YES, it sounds more powerful, because men are associated with power! This is not what I respond with, however. I typically respond, "Yes, I'm aware you may enjoy the aesthetic better, and I'm not here to correct you, but I am here to tell you there is a more inclusive term you could use and to point out to you why you might choose to move past an antiquated, exclusive word that reads 'men=stand-in word for humans'." That "man" is a stand-in for human means, of course, man is the default human. You would never see "womankind" used in the same sense "mankind" is used.

Once you are a little more aware of what's behind this argument, you understand... Historically, men have been favored by many cultures around the world. Still today, men are looked at as "default" human beings, although this very default position is not all that clear to many people. It's invisible status in more than one way--because it's accepted as normal. Whiteness is another level to this. People like Toni Morrison are described as "black writers"--not just "writers." Writers are white. The white is silent.

edit: expanded a point a bit