I definitely agree with this assessment of yours. Half of the time, I think it's intentional on their part (e.g. race essentialism grifters). The rest of the time, I believe it's mainly guilt-ridden White people trying to seek company for their misery.

I don't know the history behind the coinage of the term "privilege" within social justice vernacular; but if you're willing to point me toward who its original offenders were, I'm more than willing to listen.