Let me start off by saying that I am not an expert. I am in a Politics of Race class and I think about race a lot.
According to Wikipedia, the source of all knowledge *side eye*, reverse discrimination is "discrimination against members of a dominant or majority group or in favor of members of a minority or historically disadvantaged group. Groups may be defined in terms of race, gender, ethnicity, or other factors."
There's a black only beauty pageant, "that's racist!" There's an event on campus for POC (people of color) students, "that's racist!" Ummm..no, take a seat. Reverse-racism ignores the history of equality of opportunity and outcome that is yet to be resolved and the structural barriers to equality of opportunity. Equality of opportunity does not mean equality of outcome as a result of social categorizations we have today such as gender, race, etc. Reverse racism does not take into account the history of segregation marginalization and exclusion perpetuated against black people.
People often throw phrases like "that's racist", etc and often fail to recognize the difference between racial prejudice/discrimination and racism itself. Racism is not defined solely by prejudice, but by relationships and structures of power ("power over"). Racism entails:
-Constructions of power (superiority/inferiority)
-Institutionalized power to construct superiority/inferiority (every group can discriminate but not every group has these institutions of power)
What do I mean by institutional power? This is simply the capacity to affect people's freedoms and choices on a systemic not just individual level.
In the words of my awesome friend, Pedro, "it (racism) was created and brought to the the shores of Nigeria and El Salvador on the Slave Ships and aircraft carriers of the British, the Spanish, the Portuguese, the Germans, the Dutch, the Belgians, the Italians, the French, Americans, Canadians. It is an institutional, inter/intra-personal and social form of absolute power that wrests in the hands of whites.|"
To conclude: reverse-racism is illogical and people of color can be racially prejudiced but not racist.
According to Wikipedia, the source of all knowledge *side eye*, reverse discrimination is "discrimination against members of a dominant or majority group or in favor of members of a minority or historically disadvantaged group. Groups may be defined in terms of race, gender, ethnicity, or other factors."
There's a black only beauty pageant, "that's racist!" There's an event on campus for POC (people of color) students, "that's racist!" Ummm..no, take a seat. Reverse-racism ignores the history of equality of opportunity and outcome that is yet to be resolved and the structural barriers to equality of opportunity. Equality of opportunity does not mean equality of outcome as a result of social categorizations we have today such as gender, race, etc. Reverse racism does not take into account the history of segregation marginalization and exclusion perpetuated against black people.
People often throw phrases like "that's racist", etc and often fail to recognize the difference between racial prejudice/discrimination and racism itself. Racism is not defined solely by prejudice, but by relationships and structures of power ("power over"). Racism entails:
-Constructions of power (superiority/inferiority)
-Institutionalized power to construct superiority/inferiority (every group can discriminate but not every group has these institutions of power)
What do I mean by institutional power? This is simply the capacity to affect people's freedoms and choices on a systemic not just individual level.
In the words of my awesome friend, Pedro, "it (racism) was created and brought to the the shores of Nigeria and El Salvador on the Slave Ships and aircraft carriers of the British, the Spanish, the Portuguese, the Germans, the Dutch, the Belgians, the Italians, the French, Americans, Canadians. It is an institutional, inter/intra-personal and social form of absolute power that wrests in the hands of whites.|"
To conclude: reverse-racism is illogical and people of color can be racially prejudiced but not racist.
