You summed it up in one sentence and one word . And they’re racists in every race from every continent. Hell they’re some people who are racist against their own country men because of where they’re from , grew up , or live now .
I grew up on a different reserve than my family was from. Too white for the reserve too red for the rest of the world is what my grandpa used to say about me.
Ouch ! At least it was your grandfather I guess . When you said passing , my mind went elsewhere.
It would be nice to live in a world where, people just saw other people. Nothing else , just other people .
LOL judge on music tastes like a normal person, I like it .
My parents taught us , “ if you discount someone for any reason, because you think they are less than you “ “ then YOU are in the wrong , and you miss out on making a friend “ .
Music was the only exception to a very similar rule in my house lol. But tbf my parents used to fight more about music than anything else even money and we were poor poor
For ANY reason?
That's just feelgood foolishness. Some people just suck; it isn't because of their membership in any particular group, it's because they as individuals are shitty garbage people. They come in all guises.
I’m a white native by tribe standards. Adopted at 6 weeks old by a Choctaw family both my grandfathers were moonshiners on the reservation during the prohibition aka literal Indian outlaws. I’m only white in skin color but I’ve been told I’m evil by other minorities children because of my biological ancestors actions my entire life I’ve been lumped into it because of my skin. still grew fishing for food, eating up on greens, fry bread and lots of beans just like all my other Choctaw cousins :) I try not to let it bother me but it’s clear some of these people I grew up with were never actually taught what racism is on a fundamental level.
As a banana (Korean American) that can barely speak Korean and used to go back to Korea every summer as a kid in the 90s, nobody can be as racist as your own countryman lol like damn I couldn't speak english to my own friends back then without some old dude mouthing off to me
In my experience it's Hispanics that are the most racist people. They hate other Hispanics. They hate blacks. They hate white people. They hate jews. I've seen them hate every kind of person there is. They also act like it's okay to be racist because they believe only white people can be racist. It's wild.
You are describing tribalism (for the most part). It’s widely an issue in a lot of African countries and is also an issue in India (hidden as colorism).
I was once a just-out-of-college white boy working in a black community. You better believe there was black on black racism, specifically related to skin tone. Half of my family(wife’s side) is Asian and there’s an entire hierarchy of Asian racism that generally follows country lines, but again there is bias regarding skin tones (dark skinned Asians are farmers and poor people). I’m not excusing white folk as I came from a town that was almost exclusively white and had a family member ask me if there were a lot of dark - ies when I moved. But racism is pretty much a universal problem.
And pretty much everyone is. Unconscious bias is real for all of us. We all need to mind how we think of others, and if we’re thoughtlessly continuing harmful and outdated stereotypes.
Also, I notice older people from other parts of the world seem to be a little more casual about this. They’ll unapologetically be like “Yeah, of course we hate [country next door]. Those people suck!”
Sometimes the nation next door honestly sucks, because of something 5 minutes or 1500 years ago. If anyone has a beef it is the Turks and everyone. As an individual nobody can fix the past to any acceptable extent, so let that shit go.
I don't give a crap what term you use for it. If you treat someone less because of their race, then I have less respect for you
Edit
I simply said I don't care what term is used just don't treat people less because of their race but people are trying to rationalize it by saying "racism needs power and prejudice"
Like buddy you're proving my point correct. You're still treating people badly because of their race and justifying it.
That whole equation was meant for describing systemic racism. Then a bunch of people only paid attention to half their introductory philosophy lectures and regurgitate it online. At the individual level, anybody can be crazy racist.
This happens a lot when language from academia makes it to the mainstream. The term Latinx has a similar history. Guess what, not made up by oversensitive white people but by queer Puerto Rican academics.
I agree with this but it's important to know that the word bigotry is not at all the same as racism or hatred.
Bigotry means a difficulty in changing your mind once you have made up your mind, including a particular tendency towards confirmation bias and one-sided thinking.
Unfortunately, while racism has been on the decline in some ways, bigotry is at an all-time high in the US--people on both sides of the political aisle tend to only see one side of things and demonize people on the other side in any given issue, instead of thinking rationally and openly, and being flexible on various issues.
Racism is a type of Bigotry.
Bigotry means you're prejudiced against a group of people.
Racism meand you're prejudiced against a group of people based on race.
bigot/bĭg′ət/
noun
One who is strongly partial to one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ.
bigotry
/bĭg′ə-trē/
noun
The attitude, state of mind, or behavior characteristic of a bigot; intolerance.
If you treat someone as "more" because of their race, it is also racist. There is no difference, from a racist standpoint, between "whites only" and
"BIPOC - everyone but white".
I think this is the problem--
Some people hear "racism" and think "race hatred/prejudice". Some people hear "racism" and think "laws/institutions/etc. that unfairly favor the dominant group".
The people saying racism is one-sided are talking about racism-as-power. They usually agree that anyone can be prejudiced.
its not true at all though, institutionalized racism simply means its built into a process. Ill give you a for instance true story i am a half black half latino male. i look more light skinned, people will often think im middle eastern. But me and a guy i met in class got our paramedic degrees together . we finished 1 and 2 in class, by a matter of 2 tenths of a point. He was white irish and i obviously wasnt, we both applies for our city run amrescue as paramedics. The only time ive ever checked the box as black, i got called within two days of dropping off my application, he dropped his off same time, as it was graduation day and we went out for drinks after. he got a rejection letter even though he beat me in the class. in the group i started with on this service, we had not one white male. Thew girl who finished last in our class and almost flunked out completely, got on but he did not. because the process is set up to discriminate based on race.
I've seen that too- white males especially get overlooked so companies can fill their government mandated quotas of other races and/or women. It's unfair because if people are getting good grades and putting in the work they will naturally rise to the top. The world isn't as "racist" as people think. I've never seen a high achieving person of color not find work or fit in and be well-liked. Losers and deadbeats aren't liked and don't excel regardless of their race. No one wants them, it's that simple. We need to quit forcing industries to fill quotas based on race, that is horrible and unfair.
On the other hand studies consistently show that when people of color like Black people or Latinos or people with obviously so-called foreign names, change their resumes or job applications to names that sound like they could be white like Smith or Jones, etc. they’re more likely to get a call back then Say Kunta Kinte or Rodriguez.
And they are still absolutely wrong. Laws and institutions do exist that discriminate against white people, and no sane person denies this. If you're missing out on job/education opportunities or government benefits because you're white, you are the recipient of racism-as-power racism. Further, there are many places within America where white people are not the dominant group. For instance, black people represent a larger share of Detroit than white people do of America. Yet it would be silly to go to Detroit and claim that you can't be racist to black people because they're the dominant group.
I have always enjoyed this argument because it is posited but never justified. You are not missing out, nor has anyone ever missed out on a job, educational opportunity, or government benefit based on race. There are plenty of anecdotal, I know a dude who knows a dude whose uncles brother got passed up for a job because they hired a minority. They are utter rubbish and without factual basis. There are, however, plenty of white people impacted by systemic and organizational racism that historically targeted minorities. This is why everyone outside the 1% should be working to end racism because it impacts everyone in one way or another.
It's also crazy that you'd bring up Detroit and other majority black cities as some sort of counterargument. Would you be shocked to discover that most of the wealth held in predominantly black cities is held by non-minorities? Would you be surprised that most of the cops in predominantly black cities are not only white but are also from outside those cities? I hope you don't think that that is just a coincidence.
This is how I feel about it. One can define racism as being one-sided or not, but the word racism is beside the point.
Is prejudice against white people less of a problem for historical and societal reasons? Yes.
Is it still bad and unacceptable? Yes.
>Is prejudice against white people less of a problem for historical and societal reasons? Yes.
Where are you getting this? Racism against Irish and Scots-Irish pushed them into Appalachia, which is still one of the poorest areas of the US. Where's their "white privilege"?
I'm Asian and like OP, I find this one-way racism myth between Blacks and White to be utter bullshit.
Yeah people in the replies are basically trying to move the goal post and just say it's not racism but at the end of the day you're still treating people bad because of race. So as far as I'm concerned those people might as well be racist
People like to add "power and prejudice" to give themselves a free pass.
Here's the definition of racism as per the oxford dictionary: prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized.
Note how it states it can be by an individual, a community or an institution but doesn't mention anything about power.
So anybody who claims it this are absolute idiots who want to be able to say racist shit without being called on it.
“systemic racism is racist” is how many interpret it, but I don’t think that is accurate. Best explained with examples.
Redlining: created to systemically exclude non-whites. Intentionally racist.
Welfare cliffs: systemically compounds racial disparities. Unintentionally racist.
“systemic racism” is the only commonly used term we have to group these two kinds of things together. I feel it’s a bad fit for the latter case, but “systems that enforce racial disparities” doesn’t have the same ring, nor does it activate people enough to change systems.
Maybe we just shouldn’t lump the two together. Maybe systemic racism should only refer to the first kind, and unintentionally racist systems refer to the second. The first simply have to be done away with, the second have a baby hiding in the bath water.
>The people that say such things are confusing institutional or systemic racism for racism.
Not confusing it, but purposely attempting to change the definintion of racism.
Yeah it's an effort to change the default meaning of Racism to be Systemic Racism. But that creates a gap which is why "colorism" is popping up as a new term.
I’ve definitely noticed recently that some people are claiming racism requires institutional/systemic oppression to be racism, otherwise it’s just bigotry. This is obviously bs and an attempt to absolve minorities from confronting or owning their own racism.
There's also racism that has nothing to do with white people at all. I used to work with a black dude whose mom was half Mexican. Her (Mexican) mom died when she was adolescent and her dad wasn't around and her mom's family refused to take her in because she was black. Ended up being homeless for most of her teen years and dropped out of school. My co-worker didn't know anyone on his mom's side of the family because they refused to acknowledge his mom or him existed. Clearly, not systemic racism and clearly fucking horrible and ignorant.
Live abroad. Asia is so racist it's mind numbing. What is the systemic racism there? Yet I've heard ppl still try and blame Asian racism on white ppl. Asians seem to have learned it from white ppl. It's scary how much some people hate white ppl.
Oh yeah. The entire caribbean is about the size of some states and you'll still find insane levels of xenophobia. Some of it is genuinely white ppl's fault (repercussions of the haitian revolution), but for the most part its just good ol' "foreigners cause all the crime"
This is the correct answer. And they insist until they're blue in the face. Taking a sociology class does something to some of these people that rots their brains. I took one of the classes too, but somehow managed to come out on the other side, having not lost the idea of context and language.
I agree with you on that. Racism can be practiced toward anyone of any race from anyone of any race. It's ignorant to believe you can't be racist toward someone because of their race. How does that even make sense?!
My stepdaughter insists that only white people can be racist. It has to be true because her college professor taught her that. Nothing I can say will get her to reconsider her belief.
I am white but went to a school where I was the minority. My school was mostly Hispanic and black people. Everyday I was bullied by a black girl that referred to me as white bitch every time she saw me and only ever made horrible comments to me. She straight up told me she hated me because I was white.
Most people at my school were wonderful! Especially now as an adult, I feel really lucky having been exposed to so many different races, cultures and perspectives. Most everyone treated me really well.
I understand that people of color deal with racism and discrimination a lot more than white people do but that doesn’t negate that it does happen to white people too. I don’t feel I was deserving of abuse just because people of color are also abused. It’s the whole two wrongs don’t make a right and myself personally has always loved diversity and learning about others. My kids are biracial! I’ve seen first hand the discrimination they’ve dealt with in life. It’s infuriating! All racism is wrong and it can exist in any direction.
Nuance is being removed. That statement alludes to the idea that only white people (in the United States) can inflict systemic racism. Our everyday use of racism isn't just that, it's also being prejudicial or discriminatory on an individual basis.
“White” also isn’t a race/ethnic group, so delineating it that way is to provoke a reaction, rather than a discussion.
As if even the professors/their TAs describe it as such, they are in fact speaking to larger issues of systemic privilege; and that reality makes the privileged uncomfortable; like Kimberle Crenshaw via intersectionality.
Yep, and as long as it’s profitable, I’m sure they’ll try and fleece rubes for decades on the precise details.
Same type of gross evasions that gave us “race realism” or “identitarianism”…
Native Europeans and their diaspora share many cultural, ethnic, religious, ancestral and social similarities regardless of national origin. So much so that they can be classified broadly as a group unto themselves. This is what is referred to as 'White'. Claiming that White/European people aren't their own racial/ethnic group is just like claiming that Asians or Latinos aren't their own racial or ethnic group.
It’s a relatively recent push in political science to actually change the definition of racism to only mean systemic racism. There are papers and books about it. I think it’s incredible stupid and detrimental to race relations but it is being promoted in academia. That’s why your stepdaughter likely believes it.
It is a full definitional change that’s going on. Hopefully it’ll die out like Latinx but it’s super common
She’s talking about population level systemic racism. Yes she’s mistaken, but she is just misrepresenting what her professor taught her, which has a lot of merit when analyzing power structures.
>but she is just misrepresenting what her professor taught her
Not necessarily. Academia uses racial prejudice + power as the definition for racism. By that definition minorities cannot be racist.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prejudice_plus_power
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1998-07453-002
https://www.aclrc.com/racism
https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/race-discrimination/what-racism
> when analyzing power structures.
But it has zero merit outside of that context and for many of us, which is what she's doing. Most of the racism I experience isn't institutional or part of a power structure. It's day-to-day random strangers. I'm actually treated fairly well by the power structures where I live, particularly by comparison to what I've experienced from people on the street.
You are talking about two different definitions of racism.
People outside of academia think that racism means "being negatively prejudiced against people of other races". And yeah, anybody can be racist by that definition.
There's an academic definition of racism which is structurally disadvantaging certain races. This could be as blatant as redlining, or as subtle as minority groups living in poor areas which then have underfunded school systems which leads to the future generations also being poor.
People who adhere to the latter definition will then often say that minority groups lack the political power to be racist. They can be prejudiced but they lack the ability to systemically apply that prejudice to attain and maintain political and economic power at the expense of other races.
So that's probably what your stepdaughter is hearing from her professor.
> There's an academic definition of racism which is structurally disadvantaging certain races.
We have a term for that, it's systemic racism...
The thing is due to intersectionality even under this new definition white people can experience racism. White people can be in a position of vulnerability under someone of another race.
Like I had a supervisor tell me I only got a project approved because of white privilege. That's racism. Literally.. because it wasn't even my project, he was just assuming I was getting special treatment due to my race.
I don't for a second believe gatekeeping racism isn't political. That or it's just an epic amount of negligence by people that should know better.
That's because it isn't racism, not in the same way. The way a Black person treats a white person is probably a response to systemic, generational, and several other kinds of racism. What white people face? That's interpersonal, racial discrimination and isn't going to affect you in the same way. Do people, day in and day out, look at you and make decisions based on your skin color? Do you have to deal with systems put into place nearly a century ago to make sure that your entire race us held down while the dominant race is upheld?
Bigotry exists in all forms but racism, especially when talked about in sociological terms, is oppression + power. What system.of power are white people being oppressed in? And I don't mean individuals, im talking on a social scale.
Honestly I've never met someone in real life or anywhere else really besides social media who actually thinks you can't be racist towards white people. I've seen it a few times on reddit.
Hi, I'd like to meet you. Because I am white and I do not think that way.
I think the problem is that someone rightly pointed out that blacks (and let's be honest, this is true for any person of color) suffer under *institutionalized racism -* but white people do not and **cannot** suffer from institutionalized racism.
The issue was people latched onto that concept, removed the word "institutionalized" and then ran with it. So you'll see a lot of people really proudly proclaim that blacks can't be racists or white are the only ones that can be racist.
Obviously, racism comes in a lot of colors and flavors and everyone gets to engage in their most familiar form. Racism exists across country borders, across cultures, across time. There really is no limit to how insidious it is.
Because these people are idiots.
Racism, like you said, is a neutral word. It can be inflicted on anyone from any race.
Those black people who argue that racism is one-sided are insufferable. Yes, blacks have a long, documented history of racism and oppression from whites, but that doesn't preclude that blacks can be racist towards whites. Just because my ancestors weren't the friendliest to their fellow black men/women doesn't mean I, as a white person, am immune from black-on-white racism.
Even then man, I'm Canadian, as a native up here, we too were enslaved for building the railroads, forced to marry white girls, residential schools to teach our young that Christianity would save them, just to get molested or killed.
Then we never got human rights until the 80's. That's well past blacks being freed.
The issue I bring up is if you go far back, whites were enslaved by Arabs and blacks, even the whole slave trade wasn't just blacks.
yup, ask anyone who was invaded by the Ottoman empire. did you know some of the most popular Greek dishes are actually Turkish? it’s because those are leftover from when the Greeks were enslaved by the Ottomans. it permanently changed some aspects of their culture, much like many Indigenous people were forced to convert to Christianity.
You're exactly right.
I can only speak from my experience as a US citizen, but I'd argue that it's not fashionable in today's PC world to teach these sorts of things. It's easier and more politically correct to demonize whites as brutish, oppressive slave owners and overlook or whitewash those parts of history where whites were on the receiving end of racism.
I don't want to downplay the severity and cruelty that blacks have faced with slavery and systemic racism, but it's my belief that if we shift the focus away from whites being the racist boogeyman, it destroys the politically correct narrative that's permeated our educational system.
I hope that makes sense.
If you go back far enough just about every major people group in history practiced slavery in some form against other different groups, whether based on race or other factors. But racially motivated slavery was prominent nonetheless. It's sadly something that was common in human society back then (and still is today in some forms) and isn't limited to one race, culture or group. It's potential is in all of us due to our tribal nature. We also equally have the potential to be the opposite and be better than they were.
Remember when "Stop Asian Hate" had to go away from the mainstream media because everybody learned who was doing the "hate" ?
Yeah, black people can be racist too.
Im not from the US, but I don’t understand why black people don’t also hate their ancestors as much as whites because they practiced themselves slavery and they were sold by their own. It’s so hypocritical. They practice slavery just like anyone else in the world at that time.
That's a rarely talked about history. African tribes and Portuguese raiders were the first to capture and sell African slaves during the Atlantic slave trade. Somewhere I had read, possibly just Wikipedia, that around 90% of African slaves were captured and sold by African slave traders. Slavery was an existing problem by the time the Europeans arrived.
That is very true. The trans Saharan slave trade routes were well established by the time the Atlantic slave trade started. Many people were sold into Egypt. They didn't exclusively enslave Africans, though. There were European slaves as well during those times. Slavery is a terrible part of human history that affected many parts of the globe.
I believe the Spanish also brought black slaves to South America. I'm pretty sure I had read around 1.2 million just in Brazil, but that number is from memory and may not be right.
You are 100% correct. Racism in any form is evil and shouldn't be tolerated. Just like murder, or any other evil act committed against another human being. There is a tendency to misuse language in order to confuse and divide us.
I find, from my experience and discussions, that NON-White people are more likely to believe/think racism can only go one way. The white people I know who say these things tend to be very very left leaning, and tend to say whatever is the hot topic at the time. I've personally also experienced less of this sentiment from my First Nations friends. I grew up with First Nations buddies who no doubt weren't the biggest fans of white folk, and I've had heart to heart honest conversations about this subject and listened to their personal points of view. They've shared with me the racism they've experienced from other races, specifically Asian folk, and not only white people.
Edit: For clarity, I am a White man, my wife is Peruvian with a lot of Native American DNA, she is not as Spanish descent as some other Latin American people. When we first began dating she used to tell me "you can't be racist to white people" and "only white people are racist". But over time, with discussion, examples, real life instances which she has been able to witness first hand now, she seems to be more open to the idea of racism going both ways.
The argument of "it can only go from a position of power to lower power people" is plain and simple wrong.
Edit 2: Changing my choice of words because I was not accurately portraying my thoughts and experiences. Also before y'all assume I'm some heavily conservative person or whatever, I mean my last two elections I voted NDP, and Green before that lol never voted Right in my life.
I have heard racism as defined (by some people — not my personal feelings surrounding the term) as only being able to be from the majority/power holders… so in the US that would mean white people cannot be the victim of racism, BUT in some non-white country — Japan for instance, white people can be the victims of racism.
Well I know from my experience and the experiences of people I know in school, that black students are allowed to say whatever they want and act however they want towards white students. A black student could just tell teachers a white student called them a slur and they get in trouble. Teachers and administrators are so scared of being labeled racist that they treat every thing black students say as the gospel. So yes blacks definitely have power over white students.
There was (and still is, I suppose) a trend going around saying that POC can't be racist, and the basis of this was people redefining the word 'racism' to mean 'institutionalized/systemic racism.' I find this to be a bullshit notion, and meant as another form of white guilt and making white people out to be the bad guys.
If you're judging someone based on their race, you're racist. Full stop. No exceptions or redefinition.
Unfortunately that is not what is taught in some colleges. I had a minor argument with a coworker about the word 'reverse-racism' and I said racism is racism. He said that we developed the idea of racism because of white people so in theory only white people can be racist and since white people created racism anytime it happens to them makes it reverse scenario. These days every group has its racists.
They are literally using a different meaning of “racism” than you are. For their Critical Race Theory-derived meaning, “racism” is treating someone inequitably because of their race, based on a power differential. That is a simplified and paraphrased definition, but I think it gets at the gist it. Because there’s a perceived power difference there cannot be racism from the oppressed group.
This is not intended as a criticism of CRT, just an explanation to OP.
I’m taking a sociology course and in the textbook it calls racism towards white people “reverse racism”. I personally don’t agree and think that racism towards anyone no matter what race is racism.
Having done a little learning on this subject over the past few years I hope to shed some light here. This is a genuine attempt to provide perspective that helped me understand and hopefully it will resonate with some others too, but I’m still learning and adapting my views so feel free to correct me if I’m off base.
I used to understand racism as a simple prejudice against someone based on their presenting racial characteristics. And from this perspective, yes, it is entirely possible for anyone to think or behave in disparaging ways towards someone else based solely on the color of their skin, without any regard to the specific individual (their culture, nationality, intelligence, intentions, trauma, family history, emotions, socio-economic status, upbringing, etc) in front of them. And prejudice for unchangeable characteristics, in any form, is just shitty.
I have come to understand that there is more nuance to it than that in more modern research of racism and the impacts it has on, specifically, minority groups. From a broader perspective, prejudice against a specific minority group by a larger group causes harm in ways that reach further than just hurting their feelings (statistics show disproportionate medical problems, poverty, incarceration rates, educational attainment, suicide rates, etc—specifically linked to racist policies, programs, and interpersonal interactions). Whereas in reverse it just doesn’t shake down the same way, largely because if a black person is racist towards a white person (for example) the white person will feel crappy, and probably tell their friends and family how badly they were treated, but they will have a multitude of other opportunities and protections that the black person would not have if (when) the roles were reversed. It still hurts and ideally it shouldn’t happen, but it doesn’t tend to lead to any major consequences for the white person.
And taking a stance similar to “I don’t see color, I base my judgements of a person only on their actions and merits,” ignores a whole host of issues that affect that person right up until the point they cross paths with you. I love a specific YouTube video that puts this in a visual context (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ670ooc6Qc). Racism can take many forms, not all of them overt or malicious in intent; but the bottom line is that when the minority expresses disdain for their unequal position relative to the majority, the harm is incredibly limited, whereas when the majority is the one punching down, it can lead to very real harms and consequences and THAT is something that is increasingly being considered when the term ‘racist/racism’ is used because it does actually make a difference. And before anyone quotes the dictionary at me, language evolves as our understanding evolves and perspectives deepen or change. This is one of those times.
Also, as I understand it, using “blacks” when referring to African Americans or black people is considered disparaging. Instead, terms like “African Americans” or “black people” are less dehumanizing and emphasize the person over simply the color of their skin.
It is a relatively newer understanding of the word that equates what some might call systemic racism with racism. The idea is that racism=power + privilege. In this sense it is hard for black people to be systemically racist to white people. If you think that no black people have power and all white people have power and every system privileges white people against black people then their use of racism makes much more sense.
So many white liberals with white guilt in here. What you see at work in this thread is the phenomenon known as white savior complex. All these white people think black and brown people need to be saved by them. They love to say systemic racism and imply that non whites are powerless to help themselves so they the white superheroes are needed.
Yes you as a non write person are inferior and incapable of saving yourself therefore they have to save you. This perfectly explains the American white liberal.
What you're describing is historical revisionism and dilution of terminology.
In other words, people are trying to change the definition of racism to further their racist political agendas. They're just wrong, and you can call them out for it.
There has been a major uptick in black-on-Asian and black-on-White violent hate crimes in Oakland in recent years, because of people who think like that. DA Pamela Price even gives lighter sentences to child murderers who happen to be black. That's systemic racism right there.
These "racism is only racism in one direction" claims should never be tolerated, never go unchallenged.
There are people who think that you cant be bigoted toward the "group in power"
Basically since white people collectively have it better, hating them is punching up and therefore not bad
Sad that because of judgement, the situation can’t be in the title 100%.
People feel entitled and justified because they’ve bought into victimhood culture.
That a leftist innovation and it is functioning as designed. The idea was to redefine racism so that it requires institutional power. That way when white people do bad things it can be labeled as racist. But when people of other skin tones do bad things, "it's not racism, it's justice for historical oppression."
Don't buy into the lie, it's all equally racism. Remember these are the same people saying "if you don't see color your just supporting oppression," and "its not enough to not be racist, you have to be actively anti-racist."
Few white people actually believe that unless you're in a liberal echo-chamber. And some black people tend to believe this because they're been brain washed by far-left liberal propaganda. Being on Reddit definitely doesn't help with this consider half the people on here are racist despite claiming they aren't racist.
Because this is literally what is taught in universities unfortunately. According to their not at all disinterested definition racism is “prejudice plus privilege”
Thus only white people can be racist.
No, it's not what's taught in universities. They are talking about a very specific type of racism: systemic racism, which doesn't really occur to the majority.
Ignorant people interpret this as "black people can't be racist!"
You are correct.
Systemic racism totally *can* be racist against white people. And any other race. Not saying that it *is* or *isn’t*, just that it *can* be.
Same with general racism.
The answer is that it's politically convenient to redefine and culturally re-associate certain terms like racism as being equivalent to systemic or systematic racism
The academic idea of racism and the normal use of racism isn't the same.
Academically, racism requires systemic power. The ability to hurt me in some way has to be present. Systemically in the united states, that power only really goes one way. When discussing systemic racism, a grandma who was beaten and attacked by dogs during the civil rights movement being distrusting of white people isn't actually keeping white people from any opportunities. However, white people having distrust of black people leads to disproportionate arrests, a negative Pygmalion effect, and unequal educational outcomes.
In normal use however, racism just means "bigotry about race". In this instance, the black grandma is racist. She absolutely assumes worse about white people for their being white. This is what most people mean when they use the word and as with most things, bringing academic nuance into colloquial conversations does nothing but create chaos and anger.
If I'm a chemist, calling salt sodium chloride makes sense. But if I ask you to pass the sodium chloride at the table you'll rightfully call me a dick. This difference is the same thing.
"every white person" ... try white liberals. They are the group who'll see a pale Polish man sucker punched online by a "POC" and applaud it because of some shit a Portuguese/English/French man did during a time in human history when owning, selling and trading other humans for labor was acceptable in most parts of the world (but only white people apparently need to answer for).
Yeah, I'm a liberal person and vote left, but I totally get where conservatives get frustrated on this topic because it pisses me off too. I have seen so many black people say things like "I hate all white people" or make terrible pre judgements against a person because they are white and then when called out on it use the excuse "Only white people can be racist"..........its almost dumbfounding there are so many people who seem to genuinely believe that or at a minimum are saying/agreeing with it to pander.
There is a branch of American academia that have redefined “racism” to specifically mean the white above all others systemic racism of the USA. For them any other tour of racism isn’t “racism” is just “racial prejudice”. I think that’s dumb, nobody gave them permission to change our language.
Charlie Cheong did a beautiful video essay on this very topic called "What Are We Doing to White People?"
Basically, it shows examples of the younger generation justifying racism (and a statistically significant portion of the older generation enabling this behavior) against white people because "racism is prejudice plus power and the oppressed have no power against those that oppress them", aka "you can't oppress the oppressor".
I don't know why hating someone for their skin color matters anyway.
People hate on people for being tall, fat, the sound of their voice, the color of their hair.
Lots of people immediately dislike fat people.
It's the endless conversation about racism that's the problem. Just go on hating each other and stop labeling why you hate each other. Just do it. Let the hate flow.
It is the Prejudice+ power issue relating to " systemic racism". The reason why they say that you cannot be " racist" against white people is referring to the view that white people hold the power and use that power to create systems that are racist against non whites. They call what you consider to be racism against white people " bigotry".
Examples of what it is referencing( There is MUCH more than this, these are justa couple of examples):
For example, racism in real estate that persists today even after redlining was supposed to be stopped. The same house will be valued as being worth much less because black people live in it than if a white family is listing it. Real estate agents will not show black families the same homes they will show white families with the same incomes and wants. They also require minority families have a higher income to live in the same house or wealthier neighborhood than they do white families, and so much more.
***"The White neighbor sat in for the couple when the new appraiser came, and the result was a home appraisal of nearly $92,000 more than the first."***
[https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/15/us/real-estate-appraisals-bias-reaj/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/15/us/real-estate-appraisals-bias-reaj/index.html)
https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/high-income-black-homeowners-receive-higher-interest-rates-low-income-white-homeowners
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3704191/
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/29/realestate/black-homeowner-mortgage-racism.html
[https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/12/realestate/black-real-estate-agents-discrimination.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/12/realestate/black-real-estate-agents-discrimination.html)
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/07/02/black-property-tax/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/07/02/black-property-tax/)
[https://kinder.rice.edu/urbanedge/race-determines-home-values-more-today-it-did-1980](https://kinder.rice.edu/urbanedge/race-determines-home-values-more-today-it-did-1980)
[https://projects.newsday.com/long-island/real-estate-agents-investigation/#open-paywall-message](https://projects.newsday.com/long-island/real-estate-agents-investigation/#open-paywall-message)
Then Racism in employment has shown that a black college graduate is viewed the same as a white highschool graduate or even white high school dropouts. They also deal with racist hostile work environments, and more harshly judged than others for the exact same things.
[https://news.gallup.com/poll/328394/one-four-black-workers-report-discrimination-work.aspx](https://news.gallup.com/poll/328394/one-four-black-workers-report-discrimination-work.aspx)
[https://www.huffpost.com/entry/racial-education-gap\_n\_5537530](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/racial-education-gap_n_5537530)
[https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2014/06/27/white-high-school-drop-outs-are-as-likely-to-land-jobs-as-black-college-students/?sh=7078daf07b8f](https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2014/06/27/white-high-school-drop-outs-are-as-likely-to-land-jobs-as-black-college-students/?sh=7078daf07b8f)
[https://news.rice.edu/news/2022/subtle-racial-slights-work-cause-job-dissatisfaction-burnout-black-employees](https://news.rice.edu/news/2022/subtle-racial-slights-work-cause-job-dissatisfaction-burnout-black-employees)
[https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/what-the-pandemic-taught-us-about-racism-at-work-and-how-to-handle-going-back-to-the-office](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/what-the-pandemic-taught-us-about-racism-at-work-and-how-to-handle-going-back-to-the-office)
[https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/10/why-black-workers-really-do-need-to-be-twice-as-good/409276/](https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/10/why-black-workers-really-do-need-to-be-twice-as-good/409276/)
I’m white and I don’t think racism is one sided at all. I’ve literally had white friends discriminated against when visiting Japan for example for not being Japanese. I mean that’s just one example. Any race can be racist. It’s as simple as thinking/treating someone who looks different from you as less based sheerly on what they look like. Same goes for religion, sex, sexual orientation, etc.
Just people confusing types of racism and also because when people are a dick to someone because they are white they don't necessarily see it or recognize it as racism because idk, it just doesn't have as much of an impact on them I guess.
The people who insist only white people can be racist have gone full circle jerk. It’s unironically even more racist imo to believe that having a certain race determines if someone could be seen as racist.
“But mah history of inequality” you say?
EVERY group of people on this planet has the ability to be discriminatory—
Bro ignorant African Americans act like they’re the only group of people who suffered or went through shit. The English straight up Genocide the Irish and when my great grandparents came to America they dealt with heavy racism. Somehow I’m lumped into those groups for having the same skin tone. People are dumb as fuck and you shouldn’t argue with them is the moral of the story.
I think there is some virtue signaling possibly going on. Competitive wokeness. It's ironic because I think it is a racist position to believe that only white people can be racist. If you aren't racist, you believe that people are inherently the same, and that all of us are capable of thinking the same thoughts, feeling the same feelings. therefore it is racist to think that someone can't think or feel certain things based on their ethnicity. So the answer really is, the people you are complaining about are racist, and they are trying to force you to believe that they aren't.
There's systemic racism, and individual racism. A lot of people confuse the two. I've heard people say you can't be racist against white people but you can be "prejudiced". The "prejudice" here is just racism on an individual level.
Francis Galton
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Galton
invented the Races, and he said white people were better than asians are better than native americans were better than black africans. Since it's his term, he got to determine its use. If you have a new system where black people are on top, it needs a new term or you will confuse people. This is why people keep arguing. People are trying to erase the history of Eugenics and European Colonialism by rebranding the term. It's like the idiots who say States Rights was the cause of the American Civil War when we all know it was States Rights to allow black slavery that was the entire issue.
I dropped out of college in '04 and went back in '15
What boggled my mind is that, verbatim, in multiple classes, what the OP is discussing was taught as fact.
I have a blatantly Irish name. One teacher told me that I'm not allowed to cite any history of oppression of my people because we had "accepted the blessings of the white man's vote". Like, I was singled out in front of a class.
I dont... I dont even know what that meant. But I do know Cromwell starved Irishmen to death and they slaughtered my people in the New York Harbor. Guess that's not a thing thats something?
Anyone can be racist. ANYONE
You summed it up in one sentence and one word . And they’re racists in every race from every continent. Hell they’re some people who are racist against their own country men because of where they’re from , grew up , or live now .
I am a white passing native. I say that from experience
So you could possibly see it from both sides ?
I grew up on a different reserve than my family was from. Too white for the reserve too red for the rest of the world is what my grandpa used to say about me.
Ouch ! At least it was your grandfather I guess . When you said passing , my mind went elsewhere. It would be nice to live in a world where, people just saw other people. Nothing else , just other people .
I think growing up like this made me far less judgemental based on people's looks. I judge based on music tastes like a normal person
LOL judge on music tastes like a normal person, I like it . My parents taught us , “ if you discount someone for any reason, because you think they are less than you “ “ then YOU are in the wrong , and you miss out on making a friend “ .
Music was the only exception to a very similar rule in my house lol. But tbf my parents used to fight more about music than anything else even money and we were poor poor
Truthfully, music can bring folks together, or push them apart.
For ANY reason? That's just feelgood foolishness. Some people just suck; it isn't because of their membership in any particular group, it's because they as individuals are shitty garbage people. They come in all guises.
I should have been more plain. By “ any reason “ I meant race , religion, creed . You are right , one can ugly hearted people from all walks of life.
Yes, and the "miss out on making a friend" seals it lol. Like, I'm good, I really don't need to be friends with everyone in the world.
Cool, I can get with this. So... Simon Phillips, Dennis Chambers, Vinnie Colaiuta, Stewart Copeland, or Tony Williams?
I’m a white native by tribe standards. Adopted at 6 weeks old by a Choctaw family both my grandfathers were moonshiners on the reservation during the prohibition aka literal Indian outlaws. I’m only white in skin color but I’ve been told I’m evil by other minorities children because of my biological ancestors actions my entire life I’ve been lumped into it because of my skin. still grew fishing for food, eating up on greens, fry bread and lots of beans just like all my other Choctaw cousins :) I try not to let it bother me but it’s clear some of these people I grew up with were never actually taught what racism is on a fundamental level.
Even if you tried to explain it, you would probably be accused of cultural appropriation.
As a white passing Arab, I relate.
As a banana (Korean American) that can barely speak Korean and used to go back to Korea every summer as a kid in the 90s, nobody can be as racist as your own countryman lol like damn I couldn't speak english to my own friends back then without some old dude mouthing off to me
In my experience it's Hispanics that are the most racist people. They hate other Hispanics. They hate blacks. They hate white people. They hate jews. I've seen them hate every kind of person there is. They also act like it's okay to be racist because they believe only white people can be racist. It's wild.
Haven't met enough old country Asians. Or Jews.
You are describing tribalism (for the most part). It’s widely an issue in a lot of African countries and is also an issue in India (hidden as colorism).
I was once a just-out-of-college white boy working in a black community. You better believe there was black on black racism, specifically related to skin tone. Half of my family(wife’s side) is Asian and there’s an entire hierarchy of Asian racism that generally follows country lines, but again there is bias regarding skin tones (dark skinned Asians are farmers and poor people). I’m not excusing white folk as I came from a town that was almost exclusively white and had a family member ask me if there were a lot of dark - ies when I moved. But racism is pretty much a universal problem.
In fact, everyone is, from time to time. Some more often than others. It is the bigotry that is the problem.
To be fair I think a lot of people get Institutionalized racism mixed up with racism.
🎶 Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist 🎵
And pretty much everyone is. Unconscious bias is real for all of us. We all need to mind how we think of others, and if we’re thoughtlessly continuing harmful and outdated stereotypes. Also, I notice older people from other parts of the world seem to be a little more casual about this. They’ll unapologetically be like “Yeah, of course we hate [country next door]. Those people suck!”
Sometimes the nation next door honestly sucks, because of something 5 minutes or 1500 years ago. If anyone has a beef it is the Turks and everyone. As an individual nobody can fix the past to any acceptable extent, so let that shit go.
And thinking otherwise is technically racist too.
I don't give a crap what term you use for it. If you treat someone less because of their race, then I have less respect for you Edit I simply said I don't care what term is used just don't treat people less because of their race but people are trying to rationalize it by saying "racism needs power and prejudice" Like buddy you're proving my point correct. You're still treating people badly because of their race and justifying it.
Yes, bigotry has no place in a civilized society,
[удалено]
That whole equation was meant for describing systemic racism. Then a bunch of people only paid attention to half their introductory philosophy lectures and regurgitate it online. At the individual level, anybody can be crazy racist.
This happens a lot when language from academia makes it to the mainstream. The term Latinx has a similar history. Guess what, not made up by oversensitive white people but by queer Puerto Rican academics.
This is pretty much it. Which is too bad.
I agree with this but it's important to know that the word bigotry is not at all the same as racism or hatred. Bigotry means a difficulty in changing your mind once you have made up your mind, including a particular tendency towards confirmation bias and one-sided thinking. Unfortunately, while racism has been on the decline in some ways, bigotry is at an all-time high in the US--people on both sides of the political aisle tend to only see one side of things and demonize people on the other side in any given issue, instead of thinking rationally and openly, and being flexible on various issues.
Racism is a type of Bigotry. Bigotry means you're prejudiced against a group of people. Racism meand you're prejudiced against a group of people based on race.
Racism is a subset of bigotry. Misogyny is another subset of bigotry.
bigot/bĭg′ət/ noun One who is strongly partial to one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ. bigotry /bĭg′ə-trē/ noun The attitude, state of mind, or behavior characteristic of a bigot; intolerance.
*“Bigotry is not **at all** the same as racism or hatred.”* Uhhhh… 🙋♂️
If you treat someone as "more" because of their race, it is also racist. There is no difference, from a racist standpoint, between "whites only" and "BIPOC - everyone but white".
This I knew people that virtue signal so fucking hard they ended up being racist in the *other* direction
I think this is the problem-- Some people hear "racism" and think "race hatred/prejudice". Some people hear "racism" and think "laws/institutions/etc. that unfairly favor the dominant group". The people saying racism is one-sided are talking about racism-as-power. They usually agree that anyone can be prejudiced.
Someone on Reddit said you can be racist towards white people but you can’t be institutionalized racist towards them. I never forgot this.
its not true at all though, institutionalized racism simply means its built into a process. Ill give you a for instance true story i am a half black half latino male. i look more light skinned, people will often think im middle eastern. But me and a guy i met in class got our paramedic degrees together . we finished 1 and 2 in class, by a matter of 2 tenths of a point. He was white irish and i obviously wasnt, we both applies for our city run amrescue as paramedics. The only time ive ever checked the box as black, i got called within two days of dropping off my application, he dropped his off same time, as it was graduation day and we went out for drinks after. he got a rejection letter even though he beat me in the class. in the group i started with on this service, we had not one white male. Thew girl who finished last in our class and almost flunked out completely, got on but he did not. because the process is set up to discriminate based on race.
I've seen that too- white males especially get overlooked so companies can fill their government mandated quotas of other races and/or women. It's unfair because if people are getting good grades and putting in the work they will naturally rise to the top. The world isn't as "racist" as people think. I've never seen a high achieving person of color not find work or fit in and be well-liked. Losers and deadbeats aren't liked and don't excel regardless of their race. No one wants them, it's that simple. We need to quit forcing industries to fill quotas based on race, that is horrible and unfair.
On the other hand studies consistently show that when people of color like Black people or Latinos or people with obviously so-called foreign names, change their resumes or job applications to names that sound like they could be white like Smith or Jones, etc. they’re more likely to get a call back then Say Kunta Kinte or Rodriguez.
Racism is racism and there are different ways to be racist. End of story
And they are still absolutely wrong. Laws and institutions do exist that discriminate against white people, and no sane person denies this. If you're missing out on job/education opportunities or government benefits because you're white, you are the recipient of racism-as-power racism. Further, there are many places within America where white people are not the dominant group. For instance, black people represent a larger share of Detroit than white people do of America. Yet it would be silly to go to Detroit and claim that you can't be racist to black people because they're the dominant group.
I have always enjoyed this argument because it is posited but never justified. You are not missing out, nor has anyone ever missed out on a job, educational opportunity, or government benefit based on race. There are plenty of anecdotal, I know a dude who knows a dude whose uncles brother got passed up for a job because they hired a minority. They are utter rubbish and without factual basis. There are, however, plenty of white people impacted by systemic and organizational racism that historically targeted minorities. This is why everyone outside the 1% should be working to end racism because it impacts everyone in one way or another. It's also crazy that you'd bring up Detroit and other majority black cities as some sort of counterargument. Would you be shocked to discover that most of the wealth held in predominantly black cities is held by non-minorities? Would you be surprised that most of the cops in predominantly black cities are not only white but are also from outside those cities? I hope you don't think that that is just a coincidence.
Amen.
r/happyupvote
This is how I feel about it. One can define racism as being one-sided or not, but the word racism is beside the point. Is prejudice against white people less of a problem for historical and societal reasons? Yes. Is it still bad and unacceptable? Yes.
>Is prejudice against white people less of a problem for historical and societal reasons? Yes. Where are you getting this? Racism against Irish and Scots-Irish pushed them into Appalachia, which is still one of the poorest areas of the US. Where's their "white privilege"? I'm Asian and like OP, I find this one-way racism myth between Blacks and White to be utter bullshit.
Yeah people in the replies are basically trying to move the goal post and just say it's not racism but at the end of the day you're still treating people bad because of race. So as far as I'm concerned those people might as well be racist
I'm not white. I don't see how it isn't racism.
You have more than two neurons firing.
When they try to rationalize it just say “that’s just like a racist”
People like to add "power and prejudice" to give themselves a free pass. Here's the definition of racism as per the oxford dictionary: prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized. Note how it states it can be by an individual, a community or an institution but doesn't mention anything about power. So anybody who claims it this are absolute idiots who want to be able to say racist shit without being called on it.
The people that say such things are confusing institutional or systemic racism for racism. The former are a subset of the latter. Both are real.
All systemic racism is racist. Not all racism is systemic.
There's the point.
“systemic racism is racist” is how many interpret it, but I don’t think that is accurate. Best explained with examples. Redlining: created to systemically exclude non-whites. Intentionally racist. Welfare cliffs: systemically compounds racial disparities. Unintentionally racist. “systemic racism” is the only commonly used term we have to group these two kinds of things together. I feel it’s a bad fit for the latter case, but “systems that enforce racial disparities” doesn’t have the same ring, nor does it activate people enough to change systems. Maybe we just shouldn’t lump the two together. Maybe systemic racism should only refer to the first kind, and unintentionally racist systems refer to the second. The first simply have to be done away with, the second have a baby hiding in the bath water.
the difference between racist intentions and racist outcomes
Thats what he means when talking about subsets
>The people that say such things are confusing institutional or systemic racism for racism. Not confusing it, but purposely attempting to change the definintion of racism.
Moving the goalposts.
They may be. I'm not certain that there is intent to do so, or if it's genuine ignorance.
Its intentional. This is something a lot of genuinely smart people do; theyre not ignorant of the language.
Yeah it's an effort to change the default meaning of Racism to be Systemic Racism. But that creates a gap which is why "colorism" is popping up as a new term.
Some people don’t settle with the systemic racism definition either but I can buy your comment, those are different things but they’re both real.
I’ve definitely noticed recently that some people are claiming racism requires institutional/systemic oppression to be racism, otherwise it’s just bigotry. This is obviously bs and an attempt to absolve minorities from confronting or owning their own racism.
Calling it bigotry instead of racism absolves them?
Apparently, in their own minds.
I think you're on to something. I never thought about it that way.
“It’s not racism, it’s racism with a fancy hat!”
Racist is definitely a more sensitive insult.
It's called moving the goalposts.
There's also racism that has nothing to do with white people at all. I used to work with a black dude whose mom was half Mexican. Her (Mexican) mom died when she was adolescent and her dad wasn't around and her mom's family refused to take her in because she was black. Ended up being homeless for most of her teen years and dropped out of school. My co-worker didn't know anyone on his mom's side of the family because they refused to acknowledge his mom or him existed. Clearly, not systemic racism and clearly fucking horrible and ignorant.
Live abroad. Asia is so racist it's mind numbing. What is the systemic racism there? Yet I've heard ppl still try and blame Asian racism on white ppl. Asians seem to have learned it from white ppl. It's scary how much some people hate white ppl.
I lived in Asia for 7 years. Everyone hates their neighbours.
Oh yeah. The entire caribbean is about the size of some states and you'll still find insane levels of xenophobia. Some of it is genuinely white ppl's fault (repercussions of the haitian revolution), but for the most part its just good ol' "foreigners cause all the crime"
exactly. all of the huge numbers of people who make this argument about the definition of racism are all being deliberately pedantic.
This is the correct answer. And they insist until they're blue in the face. Taking a sociology class does something to some of these people that rots their brains. I took one of the classes too, but somehow managed to come out on the other side, having not lost the idea of context and language.
I think the real issue is that the solution most often presented to handle systemic and institutional racism, oddly enough, is more racism.
Here is the correct answer.
I agree with you on that. Racism can be practiced toward anyone of any race from anyone of any race. It's ignorant to believe you can't be racist toward someone because of their race. How does that even make sense?!
It doesn't make sense. That is literally racism.
My stepdaughter insists that only white people can be racist. It has to be true because her college professor taught her that. Nothing I can say will get her to reconsider her belief.
I am white but went to a school where I was the minority. My school was mostly Hispanic and black people. Everyday I was bullied by a black girl that referred to me as white bitch every time she saw me and only ever made horrible comments to me. She straight up told me she hated me because I was white. Most people at my school were wonderful! Especially now as an adult, I feel really lucky having been exposed to so many different races, cultures and perspectives. Most everyone treated me really well. I understand that people of color deal with racism and discrimination a lot more than white people do but that doesn’t negate that it does happen to white people too. I don’t feel I was deserving of abuse just because people of color are also abused. It’s the whole two wrongs don’t make a right and myself personally has always loved diversity and learning about others. My kids are biracial! I’ve seen first hand the discrimination they’ve dealt with in life. It’s infuriating! All racism is wrong and it can exist in any direction.
Nuance is being removed. That statement alludes to the idea that only white people (in the United States) can inflict systemic racism. Our everyday use of racism isn't just that, it's also being prejudicial or discriminatory on an individual basis.
“White” also isn’t a race/ethnic group, so delineating it that way is to provoke a reaction, rather than a discussion. As if even the professors/their TAs describe it as such, they are in fact speaking to larger issues of systemic privilege; and that reality makes the privileged uncomfortable; like Kimberle Crenshaw via intersectionality.
“White” is a country club of “acceptability.”
Yep, and as long as it’s profitable, I’m sure they’ll try and fleece rubes for decades on the precise details. Same type of gross evasions that gave us “race realism” or “identitarianism”…
Native Europeans and their diaspora share many cultural, ethnic, religious, ancestral and social similarities regardless of national origin. So much so that they can be classified broadly as a group unto themselves. This is what is referred to as 'White'. Claiming that White/European people aren't their own racial/ethnic group is just like claiming that Asians or Latinos aren't their own racial or ethnic group.
Define the “Asian” ethnic group for me. Go ahead. I’ll wait.
Who, outside the US, would even claim that Latinos, Asians and Europeans are homogenous ethnic groups?
Have you tried asking her about how black and Asian people can be racist against each other?
shhhhh we don't talk about that.
Ugh. College is supposed to widen your mind, not close it. 🤦♀️
It’s a relatively recent push in political science to actually change the definition of racism to only mean systemic racism. There are papers and books about it. I think it’s incredible stupid and detrimental to race relations but it is being promoted in academia. That’s why your stepdaughter likely believes it. It is a full definitional change that’s going on. Hopefully it’ll die out like Latinx but it’s super common
She’s talking about population level systemic racism. Yes she’s mistaken, but she is just misrepresenting what her professor taught her, which has a lot of merit when analyzing power structures.
>but she is just misrepresenting what her professor taught her Not necessarily. Academia uses racial prejudice + power as the definition for racism. By that definition minorities cannot be racist. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prejudice_plus_power https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1998-07453-002 https://www.aclrc.com/racism https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/race-discrimination/what-racism
> when analyzing power structures. But it has zero merit outside of that context and for many of us, which is what she's doing. Most of the racism I experience isn't institutional or part of a power structure. It's day-to-day random strangers. I'm actually treated fairly well by the power structures where I live, particularly by comparison to what I've experienced from people on the street.
You are talking about two different definitions of racism. People outside of academia think that racism means "being negatively prejudiced against people of other races". And yeah, anybody can be racist by that definition. There's an academic definition of racism which is structurally disadvantaging certain races. This could be as blatant as redlining, or as subtle as minority groups living in poor areas which then have underfunded school systems which leads to the future generations also being poor. People who adhere to the latter definition will then often say that minority groups lack the political power to be racist. They can be prejudiced but they lack the ability to systemically apply that prejudice to attain and maintain political and economic power at the expense of other races. So that's probably what your stepdaughter is hearing from her professor.
> There's an academic definition of racism which is structurally disadvantaging certain races. We have a term for that, it's systemic racism... The thing is due to intersectionality even under this new definition white people can experience racism. White people can be in a position of vulnerability under someone of another race. Like I had a supervisor tell me I only got a project approved because of white privilege. That's racism. Literally.. because it wasn't even my project, he was just assuming I was getting special treatment due to my race. I don't for a second believe gatekeeping racism isn't political. That or it's just an epic amount of negligence by people that should know better.
I've found that the people that believe this tend to be racist. You may want to dig into that a bit to find out.
That's because it isn't racism, not in the same way. The way a Black person treats a white person is probably a response to systemic, generational, and several other kinds of racism. What white people face? That's interpersonal, racial discrimination and isn't going to affect you in the same way. Do people, day in and day out, look at you and make decisions based on your skin color? Do you have to deal with systems put into place nearly a century ago to make sure that your entire race us held down while the dominant race is upheld? Bigotry exists in all forms but racism, especially when talked about in sociological terms, is oppression + power. What system.of power are white people being oppressed in? And I don't mean individuals, im talking on a social scale.
Honestly I've never met someone in real life or anywhere else really besides social media who actually thinks you can't be racist towards white people. I've seen it a few times on reddit.
Hi, I'd like to meet you. Because I am white and I do not think that way. I think the problem is that someone rightly pointed out that blacks (and let's be honest, this is true for any person of color) suffer under *institutionalized racism -* but white people do not and **cannot** suffer from institutionalized racism. The issue was people latched onto that concept, removed the word "institutionalized" and then ran with it. So you'll see a lot of people really proudly proclaim that blacks can't be racists or white are the only ones that can be racist. Obviously, racism comes in a lot of colors and flavors and everyone gets to engage in their most familiar form. Racism exists across country borders, across cultures, across time. There really is no limit to how insidious it is.
People who say shit like "You can't be racist to white people" are racists and are trying to excuse their behaviour.
Every white person? I think you've answered your own question.
Just understand people are saying these things to push a political agenda and it makes sense
Ding ding ding
Because these people are idiots. Racism, like you said, is a neutral word. It can be inflicted on anyone from any race. Those black people who argue that racism is one-sided are insufferable. Yes, blacks have a long, documented history of racism and oppression from whites, but that doesn't preclude that blacks can be racist towards whites. Just because my ancestors weren't the friendliest to their fellow black men/women doesn't mean I, as a white person, am immune from black-on-white racism.
Even then man, I'm Canadian, as a native up here, we too were enslaved for building the railroads, forced to marry white girls, residential schools to teach our young that Christianity would save them, just to get molested or killed. Then we never got human rights until the 80's. That's well past blacks being freed. The issue I bring up is if you go far back, whites were enslaved by Arabs and blacks, even the whole slave trade wasn't just blacks.
yup, ask anyone who was invaded by the Ottoman empire. did you know some of the most popular Greek dishes are actually Turkish? it’s because those are leftover from when the Greeks were enslaved by the Ottomans. it permanently changed some aspects of their culture, much like many Indigenous people were forced to convert to Christianity.
I did actually! Same with the Romans though the Romans did allow for beliefs and cultures to mix.
You're exactly right. I can only speak from my experience as a US citizen, but I'd argue that it's not fashionable in today's PC world to teach these sorts of things. It's easier and more politically correct to demonize whites as brutish, oppressive slave owners and overlook or whitewash those parts of history where whites were on the receiving end of racism. I don't want to downplay the severity and cruelty that blacks have faced with slavery and systemic racism, but it's my belief that if we shift the focus away from whites being the racist boogeyman, it destroys the politically correct narrative that's permeated our educational system. I hope that makes sense.
If you go back far enough just about every major people group in history practiced slavery in some form against other different groups, whether based on race or other factors. But racially motivated slavery was prominent nonetheless. It's sadly something that was common in human society back then (and still is today in some forms) and isn't limited to one race, culture or group. It's potential is in all of us due to our tribal nature. We also equally have the potential to be the opposite and be better than they were.
Remember when "Stop Asian Hate" had to go away from the mainstream media because everybody learned who was doing the "hate" ? Yeah, black people can be racist too.
Im not from the US, but I don’t understand why black people don’t also hate their ancestors as much as whites because they practiced themselves slavery and they were sold by their own. It’s so hypocritical. They practice slavery just like anyone else in the world at that time.
That's a rarely talked about history. African tribes and Portuguese raiders were the first to capture and sell African slaves during the Atlantic slave trade. Somewhere I had read, possibly just Wikipedia, that around 90% of African slaves were captured and sold by African slave traders. Slavery was an existing problem by the time the Europeans arrived.
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That is very true. The trans Saharan slave trade routes were well established by the time the Atlantic slave trade started. Many people were sold into Egypt. They didn't exclusively enslave Africans, though. There were European slaves as well during those times. Slavery is a terrible part of human history that affected many parts of the globe.
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I believe the Spanish also brought black slaves to South America. I'm pretty sure I had read around 1.2 million just in Brazil, but that number is from memory and may not be right.
You are 100% correct. Racism in any form is evil and shouldn't be tolerated. Just like murder, or any other evil act committed against another human being. There is a tendency to misuse language in order to confuse and divide us.
I find, from my experience and discussions, that NON-White people are more likely to believe/think racism can only go one way. The white people I know who say these things tend to be very very left leaning, and tend to say whatever is the hot topic at the time. I've personally also experienced less of this sentiment from my First Nations friends. I grew up with First Nations buddies who no doubt weren't the biggest fans of white folk, and I've had heart to heart honest conversations about this subject and listened to their personal points of view. They've shared with me the racism they've experienced from other races, specifically Asian folk, and not only white people. Edit: For clarity, I am a White man, my wife is Peruvian with a lot of Native American DNA, she is not as Spanish descent as some other Latin American people. When we first began dating she used to tell me "you can't be racist to white people" and "only white people are racist". But over time, with discussion, examples, real life instances which she has been able to witness first hand now, she seems to be more open to the idea of racism going both ways. The argument of "it can only go from a position of power to lower power people" is plain and simple wrong. Edit 2: Changing my choice of words because I was not accurately portraying my thoughts and experiences. Also before y'all assume I'm some heavily conservative person or whatever, I mean my last two elections I voted NDP, and Green before that lol never voted Right in my life.
Almost like it's a political thing! 😂
Because they are wrong. It’s that simple.
This comment section brings me hope for humanity.
How will we know when “systemic racism” has been eradicated?
There will always be grifters looking to profit of it, and racists of other races looking to implement their own version of it.
I have heard racism as defined (by some people — not my personal feelings surrounding the term) as only being able to be from the majority/power holders… so in the US that would mean white people cannot be the victim of racism, BUT in some non-white country — Japan for instance, white people can be the victims of racism.
Well I know from my experience and the experiences of people I know in school, that black students are allowed to say whatever they want and act however they want towards white students. A black student could just tell teachers a white student called them a slur and they get in trouble. Teachers and administrators are so scared of being labeled racist that they treat every thing black students say as the gospel. So yes blacks definitely have power over white students.
Always reject that revisionist definition.
This definition is incorrect and anyone who attempts to define it in this way is pushing a political agenda.
Yeah, stupid people make mistakes about word definitions all the time, no surprise
My first exposure to racism was actually in Zambia, and was black person against black person.
There was (and still is, I suppose) a trend going around saying that POC can't be racist, and the basis of this was people redefining the word 'racism' to mean 'institutionalized/systemic racism.' I find this to be a bullshit notion, and meant as another form of white guilt and making white people out to be the bad guys. If you're judging someone based on their race, you're racist. Full stop. No exceptions or redefinition.
Unfortunately that is not what is taught in some colleges. I had a minor argument with a coworker about the word 'reverse-racism' and I said racism is racism. He said that we developed the idea of racism because of white people so in theory only white people can be racist and since white people created racism anytime it happens to them makes it reverse scenario. These days every group has its racists.
They are literally using a different meaning of “racism” than you are. For their Critical Race Theory-derived meaning, “racism” is treating someone inequitably because of their race, based on a power differential. That is a simplified and paraphrased definition, but I think it gets at the gist it. Because there’s a perceived power difference there cannot be racism from the oppressed group. This is not intended as a criticism of CRT, just an explanation to OP.
Strong propaganda
I’m taking a sociology course and in the textbook it calls racism towards white people “reverse racism”. I personally don’t agree and think that racism towards anyone no matter what race is racism.
Having done a little learning on this subject over the past few years I hope to shed some light here. This is a genuine attempt to provide perspective that helped me understand and hopefully it will resonate with some others too, but I’m still learning and adapting my views so feel free to correct me if I’m off base. I used to understand racism as a simple prejudice against someone based on their presenting racial characteristics. And from this perspective, yes, it is entirely possible for anyone to think or behave in disparaging ways towards someone else based solely on the color of their skin, without any regard to the specific individual (their culture, nationality, intelligence, intentions, trauma, family history, emotions, socio-economic status, upbringing, etc) in front of them. And prejudice for unchangeable characteristics, in any form, is just shitty. I have come to understand that there is more nuance to it than that in more modern research of racism and the impacts it has on, specifically, minority groups. From a broader perspective, prejudice against a specific minority group by a larger group causes harm in ways that reach further than just hurting their feelings (statistics show disproportionate medical problems, poverty, incarceration rates, educational attainment, suicide rates, etc—specifically linked to racist policies, programs, and interpersonal interactions). Whereas in reverse it just doesn’t shake down the same way, largely because if a black person is racist towards a white person (for example) the white person will feel crappy, and probably tell their friends and family how badly they were treated, but they will have a multitude of other opportunities and protections that the black person would not have if (when) the roles were reversed. It still hurts and ideally it shouldn’t happen, but it doesn’t tend to lead to any major consequences for the white person. And taking a stance similar to “I don’t see color, I base my judgements of a person only on their actions and merits,” ignores a whole host of issues that affect that person right up until the point they cross paths with you. I love a specific YouTube video that puts this in a visual context (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ670ooc6Qc). Racism can take many forms, not all of them overt or malicious in intent; but the bottom line is that when the minority expresses disdain for their unequal position relative to the majority, the harm is incredibly limited, whereas when the majority is the one punching down, it can lead to very real harms and consequences and THAT is something that is increasingly being considered when the term ‘racist/racism’ is used because it does actually make a difference. And before anyone quotes the dictionary at me, language evolves as our understanding evolves and perspectives deepen or change. This is one of those times. Also, as I understand it, using “blacks” when referring to African Americans or black people is considered disparaging. Instead, terms like “African Americans” or “black people” are less dehumanizing and emphasize the person over simply the color of their skin.
It is a relatively newer understanding of the word that equates what some might call systemic racism with racism. The idea is that racism=power + privilege. In this sense it is hard for black people to be systemically racist to white people. If you think that no black people have power and all white people have power and every system privileges white people against black people then their use of racism makes much more sense.
You aren't American, native or otherwise. You are using British spellings. "coloured". Give me a break. You are a troll/bot.
So many white liberals with white guilt in here. What you see at work in this thread is the phenomenon known as white savior complex. All these white people think black and brown people need to be saved by them. They love to say systemic racism and imply that non whites are powerless to help themselves so they the white superheroes are needed.
What I find funny is that they think they can educate me based on the racial oppression I supposedly don't know I'm facing 😂
Yes you as a non write person are inferior and incapable of saving yourself therefore they have to save you. This perfectly explains the American white liberal.
Woke brainwash.
What you're describing is historical revisionism and dilution of terminology. In other words, people are trying to change the definition of racism to further their racist political agendas. They're just wrong, and you can call them out for it. There has been a major uptick in black-on-Asian and black-on-White violent hate crimes in Oakland in recent years, because of people who think like that. DA Pamela Price even gives lighter sentences to child murderers who happen to be black. That's systemic racism right there. These "racism is only racism in one direction" claims should never be tolerated, never go unchallenged.
You should try meeting some non woke white people. Only far left retards believe that crap.
This sub is giving me hope that’s not true. But I too thought this was a very common belief.
There are people who think that you cant be bigoted toward the "group in power" Basically since white people collectively have it better, hating them is punching up and therefore not bad
Sad that because of judgement, the situation can’t be in the title 100%. People feel entitled and justified because they’ve bought into victimhood culture.
Live outside the US for any length of time, you understand it even more. You are correct 💯
That a leftist innovation and it is functioning as designed. The idea was to redefine racism so that it requires institutional power. That way when white people do bad things it can be labeled as racist. But when people of other skin tones do bad things, "it's not racism, it's justice for historical oppression." Don't buy into the lie, it's all equally racism. Remember these are the same people saying "if you don't see color your just supporting oppression," and "its not enough to not be racist, you have to be actively anti-racist."
Few white people actually believe that unless you're in a liberal echo-chamber. And some black people tend to believe this because they're been brain washed by far-left liberal propaganda. Being on Reddit definitely doesn't help with this consider half the people on here are racist despite claiming they aren't racist.
"Far-right liberal"?
Racism against whites is prevalent and is woefully unacceptable.
Because this is literally what is taught in universities unfortunately. According to their not at all disinterested definition racism is “prejudice plus privilege” Thus only white people can be racist.
I never heard of that interesting! Not sarcasm but if that's true than we got some real issues coming.
No, it's not what's taught in universities. They are talking about a very specific type of racism: systemic racism, which doesn't really occur to the majority. Ignorant people interpret this as "black people can't be racist!"
Dont over think it.... It's because most people are just dumb and/or pushing an agenda.
White people are encouraged to look down on their own race. It's the hip new thing.
You are correct. Systemic racism totally *can* be racist against white people. And any other race. Not saying that it *is* or *isn’t*, just that it *can* be. Same with general racism.
Just a way for people to justify their own hate is how I see it.
Dudes going “the blacks” and everyone’s agreeing with him. This point is obviously rage baiting.
“The blacks,” you all are so transparent with this mess.
Right? I'm cringing every time it comes up in the comments. Yikes.
OP is mad about not being able to be openly bigoted irl so runs to the echo chamber of Reddit to yell ahistorical opinions.
Seriously, that across the board was driving me up the wall.
The answer is that it's politically convenient to redefine and culturally re-associate certain terms like racism as being equivalent to systemic or systematic racism
Blacks??
Because there are people who don't understand the difference between being a racist and systemic/institutionalized racism.
And why do people use it as a catch-all term for anything they don't like?!
Hey now you’re letting them in on my secret weapon for arguing.
The academic idea of racism and the normal use of racism isn't the same. Academically, racism requires systemic power. The ability to hurt me in some way has to be present. Systemically in the united states, that power only really goes one way. When discussing systemic racism, a grandma who was beaten and attacked by dogs during the civil rights movement being distrusting of white people isn't actually keeping white people from any opportunities. However, white people having distrust of black people leads to disproportionate arrests, a negative Pygmalion effect, and unequal educational outcomes. In normal use however, racism just means "bigotry about race". In this instance, the black grandma is racist. She absolutely assumes worse about white people for their being white. This is what most people mean when they use the word and as with most things, bringing academic nuance into colloquial conversations does nothing but create chaos and anger. If I'm a chemist, calling salt sodium chloride makes sense. But if I ask you to pass the sodium chloride at the table you'll rightfully call me a dick. This difference is the same thing.
"every white person" ... try white liberals. They are the group who'll see a pale Polish man sucker punched online by a "POC" and applaud it because of some shit a Portuguese/English/French man did during a time in human history when owning, selling and trading other humans for labor was acceptable in most parts of the world (but only white people apparently need to answer for).
Uh I’m white and don’t think that. If you hate someone because they have different ethnicity than you, you’re racist.
Yeah, I'm a liberal person and vote left, but I totally get where conservatives get frustrated on this topic because it pisses me off too. I have seen so many black people say things like "I hate all white people" or make terrible pre judgements against a person because they are white and then when called out on it use the excuse "Only white people can be racist"..........its almost dumbfounding there are so many people who seem to genuinely believe that or at a minimum are saying/agreeing with it to pander.
There is a branch of American academia that have redefined “racism” to specifically mean the white above all others systemic racism of the USA. For them any other tour of racism isn’t “racism” is just “racial prejudice”. I think that’s dumb, nobody gave them permission to change our language.
Charlie Cheong did a beautiful video essay on this very topic called "What Are We Doing to White People?" Basically, it shows examples of the younger generation justifying racism (and a statistically significant portion of the older generation enabling this behavior) against white people because "racism is prejudice plus power and the oppressed have no power against those that oppress them", aka "you can't oppress the oppressor".
Racism isn't one way, they just use that bs excuse to not be accountable for their racism.
I don't know why hating someone for their skin color matters anyway. People hate on people for being tall, fat, the sound of their voice, the color of their hair. Lots of people immediately dislike fat people. It's the endless conversation about racism that's the problem. Just go on hating each other and stop labeling why you hate each other. Just do it. Let the hate flow.
It is the Prejudice+ power issue relating to " systemic racism". The reason why they say that you cannot be " racist" against white people is referring to the view that white people hold the power and use that power to create systems that are racist against non whites. They call what you consider to be racism against white people " bigotry". Examples of what it is referencing( There is MUCH more than this, these are justa couple of examples): For example, racism in real estate that persists today even after redlining was supposed to be stopped. The same house will be valued as being worth much less because black people live in it than if a white family is listing it. Real estate agents will not show black families the same homes they will show white families with the same incomes and wants. They also require minority families have a higher income to live in the same house or wealthier neighborhood than they do white families, and so much more. ***"The White neighbor sat in for the couple when the new appraiser came, and the result was a home appraisal of nearly $92,000 more than the first."*** [https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/15/us/real-estate-appraisals-bias-reaj/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/15/us/real-estate-appraisals-bias-reaj/index.html) https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/high-income-black-homeowners-receive-higher-interest-rates-low-income-white-homeowners https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3704191/ https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/29/realestate/black-homeowner-mortgage-racism.html [https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/12/realestate/black-real-estate-agents-discrimination.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/12/realestate/black-real-estate-agents-discrimination.html) [https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/07/02/black-property-tax/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/07/02/black-property-tax/) [https://kinder.rice.edu/urbanedge/race-determines-home-values-more-today-it-did-1980](https://kinder.rice.edu/urbanedge/race-determines-home-values-more-today-it-did-1980) [https://projects.newsday.com/long-island/real-estate-agents-investigation/#open-paywall-message](https://projects.newsday.com/long-island/real-estate-agents-investigation/#open-paywall-message) Then Racism in employment has shown that a black college graduate is viewed the same as a white highschool graduate or even white high school dropouts. They also deal with racist hostile work environments, and more harshly judged than others for the exact same things. [https://news.gallup.com/poll/328394/one-four-black-workers-report-discrimination-work.aspx](https://news.gallup.com/poll/328394/one-four-black-workers-report-discrimination-work.aspx) [https://www.huffpost.com/entry/racial-education-gap\_n\_5537530](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/racial-education-gap_n_5537530) [https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2014/06/27/white-high-school-drop-outs-are-as-likely-to-land-jobs-as-black-college-students/?sh=7078daf07b8f](https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2014/06/27/white-high-school-drop-outs-are-as-likely-to-land-jobs-as-black-college-students/?sh=7078daf07b8f) [https://news.rice.edu/news/2022/subtle-racial-slights-work-cause-job-dissatisfaction-burnout-black-employees](https://news.rice.edu/news/2022/subtle-racial-slights-work-cause-job-dissatisfaction-burnout-black-employees) [https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/what-the-pandemic-taught-us-about-racism-at-work-and-how-to-handle-going-back-to-the-office](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/what-the-pandemic-taught-us-about-racism-at-work-and-how-to-handle-going-back-to-the-office) [https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/10/why-black-workers-really-do-need-to-be-twice-as-good/409276/](https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/10/why-black-workers-really-do-need-to-be-twice-as-good/409276/)
Democrats love redefining words to fit their narratives
I’m white and I don’t think racism is one sided at all. I’ve literally had white friends discriminated against when visiting Japan for example for not being Japanese. I mean that’s just one example. Any race can be racist. It’s as simple as thinking/treating someone who looks different from you as less based sheerly on what they look like. Same goes for religion, sex, sexual orientation, etc.
Just people confusing types of racism and also because when people are a dick to someone because they are white they don't necessarily see it or recognize it as racism because idk, it just doesn't have as much of an impact on them I guess.
The people who insist only white people can be racist have gone full circle jerk. It’s unironically even more racist imo to believe that having a certain race determines if someone could be seen as racist. “But mah history of inequality” you say? EVERY group of people on this planet has the ability to be discriminatory—
Bro ignorant African Americans act like they’re the only group of people who suffered or went through shit. The English straight up Genocide the Irish and when my great grandparents came to America they dealt with heavy racism. Somehow I’m lumped into those groups for having the same skin tone. People are dumb as fuck and you shouldn’t argue with them is the moral of the story.
I think there is some virtue signaling possibly going on. Competitive wokeness. It's ironic because I think it is a racist position to believe that only white people can be racist. If you aren't racist, you believe that people are inherently the same, and that all of us are capable of thinking the same thoughts, feeling the same feelings. therefore it is racist to think that someone can't think or feel certain things based on their ethnicity. So the answer really is, the people you are complaining about are racist, and they are trying to force you to believe that they aren't.
Math is racist. Get used to it.
There's systemic racism, and individual racism. A lot of people confuse the two. I've heard people say you can't be racist against white people but you can be "prejudiced". The "prejudice" here is just racism on an individual level.
Francis Galton https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Galton invented the Races, and he said white people were better than asians are better than native americans were better than black africans. Since it's his term, he got to determine its use. If you have a new system where black people are on top, it needs a new term or you will confuse people. This is why people keep arguing. People are trying to erase the history of Eugenics and European Colonialism by rebranding the term. It's like the idiots who say States Rights was the cause of the American Civil War when we all know it was States Rights to allow black slavery that was the entire issue.
I dropped out of college in '04 and went back in '15 What boggled my mind is that, verbatim, in multiple classes, what the OP is discussing was taught as fact. I have a blatantly Irish name. One teacher told me that I'm not allowed to cite any history of oppression of my people because we had "accepted the blessings of the white man's vote". Like, I was singled out in front of a class. I dont... I dont even know what that meant. But I do know Cromwell starved Irishmen to death and they slaughtered my people in the New York Harbor. Guess that's not a thing thats something?