*** If you're too lazy to read, scroll down to "the Big Idea" ***
There's always so much controversy over the topic on if black people can or cannot be racist; I'm here to give insight on this belief.
rac·ism ˈrāˌsizəm/Submit noun 1. the BELIEF that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that RACE, especially so as to distinguish it as INFERIOR or SUPERIOR to another race or races. 2. prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.
The simple definition for racism defines it simply as the belief that a certain race is superior/inferior, but true racism is a systematic advanatage based on race.
In depth, people use this belief to degrade and put themselves in power. The majority tends to rule and since Europeans colonized most of the world, White Supremecy exists. White Supremacy in the world is real and just about everyone is effected by it. The idea that lighter skin equals superiority has infected the entire world. Black people and other non-white POC have been demonized with some of the worst stereotypes that flood the minds of a majority of the world's people whether people realize it or not. You don't have to hate black people to be racist, and sure, a black person can think they're better than a white person or even commit a physical crime based on the color of their skin, but they don't have the power to systematically oppress white people whereas with white people having colonized the world, they have the power to oppress. Non whites (mostly commonly black - around the world not just the U.S.) are more discriminated against than Caucasians and have faced far more oppression than any white people have.
With this people always try and bring up Jews, but Jews were oppressed for being Jewish, not for being white therefore you can't say the whole white race has been oppressed. Yes, Europeans faced their own self inflicted oppressions and blacks such as the Moors have even had sucessful conquests of conquring European nations for a time, but Europeans have oppressed and colonized all people of color around the world and their own. As a result, the mentality that lighter skin means superiorty has infected the minds of all non white POC (largely subliminal) which is why systematic racism does not occur in black people. In America for example, a majority of the population is white, and when it comes to cases where a white and black person commit crimes, a majority of the time, the black or non white person's race is continously criminizalized.
David Sweat: Commited Murder
Micheal Brown: Unarmed, commited a robbery
Black men are labeled as thugs when that is far from the truth of most black men. Now, I definitely don't think Mike Brown was just some innocent school boy but the contrast in responsed shown in this picture are VERY common amongst people. There have been several psychological studies done, proving that it's a mindset that blacks are just criminals while white criminals are just "misunderstood" or "psychotic".
Also, don't get me wrong here, I am in NO way trying to demonize white people, we've got enough demonzinization and hatred of certain groups of people already. And ALL races / ethnic backgrounds have their negatives.
I'm simply showing the difference in reaction that plays into white supremecy. With the white population being the majority, they do have the power to oppress and have a larger influence over how blacks are treated. And since everyone always mentions this too, NO all white people do not try to demonize black people are solely believe that they are better. However, a subliminal racist mindset is large amonst Caucasians, and a lack of trying to understand racism doesn't help your case against racism.
LET'S TALK ABOUT "White Privalege"
White people do in fact have white privilege, and, no, white privilege does not mean you don't know what struggle looks like or you can't face any type of discrimination or be poor. It just means that you as a white human being have the luxury of not facing constant micro aggression, ongoing systematic oppression, or extreme racism on the daily.
Also, I'm not saying white people can't face constant attacks because of their race either. There have been reports of whites living in a primarily non white areas and being attacked daily because of being white. This is definitely a discriminitory act; if someone says blacks can't be racist in this situation, they're meaning the white race is going to go down because of this.
LETS TALK ABOUT PREJUDICE
prej·u·dice ˈprejədəs/Submit noun 1. preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. "English prejudice against foreigners" synonyms: preconceived idea, preconception, prejudgmen
Prejudice and racism get confused A LOT. Nowadays, the word "Racism" gets tossed around like it's just some joke that went viral, so the true meaning gets lost. The one thing that I think everyone can agree on is that EVERYONE is prejudice in some way or another. It doesn't matter if you're black, white, blue, yellow, fusia, etc. EVERYONE is inflicted with some type of prejudice whether it be from an experience with a certain group of people or just commonly spread stereotypes and media depictions.
(Some) White people love to yell racist when blacks support their own or do something as simple as make a jokes about whites, when it isn't despite them being defensive. Yes, black people view that aren't intended to be racist as racist also, but having to face micro aggressions frequently, it really can be hard to not distinguish it, and negative stereotypes are far more believed about black people, so it's easier to be self concious.
Either way, both RACISM and PREJUDICE are horrible and wrong and should be gotten rid of in all races. No racist or prejudice acts are justifiable no matter what color of skin the attacker is.
THE BIG IDEA:
Anyone (including black people) can be socially/mentally racist, but black people do not have the power to be systematically racist.
- Yes, black people can believe that they're superior / inferior to other races.
- No, they don't have the power to systematically gain an advantage from this belief.
Personally, I believe the important thing for everyone is to just educate themselves. No matter who you are, if you say you aren't racist then be an ally to ending it! Not commiting acts against a race (being a bystander) might as well be the same. Even if you don't understand or believe or know how certain things are racist, just make sure to stand up against acts of any discrimination because...
and society will never grow until we all start working towards helping each other regardless of skin.
Oh and can we please stop the "You're being racist for accusing me of being racist..."
LIKE JUST STOP AND THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE SAYING AND THE CONTEXT OF THE SITUATION!
*** If you can't boter reading, don't bother commenting. ***
THANKS FOR READING MY TAKE!
If you have any questions on racism, studies, my personal beliefs or general questions about how people are treated, feel free to message me. I understand that not everyone will have the same views or agree but the great thing about human is having the ability to be open minded and accept new ideas and share inforamation.
So what if I live in a countru where the system is ran by blacks and majority of people are black, they still don't have the power to be systematically racist?
People tend to side with their own race, that's a fact clearly shown in the OJ Simpson case. Everyone knew he's guilty, but still black people sided with him. Everyone knew Michael Brown was a thug and tried to reach to the cop's gun, but still black people sided with him. Black people even side with black thugs like the one in St. Louis that shot at cops and then got killed. I'm in now way saying every black person is a thug, or a criminal, not at all, but you can't end discrimination when you're still sided with the wrong person just because s/he's the same race as you.
Perhaps blacks can't be systematically racist in the West cause the countries are ran by white people, but I've still seen more black racists than white racists. I understand black people have gone through a lot in the past, but many still believe this is the 18th century and we whites treat them like slaves, when most of those people weren't even alive during the MLK era. Even other black people are standing up against those black people who defend thugs or think they're still oppressed. I've met wonderful black people, but seriously, I think they gotta look inside their communities.
by the way, in the definition of racism, it say it's prejudice against someone of a different race. How can you say racism is confused with prejudice, when racism IS prejudice?
Is anybody here even remotely aware of the plight of Eastern European white people like Russians, Slavs, Greeks, and Bulgarians? Not only were many of these people subjugated under the oppressive yoke of the Ottoman Empire for 400 years which included sexual slavery, mass displacements, genocide, and second-class citizenship, but then they were subject to the Soviet Union for roughly another century and even in the West until modern times, were ranked alongside Blacks and Native Americans by White Supremacists as inferior beings. Sure your average WASP is privileged, but extrapolating that to account for all White people is extremely inaccurate. Even the Irish had it just as bad as Blacks.
Furthermore as a Mexica-American, I am honestly tired of lazy, lawbreaking Black people (not to say that all of them are like that; I know many successful Blacks with integrity) complaining about how hard they allegedly have it all the while refusing to do anything to even remotely improve the condition of their lives. I'm a minority too, and if I was able to work hard and make it to college despite the roadblocks, why can't they? Us Mexicans don't receive nearly as much affirmative action, media attention, or sympathy as Blacks do, yet I'm still making it.
The problem is that many Blacks don't want to legitimately better their community would rather prolong their problems as long as possible for the sake of handouts. It is why so many of them demonize legitimate, successful Black people like Dr. Ben Carson, pre-rapist Bill Cosby, and even Barack Obama as "Uncle Tom's" while glorifying thugs and common criminals like Floyd Mayweather and OJ Simpson.
Ever wonder why the truly successful Blacks who become businessmen, doctors, ministers, and cops often don't like the thuggish ones who complain about "racism"? Because they are lazy. They give true Blacks a bad name.
Look, it doesn't matter what da fuck you look like, but if you call everyone with a certain set of fatures a "hoe", or whatever da fuck, then you're racist! There's no excuse for it, you're a racist. Case closed.
And this "systematic racism". REALLY? REALLY? Let's ask the Africans if only the majority can be racist towards the minority! The INDIANS! Any fucking place ever that was a bloody British colony! Let's ask them if you need to have numerical supperiority to be a racist.
Also, i got one tidbit of philosophy for yo ass. What if maybe all this excessive racism blaming is just the reason people are seeing racist shit everywhere? I can hardly eat chocolate anymore without anyone claiming i'm oppressing colored people because i'm eating something that's brown! it's fucking ridicolous! So maybe, just maybe spend a little more time fixing the big elephant in the carpet, than looking for reasons to say someone is racist? Because if you do that to one culture/race only because of their culture/race, then that is actually a form of racism.
"No, they don't have the power to systematically gain an advantage from this belief."
Let's break down how patently false and denying this is.
So if I go into Atlanta, where the city government and city police are black controlled, they don't actually have the power to do anything oppressive to whites? The black dominated MARTA agencies don't have the power to snub whites in hiring and then cover it up? The black dominated city government doesn't have the power to snub white businesses, or harass them? The black dominated Atlanta PD doesn't have the power to take the side of blacks in disputes, or give blacks breaks while strictly punishing whites at any chance?
You're denying there are any black run city or state governments, I suppose? Because if there are, they could just as easily as a white city racially oppress people.
You're denying what has been shown repeatedly, that a simple social media mob can cost someone their livelihood and get them death threats?
"No, they don't have the power to systematically gain an advantage from this belief."
Thing is, your statement rests on the FALSE idea that the entire USA is racially even at every city. That is, that every city in the USA is white dominated, and blacks are a small minority. That's fantasy. There are many majority white cities. There are many majority black cities.
Off the top of my head, Atlanta, Memphis, Baltimore, Chicago, Washington DC... all black dominated cities. Where blacks indeed can use power racially against groups they dislike.
Considering Blacks are the majority in most African nations, they do have the power of systemic oppression. The difference I think, is that in Africa religion is the main source of conflict as opposed to race. Particularly in West and East Africa, where there is a perfect Christian and Muslim divide. Racial oppression is not the only form of oppression that exists. White people also did not conquer the entire world, contrary to the views of most Black Americans. Also the Moors were not black, they were of Arab and Berber descent. North Africans are not black. I don't know why there is this black cultural appropriation going on, there are no shortage of west African kingdoms that rose and fell throughout history. Ghana, Songhai, Mali. In east Africa you have the Nubians, Ethiopians, etc.
Trust me, all races, ages, sexes are racist or discriminating at one sort, if not many! I, as a white, half-german, young male have been heard "White peace of cr*p", "Nazi", "Young pr*ck" by quite some people, or have heard it by people calling my friends that as well. The key is to win from being victimed by racism or any other kind of discrimination is to not care about what people are saying about you! Be strong and laugh it off. Stupid bullies stay stupid.
@Pink2000 Girl you haven't lived long enough for me to take anything you say seriously. @myTake Owner How about you get your head out of that bubble for 1 goddamn second and stop presuming to know what it's actually like to be other people. Not everyone has the same mindset as you or thinks like you, so stop generalizing.
Society will never grow until we all stop making excuses for bad behavior. There is no excuse for any individual treating another individual badly based on the color of their skin. Whether it is systematic or at the individual level, racism IS prejudice based on race, skin color. THAT is what your message should be here. Each of us, whether black or white, needs to take responsibility for our own actions. No more excuses.
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myTake Owner
+1 y
My take literally said that at the end /last sections and it was in bold...
Yep, I read it. I also read the other stuff you wrote, including the "buts" and "except thats". My response was to all of it, not just the snippet at the end.
Nothing I said was an excuse for anything. I gave general information that happen to be true. None of the "buts" had to do with justifying racism. The point was just to explain why people believe what they do and how they are both right and wrong.
By the way, I appreciate you reading the take. A lot of people don't take the time to do so, but if you truly mean what you did, thanks.
White privilege was created by rich white people to convince the poor white people not to side with the black people, all with the phrase, "At least, I'm white."
Always hire one half of the poor to kill the other half. If any sector of society turns against it's rich masters they can always arm the other sectors to wipe it out. Unity means revolution and a change of how things are done. Not good for your average rich, greedy bastard
I believe everybody on this planet is racist , in some form or the other.
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Anonymous
(36-45)
+1 y
i had to stop reading at michael brown. if you think that had anything to do with race im sorry. Well there was some serous race issues there but not the way you are saying.
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