13 December 2019

Reverse Racism

Racism is the belief that one race is superior to another based on several characteristics or abilities (Racism). Racism can be traced during the time of enslaved Africans in the New World in the 17th and 18th centuries when Europeans set sail to Africa and kidnapped thousands. Africans sat on plantations for hours in the heat attending to crops while being mentally, physically and emotionally abused by their slave masters. Records such as the ones posted in the website, “Records Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936 to 1938” recall times of being an African slave in a country where not only where they were forced to come to but were also disliked. Bunce Island located outside of Sierras Leone is a British castle used as a slave trading post. The film, “Racism – A History” showed that Bunce Island was used to hold slaves before throwing them onto ships. They were tied, branded and then sold. The cost of women slaves was compared to the price of two men because women were able to increase slave masters profit by having children. Even though slavery ended in 1865 black people went through times of segregation, discrimination and hate crimes until the Civil Rights Movement addressed these concerns. They were not allowed to vote, be in positions of power and public places such as schools and libraries, had “white” and “colored people” sections. My paper will be discussing the substantial amount of ignorance surrounding the topic where many individuals believe that the term racism can be associated with white individuals when it cannot because reverse racism does not exist.

On the weekend of November 1, 2019, a white supremist group gathered in front of Emmet Till’s memorial where they were captured making a video in front of the sign. The sign which has been rebuilt multiple times because of vandalism was set up so the world can see where Emmet, who was only 14 years old at the time was beaten to death for supposedly whistling at a white woman. This group of individuals filmed in front of Emmet Tills memorial with a Mississippi and League of South flag to make a racist propaganda video. This controversial video shows the power that white people hold in our society. The men who killed Emmet Till were acquitted and those today who have vandalized his sign are not being brought to justice. Even with the amount of progress we are making in the belief of racism towards African Americans, we are still stuck. 

“We argue that the end goal of the definition ‘Racism = White supremacy’ is less about striving to reduce racism, and more about striving to making whites aware of the privileges they attain by virtue of their racial group’s strong social power” (Sawrikar, Katz 80). Power is a fundamental block for racism. Power is the ability to do something or act in a certain way and those who hold a lot of power tend to abuse it. African Americans are a product of that abused power. Even when slavery ended, white induvials felt the need to show how much they had over black people by degrading the people. Segregation is a key example of the power that white people hold. After slavery ended, there was a divider between both races and the blacks got the bad end of the stick. There was “colored only” and “white” people bathrooms, water fountains, schools and sitting areas. In these areas we can see that the whites had a much cleaner, safer, and overall better section. In terms of education, the “white schools” had multiple teachers, new books and supplies, compared to the “colored people” schools which had more students than staff, torn textbooks and the nearest school was miles away. Black people were given their rights following the Civil Rights Movement but because for years they were established as an inferior group of people, white people had a sense of entitlement to showcase that even though all blacks are now citizens of the U.S., they will never actually be an American. 

Oppression is the prolonged cruel or unjust treatment and “racism describes a system of disadvantaged people” (Dear White People). These two terms coincide with each other because the ‘disadvantaged people’ are the ones who have been controlled and ill-treated. White people cannot be subjected to racism because they did not come from a background where their race was and still is currently hated. Whites have always held great power in society so the institutions that have been created over the years have been built under this theory. In the article, Casual Reminder: There’s No Such Thing As Reverse Racism by Ludmila Leiva, the author states, “We all have hardships, but as the demographic that has historically held all the power—and whose power has dictated the oppression of other—white people simply can’t be victims of racism” Since the times of new settlements in America white individuals have always been at the top of the social class. They were able to effectively acquire new lands, create a strong army and technological advancements helped them progress to a better society. The idea of the white race being superior to blacks gradually turned into racist views due to the fact that African Americans were easily captured and didn’t have all the means to stop it. White individuals were scared that the African American population would eventually rebel and as a result, whites were given arms to bear. This created African Americans to fear the white man because death was watching them. There are no written records in histories where Europeans had to be brought on a boat and stripped from their culture and families in order to work for free. African American women were raped, children were not allowed to have an education and men were whipped in front of their families. White people started the oppression towards African Americans; therefore, they are not victims of racism but the catalyst. 

My anthropology professor, Daniel Nieves, once told my class, “it is so dangerous to walk around and be a black man”. This sad but true statement can be seen every day in our society when African Americans are classified for being related to violence, poverty, low education and even laziness. The discrimination that black people are put through do not reach the extent of a white person. Statistics show that African Americans are usually faced with poorer conditions when up against a white individual. African Americans make up 50% of school suspensions and are three times more likely to face suspension than white people. This is even when the violation is similar in both parties. (7 Ways We Know Systematic Racism is Real). People were taught for generations that the black race was to be feared because they are seen as violent and animal like. They placed this stigma around us and even when a black and white man are facing similar situations, the white man will always have advantages against him. White people do not have to walk around in caution because of the color of their skin. Eric Gardner, Michael Brown, Botham Jean and Trayvon Martin are all black men who cannot come back to life because they are products of racism and how our system is run of these views. White officers drew their weapons on unarmed African Americans on the basis that they felt harmed and were perceived as “threats”. The same way slave masters would whip their slaves and white supremacist groups would lynch a colored man because they “felt in danger”. Reverse racism cannot apply for white individuals unless they have lived or come from a background from these 4 black men. They are blind to the fact that we do not live in a post-racial society when a white woman shoots an unarmed black man in his home (Botham Jean case) but when we call a white man, “cracker” they scream “racist”. 

Many individuals argue that racial slurs, stereotypes and offensive comments towards white individuals are examples of racism, but this is not true. Instead these are examples of racial prejudice. Prejudice is an opinion that is not based on any type of experience or reasons. Racial prejudice are assumptions that are made based on one’s race/class. Racial prejudice can be directed towards white people when one makes statements such as, “white people cannott cook” but it doesn’t mean one is making racist remarks towards them. We cannot compare the mistreatment of white people by black individuals with the “institutionalized mistreatment” (Reverse Racism is a Myth) that African Americans had to experience committed by the white race. Offensive statements said to both races are wrong, but it will never change the amount of power, economic stability, and privileges that a white individual holds. Saying that a white person cannot cook does not affect their ability to still cook. There is no power behind that in which will affect their opportunity to still cook (Facilitators Stores: Reverse Racism is a myth).  In the text, “A Look at the Myth of Reverse Racism” by Tim Wise, he states, 

The line elicits laughs all around, but also makes clear, at least implicitly that when it comes to racial antilocution, people of color are limited in the repertoire of slurs they can use against whites, and even the ones of which they can avail themselves sound more comic than hateful. The impact of hearing the antiblack slurs in the skit was of a magnitude unparalleled by hearing Pryor say “honky” over and over again…When a group of people has little or no power over you institutionally, they don’t get to define the terms of your existence, they can’t limit your opportunities, and you needn’t worry much about the use of a slur to describe you and yours, since, in all likelihood, the slur is as far as it’s going to go.

Tim Wise’s argument highlights the fact that even words contain power. Names such as “nigger”, “monkey”, and even accounts of blackface were used in order to dehumanize African Americans. These slurs and comments have been introduced from the time of slavery and had the authority to describe a whole race. There is a limited amount of words that are offensive to white people because they were never put in a position to be taught why blacks are inferior to whites. These words were used during the time of slavery, segregation and even sadly today in order to place a racist stigma around black people. Wise points out that the words, “nigger”, “porch monkey” and “jungle bunny” were used as a comeback towards a black man constantly calling a white man a “honkey”. The term, “honkey” is almost seen as comical compared to other words because it holds no weight behind it.

Affirmative action is a concept that one may use to support reverse racism. Affirmative action is a policy which supports people of a disadvantaged group that has suffered discrimination in different areas such as employment, education and housing. It is an attempt for equal opportunities in the educational admission process. White people find affirmative action problematic because it is unfair to judge admission processes solely on race. It gives one race an advantage over the other because they are seen as “disadvantaged”. Affirmative action is not fair to white students who have the grades and resume to get into selective colleges but also have to compete with students with different skin tones who might not have the same skill level. This whole argument is false and insulting because it shows how in our society, we need a system to keep bias ideas out of our education systems. It argues that all African American students are not well-off and cannot get into schools with merit only (Is Affirmative Action A Racist Policy?).

Some may argue that reverse racism between African Americans and white people does exist on the basis that white people should not have to pay for years of long-gone oppression. They believe that because slavery and segregation happened generations ago then white people now should not be held accountable for being seen as superiors.  In the article, “Sociology of Race” by Zuleyka Zevallos, the author states, “Reverse racism is an attempt to be ahistorical”. White individuals who make this claim are completely disregarding the way our society and the system treated African Americans. White people say that they should not be held accountable due to the fact that the oppression and discrimination does not regard them, so they turn their cheek, but everyday black people have to suffer the consequences. Yes, slavery, segregation and lynching, did happen more than 10 years ago but today in the 20thcentury we have, discrimination, hate crimes, racial slurs, police brutality and individuals who believe that reverse racism is a thing. 

WORKS CITED

“7 Ways We Know Systemic Racism Is Real.” Http://Www.benjerry.com, www.benjerry.com/home/whatsnew/2016/systemic-racism-is-real.

 

“Dear White People.” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt2235108/characters/nm1935086.

 

“Facilitators Stories.” Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre, www.aclrc.com/facilitator-storie s/#Reverse.

 

Goldring, Kira. “Is Affirmative Action a Racist Policy?” Theperspective.com/, 2 May 2018, www.the perspective.com/debates /living/is-affirmative-action-a-racist-policy/.

 

Leiva, Ludmila. “Casual Reminder: There’s No Such Thing As Reverse Racism.” Complex, Complex, 1 June 2018, www. complex  .com/life/2017/02/reverse-racism-is-not-real.

 

“Myth of Reverse Racism.” Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre, www.aclrc.com/myth-of-reverse-racism.

 

“Racism.” Anti-Defamation League, www.adl.org/racism.

 

Sawrikar, Pooja, and Ilan Katz. Cosmopolitan Civil Societies Journal, vol. 2, no. 1, 2010, pdfs.semanticscholar.org/33c6/cc cbf3d6f7775dd1ee3854baf7ba355288a0.pdf.

 

Tickell, Paul, director. Racism – A History. YouTube, YouTube, 2007 , www.Youtube.com/watch?v=GcrcflTCu4Q.

 

Wise, Tim. “A Look at the Myth of Reverse Racism .” RaceandHistory.com : RaceandHistory,2002 ,raceandhistory.com/s  elfnews/viewnews.cgi?newsid1024893033%2C80611%2C.shtml.

 

Zevallos, Zuleyka. “Sociology of Race.” The Other Sociologist, 2 Nov. 2019, othersociologist.com/sociology-of-race/.