College/job quotas isn’t that Racism?
KITTY Vetter,
Livingston Manor, NY
Reverse Racism is real
Reverse racism doesn’t exist. I do.
Iraina Chaney,
Bakersfield, CA.
Straight white male? Must be racist.
R.E.A.L. Talk,
High Tech Middle Media Arts,
7th Grade Trailblazer
Even if I haven’t really been discriminated against by groups of people thinking they are superior to other groups of people, I feel that as a white person I am being mis-represented by white supremacy groups and neo-nazis. I feel that certain groups of people blame people like me because we, as in white males, have always oppressed others and I am seen as a part of that. Yes that is true that men have oppressed others, yes most if not all dictators are men, yes white men enslaved black men, but that does not mean all men oppress and hate other groups of people. White people are not to blame for all the injustice in the world, I as a human am just as angry when an unarmed black man is shot for no reason other than being black. I as a United States citizen am just as frustrated with the criminal justice system in America and how there is an incentive to arrest, pull over, and ID minorities and how private prisons can make laws.
I as a young adult am just as horrified when a man can buy firearms and shoot up a school, taking innocent lives. It is not my fault that there is racism in america, it is a problem we as the human race created and must solve. Saying every life on the Earth matters shouldn’t be a symbol of racism. Saying that shouldn’t be frowned upon because it takes away from black lives matter. I am not saying that black lives don’t matter just to clarify I just feel that we shouldn’t focus on one group or ethnicity because we should get to point in America where your gender, ethnicity, and religion doesn’t matter. If you are American that’s all that matters and nothing else. We need to get away from the bias and casual racism assuming a person’s actions before they have even done something because of how they look.
Race, is not real, so stop fighting because of it.
Yes you heard me, there is one race: the human race. We are all too similar to be a subspecies of the human race, meaning, that one race was created as as the human race. We classified each other into groups of people either so we could have an excuse for treating other groups as servants/slaves and to prove that they could treats others as inferior or to explain why we should get special treatment. Race is a social construct. This shouldn’t be up for debate, race was created to discriminate and to convince people that they were superior there is no other reason. During the 1800’s churches would teach about how slavery was ethical and should be allowed, during the late 1900’s and to this day we are trying to prove that a black man is a criminal, all for what? So we think of ourselves as better? According to the American Anthropology Association (or AAA) there is more biological variation in “racial” groups than between them. What they are saying is that two men of the same “race” standing next to each other are less alike than one of those men and a white man standing next to each other.
This means we are only different by a small amount, meaning calling a man of a different “race” a thief because of their looks and behavior is at the same time calling yourself a thief as well. We can’t do this to ourselves, separating each other by how we look. Why should I care? So what? You should care because while you’re reading this 59% of all the hate crimes being committed right now are racially and ethnically motivated. Meaning out of the roughly 455 hate crimes this month 268 will be about how people look and where they are from. This is unacceptable in America, the land where every person is created equal. If we can show people how stupid it is to think of others differently because of their looks most of those 268 hate crimes would cease, it doesn’t take a scientist to see that. As you can see we need to get past our petty differences and arguments based off of something that doesn’t exist. We need to teach everyone about this because a nation of immigrants shouldn’t be banning immigrants because of their culture and looks. We all at some point had our ancestors move here for a better life so why can others do the same?
Racism against whites doesn’t exist, right?
Keira Glover,
England.
I was sat on the train yesterday reading Tolkiens ‘Lord of the Rings’ when a black woman sat down next to me, she kept leaning over my shoulder so I assumed she was a fan and that she was reading along, I even slowed my pace to give her more time to read and this went on for a good five minutes before she said “It’s full of white people” I asked what she meant and she went on to explain she’d read the book in university and that the cast of characters are majority white.
I didn’t argue because it’s true, I just didn’t understand why she’d made the comment so I asked her to elaborate.
She got angry with me, told me I must be racist (I have no idea why she thought that, I’m still very confused as to why she got angry) and that “whitey’s would either learn to accept they are below people of colour or we’d need to go” the guy across from me immediately called her out for being racist to which she replied ‘reverse racism doesn’t exist’ I agreed (in my opinion ‘reverse racism’ is a ridiculous term that makes zero sense) and then I explained the definition of racism and told her she was being (by definition) racist.
She spent a good 10 minutes explaining how ‘people of colour’ can’t be racist and then she started to tell everyone on the train I called her a ‘ni**er whore’ (I didn’t) and then she called me ‘mayonnaise without the good stuff’
A thing to note here is that she was American, I myself am British and have never met a black British person with such an extreme view of white people.
I’ve seen this kind of thing on the Internet but never experienced it first hand, and that’s why I’m writing this.
How many people believe this? Do people genuinely believe white people can’t face racism, because I thought it was something people said if they where ‘trolling’
Those who EXPERIENCE racism DEFINE it.
Ann Lewis
Richmond, VA
Racism is a system of oppression that only People of Color can experience; there is no “reverse racism” or racism against white people, because there is no system which intentionally oppresses them. If you are white, you can experience prejudice or even discrimination based on your race, but you will never personally experience racism. However, racism affects everyone- if you think it doesn’t, it’s probably because you are benefiting from it. Only the people who are negatively affected by racism, People of Color, can say what is and is not racist. One person does not speak for an entire race, but if a PoC says that something you said is racist, it is. There is no “race card” in the traditional sense; if someone says that something has happened because of their race, it probably has. Only by listening to the experiences of People of Color (and giving up our privileged voice so that they may speak) can white people begin to understand racism and its effects, and to act in solidarity with PoC to end an atrocity that should have never been.
Reverse discrimination against whites solves nothing
Chris Crawford
Cleveland, TN
It makes me sick to think little children are being brought up to hate. I watched a video on you-tube where children were punching a little girl and she was crying while parents stood there laughing. These were black kids and they videoed this abuse to this white child and proudly displayed it for the world to see. This isn’t the first instance of this type but it will never catch the attention of the news . Why? Hate needs to be stopped by all and not portrayed as a one sided event. Parents, please do your job and lets all live in peace.
“Reverse Racism”? Your privilege is showing…
Andrew V. Chavanak
Falls City, NE
When companies choose to make diversity a priority in hiring, or universities seek to create a more diverse student body and white people miss out, it’s not racism. Racism is about power, and no one can claim that power is shared equally in this country. Hearing other white people claim “reverse racism” when the status quo isn’t upheld is one of the most infuriating parts of this conversation. Can we please admit that the tough circumstances that some white individuals face do not represent a change in the racial landscape in our country? Prejudice against me doesn’t materially affect my chances for advancement in the same way that prejudice against black, Latino/a, Asian, and Native Americans affects theirs. I wish I could say that wasn’t the case, but honesty requires me to admit it… Can the rest of us do the same?
Only whites can truly ignore racism
Bjorn Leslie Harlson
Seattle, WA
For the longest time I was not fully aware of my own privilege. I would be one of those crying “reverse racism” at things like affirmative action, or any other sort of law that identifies people by their race in anyway. After taking some classes in the matter and talking to some POC I’m friends with, I came to realize how much of a privilege it is to be able to be so unaware. I understand people who are ignorant of the realities or racism but I implore them to look outside themselves and read some of the experiences of people of color in America to try and better understand how whites are NOT oppressed by systemic racism, and how ignoring this reality or claiming otherwise is not constructive. To those trying to push the narrative that there is a bias against white folks in murder cases and somehow black on white crime is being ignored by the media. I implore you to watch local news, to check legal records and see the reality of the situation. In order to try and be part of the solution you must stop deluding yourself and acknowledge your own white privilege.
Finally learned: reverse racism isn’t real.
Sara Davis
Philadelphia, PA
I was one of a handful of white kids in a mostly black public school, where I felt different. When I went to a mostly white college, I still felt different. I also felt that I understood race and racism.
I was wrong, because I didn’t know or think about white privilege. Oddly, it was feminism–a movement that has often struggled with privilege blindness–that taught me.
I think we’re all trying to do better.
