I think that when we talk about racism (or patriarchy, for that matter) we're talking about wide systemic oppression, when liberals talk about it in their mind it's the 4th grade version of people being mean to each other based on skin colour. That disconnect between relations to power and individual acts of prejudice really trips people up, especially if they haven't been exposed to leftist (both communist and anarchist) thought.
when liberals talk about it in their mind it's the 4th grade version of people being mean to each other based on skin colour.
I think the question "Can you be racist towards white people" is about exactly this, though. I think when we're talking about whether we're racists for using the word "cracker", this is what we're talking about as well.
And it's not an illegitimate question either, it's not like people treating you differently because of your skin color stops being a thing past 4th grade.
I'm mostly being pedantic here. I think you can be racist towards white people, and I even think that white people can experience discrimination in our current world, but that is mostly hypothetical. It's delving into "What if the only way to save a child's life is to say the n-word" territory, honestly.
Right, but I think the larger point is that until white people become the victims of systemic oppression based on race, it's currently not possible to be racist towards white people by the definition of the word that includes power dynamics. Maybe that's why we have to clarify it as systemic racism.
I think that when we talk about racism (or patriarchy, for that matter) we're talking about wide systemic oppression, when liberals talk about it in their mind it's the 4th grade version of people being mean to each other based on skin colour. That disconnect between relations to power and individual acts of prejudice really trips people up, especially if they haven't been exposed to leftist (both communist and anarchist) thought.
I think the question "Can you be racist towards white people" is about exactly this, though. I think when we're talking about whether we're racists for using the word "cracker", this is what we're talking about as well.
And it's not an illegitimate question either, it's not like people treating you differently because of your skin color stops being a thing past 4th grade.
I'm mostly being pedantic here. I think you can be racist towards white people, and I even think that white people can experience discrimination in our current world, but that is mostly hypothetical. It's delving into "What if the only way to save a child's life is to say the n-word" territory, honestly.
Right, but I think the larger point is that until white people become the victims of systemic oppression based on race, it's currently not possible to be racist towards white people by the definition of the word that includes power dynamics. Maybe that's why we have to clarify it as systemic racism.
:this: