By: Jasmine Smith
Obviously right now we are in a state of injustice, inequality and racial divide. We are seeing countless lives being taken away at the hands of police and we are seeing some people step up as allies and join the fight for equality, while others make excuses. We’re also seeing a big discussion on race as a whole. One of the biggest discussions that’s been had is whether or not black people can be racist. This has been a debate for some time because many people simply don’t believe that black people have the means to be racist considering the amount of setbacks and oppression that has been set upon us. Some people believe that even if we tried, we could never be able to be racist because we don’t have the power, the tools, the ownership, etc. to be what some would call supremacists. That is not because black people haven’t tried, but rather because everywhere we’ve turned we’ve been faced with obstacles. The majority opinion falls on the idea that black people can be prejudice but not racist. To dive into this discussion deeper, let’s first take a look at what each term means.
Prejudice: To be prejudice means you are negatively pre-judging someone without getting to know them. This can be due to stereotypes placed on that certain person. Being prejudice also doesn’t just have to relate to race. It can relate to political affiliation, sex, gender, beliefs, values, social class, age, disability, religion, sexuality, race, ethnicity, language, nationality, beauty, occupation, education, criminality, sport team affiliation.
Racism: To be racist means you are discriminating against a particular group of people strictly because of their race. Racism is also a system of power that allows a particular racial group to retain their power or use it as a crutch towards another group by making sure they have preferential access. For black people this has been done to them through housing, education, jobs, voting, citizenship, food, health, legal protection, etc.
One more term that often gets overlooked is bigotry. So what exactly is bigotry?
Bigotry: The term bigotry is basically a follow-up to being prejudice because it involves people who are devoted to their own prejudice beliefs, but it often involves treating those people with hatred or intolerance. Prejudice, on the other hand, doesn’t always have to be an actual hateful act it can just be a bias in people’s heads.
So based off of the meanings, it would appear that black people can be prejudice as well as a bigot, but racism seems a little more far fetched given the amount of institutional racism and structural racism that has been placed on them throughout the years. It’s more likely that fighting those battles can cause some of them to develop negative thoughts about the race that has oppressed them for so long.
What are your thoughts can black people be oppressed and racist at the same time?
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