Racism in America is asymmetric. Many white arguments against racism assume a symmetry that just is not there. Being black in America is not the mirror image of being white. If only. It is a false symmetry because nearly all the power is on one side and not the other. Institutional white power makes it asymmetric.
Comparing black racism to white racism is like comparing a bicycle to a car.
Why this is so:
- The numbers: For every black person in America there are more than five whites. Even if everyone is equally racist, blacks will still experience five times more racism.
- The money: For every $1 of wealth that blacks as a whole have, whites have $53. In American society money and power pretty much go together.
In addition to greater numbers and greater wealth and the knock-on effects that has on government and business, whites by and large write most of the schoolbooks and create most of what is on television. They shape what blacks know and think about the world. They set society’s ideas about beauty, about proper English and so on. Even worse, they set society’s ideas about what black people are like – the power to stereotype.
Even something like hip hop is not as much of an exception as it might appear at first: once the music caught on among whites and started selling mainly to a white audience, its character changed markedly, playing to white stereotypes about blacks in a big way.
American society is so suited to whites that they mostly forget that they are even white! Some even think they speak English without an accent and have no culture!
One attempt to express this imbalance says that racism is more than just simple prejudice, it is prejudice together with power. That means blacks are incapable of racism.
I disagree with that. Blacks do have some amount of power and do hurt whites and Asians with it. And yet when whites are quick to point out cases of black racism as if that somehow balances things out, I want to roll my eyes.
If you are white or Asian and went to a high school that was mostly black, then you probably experienced black racism. But that was just your high school. For blacks it is the whole country.
The imbalance is not the only difference between black and white racism. There is not just a difference of degree, but also of kind.
Black racism is not mainly turned against whites or Asians or anyone else, but against other blacks, against one’s self. Black-on-black racism, internalized racism. Because blacks live in a white racist country they constantly hear white racist messages. At one level they know the messages are untrue, but at another level they hear this stuff so much a part of them believes it.
One other asymmetry that whites forget about is the One Drop Rule. Black people will have black children no matter who they marry. Not so for white people.
See also:
Abagond 
I don’t think you are sticking to the definition of racism and possibly getting prejudism and racism confused or inter-twined.
Hey man, if you want to prove prejudice or discrimination, you make some very valid points, but you are not defending your stances on racism.
Are you using the definition of racism or the meanings stated in the original blog.
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Abagond you say, “Black people will have black children no matter who they marry. Not so for white people.”
I have to disagree with this one. If the child of an interracial union is phenotypically “white” then society will tend to see that individual as “white”. Perfect example is Jennifer Beals. Although she self identifies as biracial, she is seen by the majority of mainstream America and the rest of the world as “white” because she LOOKS “white.
What I mean by “looking white” is that physically, feature-wise, she resembles a more typical European phenotype. In other words, if you had no inkling of her background and simple saw her walking down the street, one would assume she was a white woman.
Now this admixture of genetic traits can occur with either race so the child of an interracial marriage can be phenotypically “black” OR “white”. It just so happens that it is more common for such an individual to be phenotypically a “mixing” of both races. Not to burst your bubble, but I’m just saying…..
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Fascinating graphic.
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@ BettePorter
That’s one example versus what has been historically going on for centuries…
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@Franklin
I believe Bette Porter was referring to contemporary America and not past centuries
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I agree w/ this post 95%. Racism def doesn’t hurt every group within our society equally. I still believe personal racism is wrong no matter the color of the person exercising it. Lack of power does not make black racism okay tho. The ‘C’ word is just as bad as the ‘N’ word in my book.
I disagree with you on blk-on-blk racism. Rampant internalized racism/self-hatred among blacks is a myth…
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“I disagree with you on blk-on-blk racism. Rampant internalized racism/self-hatred among blacks is a myth…”
I think that it intraracial racism exists, but it just looks different than White on Black racism.
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I disagree with you on blk-on-blk racism. Rampant internalized racism/self-hatred among blacks is a myth…
Would this be distinct from colorism then? Because as I understand it, that still is a problem amongst Black communities.
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In my experience, colorism has actually come a very loooong way in my lifetime. We used to take colorism for granted when i was a kid. But, yeah, it hasn’t disappeared.
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@Zek
Define colorism
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrimination_based_on_skin_color
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@ The Cynic
And I was referring to both past centuries and the present…
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@Zek
Meh… Growing up, the majority of my exp w/ colorism were like this:
https://abagond.wordpress.com/2011/04/22/the-7-layers-of-division-in-black-america/#comment-85921
While I do think it’s an issue, it was always the really, really, really dark folks who were mistreated. Most of us weren’t being teased 4 our skin color, so why wud most of us develop self-hatred? Majority of AAs aren’t this dark
I believe this occurred bc they were seen as being different. Kids r evil, they instantly pick out the “others”, & attack. Gays, fat kids, stutterers etc. I’ve used up my links, but if you youtube President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s, One on One w/ AlJaz English, she discusses bein teased as a child growin up in Liberia(where most ppl r dark) 4 having lite skin…
Plus, I believe kids are too young to hate themselves, let alone their race. It’s more of an odd-man out/cultural ignorance type thing. I also think religion creates positive association w/ light & negative w/ dark…
^That’s my only exp. w/ colorism^ Now on to actually answerin ur question(if ur still readin)
Yes, I would say it’s distinct. Outside of concepts of “good hair” & other physical characteristics, Blk ppl don’t have much evidence of self-hatred w/in the community. When sum1 tells u ur “acting white”, it’s not a good thing. Talking white is bad. Listening to white music is weird. When whiteness becomes something to socially aspire to among Blks, then I will believe their is a self-hatred problem.
Psychologist define self-haters as, “ppl w/ low self-esteem.” These folks cannot function w/in society. They have psychological problems and are easy to spot out. I don’t believe blacks can be diagnosed this way.
God it’s late. 4give me if this comment is hard to read. I’m rambling… tired… not worried to much about grammar. I’ll be answering any replies in the morning. 🙂
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@Franklin
Here is a Huffington Post story about diversity & a recent Vanity Fair cover. They explicitly pointed out that Rashida Jone’s is half Black and Anthony Mackie is Black. Just look at all the comments from the whites below the article that basically go like this, “One token Black guy is diversity?”
When it came to diversity, they didn’t count Rahsida. Why?
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–Erm, I’m afraid black people, on the whole, set society’s ideas about what black people are like. I suppose the media has it in for asians too – as they’re stereotyped as being quiet and hardworking but in real life they are obnoxious and lazy (that was sarcasm btw, as abagond readers don’t seem to get irony through type)
— right because black men have no responsibility in what lyrics they right. and rap artists who are not mainstream are always so responsible with their lyrics (sarcasm again people. i’ll stop now)
— well i don’t think i have an accent. i’m black british. of course i know i do but i think it’s normal to think that others have an accent.
— well now you’re flipping your argument. blacks can either be racist or they can’t. you can’t say blacks can be racist but shield yourself from criticism by saying that ‘well it’s never going to be as bad as white racism!’
–trust me, blacks don’t hurt whites with racism. not nearly as much as they do to us because they have the power to be racist. they also have the history to make other people feel inferior by saying one word. be real
— true. i had a white friend who said she felt like she experienced prejudice when she went to a predominately black club with me once. i had a hard time feeling sorry for her!
–agree
–well that’s true if you choose to accept it. black people, including you, seem all to happy with calling mixed-race people black for some reason. i don’t. mixed race is mixed race. e.g obama is mixed race
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and btw my first point meant that if a white/asian person thinks that all black people are bad, lazy (insert negative adjective here) then they are as thick as shite. but let’s not pretend that the black population has more people who decide to tread the wrong path than other minority groups. and people notice this. if asians were getting arrested at the same proportion as blacks, then they wouldn’t have the ‘model minority’ stereotype. anyone that disputes this is kidding themselves.
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And while we are at it, let’s not pretend that blacks are not racially profiled. And let’s not pretend that the constant comparisons between middle-class Asian Americans and poor blacks is somehow innocent or objective.
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oh please abagond. not all asians who keep out of trouble and have a good work ethic are middle class. where did you get that from? yes, blacks are racially profiled, but they don’t get these profiles from thin air.
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“let’s not pretend that the black population has more people who decide to tread the wrong path than other minority groups. and people notice this. if asians were getting arrested at the same proportion as blacks, then they wouldn’t have the ‘model minority’ stereotype. anyone that disputes this is kidding themselves.”
Classic, stupid argument thrown around on a regular basis by the ignorant and simple-minded. No facts needed…
* SMH *
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sepultra – ignorant? so when all else fails i’m simply ‘ignorant’? you can do better than that, surely.
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“I have to disagree with this one. If the child of an interracial union is phenotypically “white” then society will tend to see that individual as “white”. Perfect example is Jennifer Beals. Although she self identifies as biracial, she is seen by the majority of mainstream America and the rest of the world as “white” because she LOOKS “white. ”
Yes, I think most people are becoming more laid back about racial designations. The unofficial rule for biracials seems to be that those who approximate white people in appearance and culture are white and those who are closer to the “light-skinned black” look are black.
There are many who regard such distinctions based on appearance as unfair, but but I don’t think attributions of racial status are as weighty as they used to be. Of course there are still social advantages to European appearance and white status. Nevertheless, I believe more and more one’s success in life is determined by intelligence, ambition, and other personality characteristics which affect productivity, not so much external physical traits.
Consider Obama, the most successful of the biracials. Although he is on the darker end of the mixed spectrum and IDs as black, tens of millions of white voters judged him (rightly) as more competent and capable than his fully white opponents and elected him to the highest office in the land.
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Some in fact have argued that the lighter biracials (like Rashida Jones or Jennifer Beals) are at a social disadvantage because they don’t fit well into the American racial construct. Even though they look white to most, many would criticize or mock their identification as white, or even mixed. On the other hand, they don’t look remotely like their Sub-Saharan African ancestors and in many cases did not have strong black cultural exposure growing up, so they often can’t blend easily into black society. I feel that the light mulattoes should be left alone to adapt to the country’s social conditions as best they can without undue harassment.
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Great so officially just the fact that most of america is white is now racist. By that logic the fact that most of china is even more chinese and and has even less “diverse” people must be super racist. BTW, whites excluded non-white hispanics (aditionally white hispanics too since white hispanics seem to identify as hispanics), to make look whites bigger than what they are, or to give a sense of false snese of satisfaction at the higher perceived number of whites to the makers of that graphic.
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Geez Anon Dude, did you read anything or did you just look at the pictures?
WHat was being explained is that the racist actions/attitudes of ANY majority are more detrimental than the racist actions/attitudes of a minority, because they have greater power to effect the overall society. Get it?
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@AnonDude
Not the same thing because ‘only White people are capable of racism.’
Yeah it sounds twisted but this is what has been taught at schools/universities for decades now, and a lot of people believe it (and they are not all blacks and Mexis).
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Has any person of color here actually experienced Black people trying to make them feel bad about their race? I’ve been in a situation where I had to be in a group of women where almost everyone was Black and they horribly bullied and harassed me but it was obviously because of jealousy and because it was a situation where the people tended to be unhappy and immature. I’ve never heard Black people say anything against Mexican, Asian, or Native Americans. I can believe that it happens but I would expect it to be rare.
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Reblogged this on Project ENGAGE.
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