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comment by RicePaddy
RicePaddy  ·  3207 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: A Conversation With White People on Race

I don't understand this argument at all; it falls apart on so many levels, and yet it's still paraded around like it's fact. "You are white, and therefore a racist".

First of all, it's very U.S.A.-centric. There are plenty of examples of white people being racist to other white people, and black people being racist towards other black people. Using the blanket statement "white people are inherently racist" is absolutely laughable when there are plenty of white people worldwide who have been or whose ancestors have been victims of severe racism. Yet, people still automatically assume "You're white, therefore a racist".

Also, it falls apart when you have mixed raced people. Take myself as an example. Asian/Irish. What happens now? I'm half 'white' and half 'Person Of Colour'. Do I get half the oppression points? Do the two races "cancel out"? I've even seen the argument that "people of colour shouldn't have children with white people because doing so trivializes the struggles of their ancestors".

Where do you stand on those issues?





amouseinmyhouse  ·  3207 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Once again, it comes down to the definition. Any individual can be prejudiced against any other individual for any reason, including race. If you use the individual definition of racism, then they are racist.

If you are using the systemic definition of racism then the current power structure in the US favors whites. I'm not saying that under this definition anyone is "guilty" of racism, just that as a matter of fact there are certain people who benefit from such a system and certain people who don't.

I can't speak to how you interact with the system simply because I haven't seen how you interact with the system. I'm simply relaying my observations of how the word 'racism' affects conversation based on the two apparent definitions that exist.

As for separate races not having children together, that seems like an extreme argument that I can't say I agree with in any way.