Teaser: Did you know that many white people think that reverse racism is a bigger problem than regular racism? While technically parts of actual reverse racism could have better equity no equity exists with oppression present.
Today’s podcast understanding and learning how to talk about Reverse Racism?
Today we will talk about:
What is the notion of Reverse Racism?
What are key definitions we need to know to understand Reverse Racism?
How can we help people to understand the concept of Reverse Racism?
Welcome back to the podcast! We are going to attempt a different ordering of material for the podcast so we are going to start right into the content you came here for and then talk activism, self-care and community stuff more towards the end!
First thing: What is the notion of reverse racism?
Reverse Racism is a concept that portrays affirmative action in the United States and similar color-conscious programs as a form of anti-white racism on the part of black people and government agencies; it is commonly associated with conservative opposition to such programs.[1]:135–6 The concept has also been used to characterize various expressions of hostility or indifference toward white people by members of minority groups.[2]
Empirical studies have found little evidence for the existence of reverse racism.[1]:137 Racial and ethnic minorities in the United States generally lack the power to damage the interests of whites, who remain the dominant group.[3] Claims of reverse racism tend to ignore such disparities in the exercise of power and authority, which scholars argue constitute an essential component of racism.[2][4]
While the debate over reverse racism tends to focus on the United States, the concept has been used internationally to some extent wherever white supremacy has been diminished, such as in post-apartheid South Africa. Allegations of reverse racism therefore form part of a racial backlash against gains by non-whites
In laypersons term it is the idea that the dominant group can be sublimated by groups who are subverted in power in a society situationally. Most often the excuse is that affirmative action programs have gotten to the point where a more qualified white person will lose a job or access to a college university or program to a member of a disempowered minority group.
Also it can be ascribed to comparing times of old to times of now and who and what is considered “in vogue” This notion is alluded to in the movie Get Out when white party goers talk about that is must be so much more cool to be black than white in today’s society.
Second: What are key definitions we need to understand to explain our expound on Reverse Racism?
Discrimination: the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex.
This can happen to anyone!
Racism: prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior. The favoring over one race over other races.
Systemic Racism: Developed by sociologist Joe Feagin, systemic racism is a popular way of explaining, within the social sciences and humanities, the significance of race and racism both historically and in today’s world. Feagin describes the concept and the realities attached to it in his well-researched and readable book, Racist America: Roots, Current Realities, & Future Reparations. In it, Feagin uses historical evidence and demographic statistics to create a theory that asserts that the United States was founded in racism since the Constitution classified black people as the property of whites. Feagin illustrates that the legal recognition of racialized slavery is a cornerstone of a racist social system in which resources and rights were and are unjustly given to white people and unjustly denied to people of color.
The theory of systemic racism accounts for individual, institutional, and structural forms of racism.
The development of this theory was influenced by other scholars of race, including Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Oliver Cox, Anna Julia Cooper, Kwame Ture, Frantz Fanon, and Patricia Hill Collins, among others.
Feagin defines systemic racism in the introduction to the book:
Systemic racism includes the complex array of antiblack practices, the unjustly gained political-economic power of whites, the continuing economic and other resource inequalities along racial lines, and the white racist ideologies and attitudes created to maintain and rationalize white privilege and power. Systemic here means that the core racist realities are manifested in each of society’s major parts […] each major part of U.S. society–the economy, politics, education, religion, the family–reflects the fundamental reality of systemic racism.
When systemic are taken into account – there can be no reverse racism
There can be white discrimination for certain. This would be the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex. This does happen to white people for certain.
Tell about times Michelle and when she has experienced White Discrimination.
According to the way words and language work there is no evidence of Reverse Racism. And when you look at the global effect of colonization I am not certain it would be possible to have a space that doesn’t favor white people aside from perhaps Japan or places in China.
Lastly – Can you Reverse Racism? I don’t think so but lets play it out to get a sense of what that might look like.
Since racism favors one race over another what would Reverse Racism look like in America. Well it would have to be the favoring for all races over White and the intentional prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone who is white over anyone non-white. Can you imagine what an anti-white world would look like. Could you imagine white people getting the police called on them because they used the bathroom before buying a Starbucks Drink? Or a white person being arrested for loitering in a Starbucks?
Also it can be helpful to understand the concept of Reverse Racism in using other language of ism to help people see how hard it would be to really reverse ism in particular. Try to imagine Reverse Sexism, Reverse Ageism, or Reverse Classism. It doesn’t make sense! Think of what it would take to have Reverse Sexual Orientationism to be in place. Those concepts show how impossible it would be to upset and entire system!
According to Paolo Freire with Pedagogy of the Oppressed this is not a favorable system either. One cannot just flip oppressors. That will not do. And honestly I think that is the great fear inherent in concerns over reverse racism.
Equity would and will cost something. People will have to give up their unearned privileges that give them unfair advantages over others. That wont be an easy process. We get really comfortable with our privilege. And like I have stated many times before the loss of privilege can feel like oppression to those losing that unearned privilege. But it also comes with people no longer being oppressed too!
And there is great pain and cost baked into the systemic racism we accept! Poverty, Mass incarceration and the great cost of imprisoning so many people, creating a systemic need for welfare caused by systemic ism. We have no idea the liberation would could create with the elimination of oppression. No poverty – No hunger – No need for crime – No need for imprisonment, Little to no unemployment – PEACE!
This is a possibility but we have to learn how to unravel the thinking of others who only know this way. So the next time someone wants to tell you about Reverse Racism. You can speak about this subject with greater authority!
As far as the podcast goes we have been up to some interesting new things! We have a social media liason now! You may also have noticed that the podcast has now a Facebook Page, a Instagram Page AND a new Twitter Account! With all these things we are getting more and more ways to reach out and connect with you our listeners. Please remember you can email me at inclusiveactivism@cox.net or leave me a voicemail at 860-576-9393. I would love to hear your thoughts!
Also remember to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher, or if you could please share the podcast on social media, All these things go a long way to making a significant difference for us here at the inclusive activism podcast. Also please subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes, Stitcher, Overcast, Player FM, Pocket Casts or Google Play as these are great ways for me to show “proof of work to potential sponsors”. It would also go a long way in getting my producer Sara paid for her work someday too!
So checking in on my Activism:
Doing COM101 the DI&E program at Pvcc currently
Spoke at a city budget hearing on trying to get dollars from policing to peaceing
Did Healing Racism Series on Free Speech and Hate Speech.
Met with my Anytown Curriculum Board – Finally for the first time this year!
Self Care:
Lift X3 a week which has been a source of serious frustration
Cardio has failed pretty hard – one once this week
And Meditated for 3X for at least 10-15 mins and will need to get another day in
I’ve been getting my supplements in pretty regularly thank goodness
Training Tank has been going well but the fact that it is so warm has been hard too
Need more and better rest though
Lastly for the Recommendation of the Podcast:
Own the day Own your Life
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Human optimization thought leader Aubrey Marcus’s personal and professional mission rests on a single question: How can we get the most out of our body and mind on a daily basis?
Marcus answers that question in Own the Day, Own Your Life an empowering handbook that guides readers to optimize every moment of the day, from waking in the morning, through work and play, until bedtime each night. With small, actionable changes implemented throughout the course of one day, we can feel better, perform more efficiently, and live happier. And these daily habits turn into weekly routines, ultimately becoming part of lifelong healthy choices.
From workouts and diet to inbox triage, mindfulness, shower temperature, and sex, this ground-breaking manual provides simple strategies for each element of your day. Drawing from the latest studies and traditional practices from around the world, Own the Day, Own Your Life delivers an optimization philosophy, including cutting-edge life-hacking tips, nutritional expertise, brain upgrades, and fitness regiments.
Own the Day, Own Your Life is a must-have “choose-your-own-adventure” guide for the everyman and everywoman—packed with pragmatic and effective strategies that empower you to enjoy your life, take charge of your health, and own the day.
So in review major points of this podcast were:
- What was the nature of Reverse Racism
- Definitions we need to know to talk about Reverse Racism
- What would Reverse Racism look like if it were a possibility. And even that isn’t the goal!
SO if this made you think something, if you have a question or even more shocking a critique let me know. You can call me at 860-576-9393
This space is a place to talk back ask me questions, hit me with scenarios of how to react to situations real time. Depending on how good your stuff is I will give it my “first take response” or if it’s good it might be a future podcast!
Also as always if you’re interested in booking me to bring the power of inclusive activism to your organization you can always do so at inclusiveactivism@cox.net or you can learn more about this organization at www.inclusiveactivism.com