Quote:
Originally posted by Thirty All
Please explain further  |
There are two forms of racism, and the difference matters significantly.
1. The very human practice of stereotyping categories of people - this is done by everyone, from any group or race, and individuals from all groups and races can be the butt of ridicule or jokes.
2. A system in which individuals of one group are materially disadvantaged because they are of said group. This
systematic disadvantaging is a matter of POWER. The dominant group has the ability to not only be "insensitive" or make jokes about the minority group, but in fact materially discriminate against them in ways that hurt the weaker, less dominant group. Practices such as red lighting (preventing people of some races from purchasing houses), Jim Crow Laws, higher rates of incarceration and longer sentences given to members of some races as opposed to others
Can "white people" be made the butt of jokes? Yes. Can white people be stereotyped as lacking coordination, being rednecks or hillbillies, so forth an so on? Yes, and that is a simple example of the first form of racism.
Do "white people" suffer systematically from this, in the form of fewer options where to live, more likely to be stopped by the police or imprisoned, or denied the right to vote? NO. They do not suffer from the second form of racism, because they are the ones in power, and thus the ones who have the ability to materially and systematically disadvantage others.
