Why Reverse Racism is Not “a Thing”
White people are terrified of the day that racism will turn on us. Or maybe it already has! Just kidding it hasn’t, because the idea of “reverse racism” is really fucking dumb. Here’s why.
1. Racism is not a simple two-way exchange.
Discrimination between races doesn’t go like this:
Instead, it goes like this:
(This schema also applies to discrimination against homosexuals, women and other types of minorities.)
In America, white people have always been sitting up in the power position, enjoying country music, giggling at “Stuff White People Like,” and deciding to let not-white people vote, too.
When someone in the power position discriminates against you, it’s even more annoying than when someone else discriminates against you for these reasons:
-They have never experienced what it is like to be a minority, and thus don’t understand the emotions they are causing you. This is why racial jokes coming from white people may secretly annoy not-white people, even if they’re “funny.”
-People in the majority may be actively trying to oppress you.
Basically, reverse racism can never quite hurt the way real racism hurts, cuz white people are always receiving it from a position of privilege.
2. Racism against white people is not a pressing problem, at all
During the flurry of economy-related infographics that was the news in 2011, it became increasingly clear that the gap in racial equality is getting huge. Between 1984 and 2007 alone, the wealth gap between white and black Americans quadrupled.
A lot of progress toward fixing these numbers is halted because people cry “reverse racism” at anything that gives minorities an advantage over white people. But really, the agenda should not be set to protect white people from discrimination above all other things.
Reverse racism complicates itself with its own title – by implying that racism toward white people is “reverse,” we’re implicating ourselves as the main perpetrators of racism. So to my fellow white people, please quit complaining about reverse racism. You’re making us look really dumb.