Can A Black Person Be A Racist?

Reminds me of my old neighbor who was in the KKK. Sure, he put on his KKK garb just to check the mailbox. Sure, he screamed "it's a n*****" every time he saw a black kid walking down the street. But he also performed these acts on his own, he didn't have a job (on account of his racism), he had no money or resources or power. In essence, there was no systematic or institutionalized discrimination which actually held anyone down, it was just one crazy broke asshole yelling the n-word to any black person that happened to walk down the street.

And that means he wasn't a racist!

Yes. Particularly an inner racism toward themselves. Read up on Franz Fannon and his title Black Skin White Masks.

Also look up his concept of Lactification - this is the most prominent form of inner racism that you are talking about. (self objectifying practices)

Of course , black people address fair guys sometimes as white boy , white girl , white trash =P

@ps4hasnogames: those are directly from the oxford English dictionary.and the definition of racism does not have the word racismin it. The definition of racist does.

Genius

As for people asking what I made this thread/question, fear not. It sprung from another thread where someone made this ridiculous "minorities" being racist shouldn't be called "racism" because it might not be "institutionalized" argument. It had been made before in OT forums and I wanted to see how many persons, specifically, liberals share this line of thinking. Glad to see that only two fellow forumnites share this belief.

I wonder who started this whole "racism is institutionalised" nonsense. The definition of prejudice is in the word, to "pre-judge someone" It's basically just stereotyping. Racism is the belief that some races are inferior or that it's ok to discriminate against those races, usually based on the racists own prejudice. It doesn't have to be institutional but it can be.

yes of course

Sure, I don't see why not. I definitely don't think that your skin color should be a free pass to treat other people badly.

What happened to blurayhidef

Look for his mark wahlberg thread. He said he was leaving and never returning.

Everyone is racist to some extent.

Black people can be biased but few are in a position of power to hold other races back and give african americans a unfair advantage. So for the most part the answer has to be no.

Something I'd be curious to know: Out of those who are saying that black people can't be racist, how many of you are black?

I am curious how many of the people saying black people can be racist, how many are white ??

Why should it matter?

So would I.

And let's add one more question to that: how many white people are there who think that white people can't be racist?

The difference is, I've heard people say "blacks can't be racist but whites can", but I've never heard anyone say, "whites can't be racist but blacks can." See...if we take racism to be a flaw, then we have some people saying "everyone can potentially have this flaw, regardless of their race", and we have some people saying, "everyone can potentially have this flaw except for these races." That's a big warning sign, dude. Because when you have a member of race X pointing out a flaw and then saying "but it can't apply to members of MY race", that's racism.

So...anyone care to actually answer the question? To you guys who are saying that blacks (or minorities in general) can't be racist: are you black (or a minority)? Don't dodge the question, just answer it.

Would you give a different amount of legitimacy if it were a black person saying that black person can be racist?

Hasn't OT resolved this issue before

Obviously black people would know while most white people would not IMO.

Another word I see used is homophobic but very few people are scared of homo's. Yet the way it's used can mean almost anything. A racist has to be in a position of power. Yet most people who use the racist term for bias against another race. Clearly there is a huge difference with being biased and being a racist. Anybody can be biased but not everybody can be a racist.

Anyway here's what we as OT has decided in the past:

We have agreed to hold racism to include what would be called prejudice

With that in mind OT has said that anyone can be racist.

We have agreed to say that shitty people are shitty people regardless of the color of their skin.

We have also agreed to acknowledge that some racism from minorities is based off of past history and that it is not justified racism.

OT has also acknowledged that OT has said whites are the most oppressed group in the US

Whoever honestly believes this must be seriously deluded.

Definition of racism: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/racism

See, nowhere in there is the stipulation that the racist must be in a position of power for it to actually be racism.

Also keep in mind every time a black person has walked into a department store and been harassed by one of the fucking clerks. You hear all the time, "that person was racist, they only treated me that way because of the color of my skin." I'm not denying that it happens sometimes, what I'm pointing out is that by your logic that's not racism. After all, the "racist" wasn't in a position of power, they were just the fucking cashier or something. When you go to McDonalds and the pimply-faced 17 year old white kid at the counter spouts out the n-word, does that mean he's not a racist? After all, what possible power could he possibly have? Are you at least willing to apply the same standard to blacks and whites, even though this would by necessity invalidate a lot of "racism" that is perpetrated by whites? When a white man drives down the street in a black neighborhood with the words "KKK rules" and "I hate blacks" painted onto his car, do we need to determine his socioeconomic status before declaring him a racist? Is he a racist if he's a judge, but not a racist if he's an unemployed ex-convict who is essentially unemployable?

@Jag85: OT has shown some movement away from that idea to a less extreme belief that white people are the recipients of racism above all the other combined groups.

Even that "less extreme belief" is seriously deluded.

Actually, a racist does not need to be in a position of power. That just seems to be something people say so they can be act racist and still feel good about themselves. Being racist is just prejudice/discrimination based on race.

Also, homophobe doesn't necessarily mean someone is scared of homosexuals. Unless you think oil is actually afraid of water

Its all about black being racist against white and vice versa. Forget the asians and latinos they don't exist in your brainwashed hollywood culture.

@Jag85: yeah, I agree

I think what he's referring to isn't individual racism, but institutional racism... It wasn't individual racism that the likes of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were struggling against, but institutional racism was what they were struggling against.

And contrary to popular opinion, institutional racism does indeed still exist today, as demonstrated by the doll test:

And like I asked him, is he at least willing to apply the same standard to all races?

The white 16 year old kid who just got his first job flipping burgers can hardly be called "part of the institution." The white seclusionist living on the fringes of society and stocking up on canned beans for the coming race war can hardly be called "part of the institution." So, when either of those dudes passes by him on the street and throws racial slurs at him, would he be just as quick to say that they're not racists?

Your using the modern term not the historic one in regards to racism. After the Nazi party used the word it was no longer cool with white people unless you lived in South Africa up until 1991. Historically racism was bias+power. Now the modern meaning means bias based on race and that is reflected by webster. Historically racist put laws on the books that affected a group of people based on their skin color.

A racist does more than just talk they affect a group of people on a social and economic level. It is not a random event by a isolated person that is bias or prejudice not racism. For example homophobia was a medical term not slang for bias against homo's till recently. Just like gay meant happy till recently now because many people use the word with a different meaning webster updated the meaning.

Institutional racism is a thing, for sure, but sometimes people start acting like that's the only kind of racism that matters, and that individual racism is meaningless unless it also goes with institutional racism. It's like... you're so "broad-minded" that you flip around and become narrow-minded again.

More to the point, they often apply different standards to different races.

Is it a black dude we're talking about? Well then, it doesn't matter that he hates whites, only institutionalized racism matters.

Is it a white guy we're talking about? Well then, it doesn't matter that he's poor and broke and powerless and not part of the "institution", he's PERSONALLY a racist and that's what matters.

You did watch the doll test video, right? Are you going to deny institutional racism, despite the study demonstrating that a majority of American children, including black children, favour white skin over black skin?

When the likes of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were complaining about racism, do you think they were referring to some random "white 16 year old kid who just got his first job flipping burgers" or "white seclusionist living on the fringes of society and stocking up on canned beans for the coming race war" calling them the N-word? No, what they were referring to is institutional racism, not "personal" racism from some random white nobody calling them some racial slur. That's just a symptom of the problem, not the root of the problem.

And by the way, there are several definitions of the word "racism":

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/racism

So can a black person be "personally" racist? Of course they can, hence why I voted "Yes" to the poll above. But can a black person be "institutionally" racist? No, they can't, since blacks don't have the power to enforce their racial bias the way whites can.

How come this isn't locked?. I said once in a topic that Chinese duck plumb sauce almost made me sick and put me off Chinese food for ever. My topic got deleted and a warning for been racist wheni was not?.

Yes, absolutely. Racist people come in all shades, colors, and creeds.

Racism is a learned opinion. So yes, any human being with the capacity to learn and form opinions can be racist.

Well now that is bullshit. What about a predominately black school. White kids are the minority. Who has the power? Hint: not the minority.

Your comment sounds like something a white American would have said back in the 50's.... since, back then, most American schools were all-white or all-black. Being in an all-black school made no difference at all, but if anything, made it worse. Most of the black kids at the black schools despised the colour of their own skin, as demonstrated by the doll test. And it was the results of this doll test that finally convinced the US Supreme Court in the Brown v. Board of Education case of 1954 that racial segregation is unconstitutional, with Chief Justice Earl Warren concluding: "To separate them from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely to ever be undone." And he was right, because the same doll test over a half-century later has demonstrated that most of the black children still suffer from the same feelings of racial inferiority while most of the white children still feel a sense of superiority, just like back in the 50's, despite a half-century of attempting to undo America's past racial discrimination.

Or what about a black teacher, someone who is in a position of authority and is directly able to show favoritism to the black students?

Or what about a black manager or business owner, who is directly in charge of employment and promotions and is capable of discriminating against white employees?

What about black police officers?

Nope, those aren't positions of power, right?

I just got a flashback to a time someone once said that because of institutional power and stuff, it was impossible for a woman to rape a man.

The results of this Poll speaks for itself.....its pretty obvious a black person can be racist, those who disagree really don't have much to stand on.

Well we know you're racist that's for sure.....and you didn't address my post....just skirted around it with rhetoric.

Not seeing the racism in that post.

I kind of have a feeling this is another BRHD account.