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Can Black People Be Racist?
Without a proper conversation about the role of power in racism, there will continue to be misconceptions about who can be racist in America
Racism is defined as a power structure that allows one group to put a system in place where they use their race to direct discrimination against people of different race based on the belief that their own race is superior. It has been around since the transatlantic slave trade where the idea of one race being superior to another became instituted in order to excuse the enslavement of a group of people based solely off the color of their skin.
Racism is nothing new in America, but too much of the conversation mistakes being prejudice to being racist. Racism can only exist when one group has power and influence over another.
Black people have often been accused of being racist by the very people who were racist to them. The issue with calling a Black person racist is that Black people, by definition, cannot be racist. Racism only exist within a power structure that systematically and institutionally rewards whiteness. The closer you are to being white, the more power you hold.
Claims of Black people being racist, also known as reverse racism, often…
