Nobody wants to be labeled a racist. Imply that somebody is and they’ll gasp and immediately reel off reasons why they’re the least intolerant person on Earth. However, as many people of color you may know, however many petitions you may have signed, however open-minded you believe you may be – if you’re white, you are racist. Maybe you’re shaking your head vehemently right now, completely disgusted that I could even say that. But it’s true. If you’re white, you are inherently racist.
Racism is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as being the “prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior”. However, it’s much more than that. Racism is institutionalized, and essentially embedded into every fibre of our lives, from the media, to education, to peer groups. You may be thinking that you’ve never aimed a derogatory remark toward a POC, or laughed at that racist joke your boss told that one time. If you genuinely haven’t, then that’s great! But you’re not exempt – you’re still racist.
See, racism is never as simple as yelling discriminatory slurs at a POC or attacking someone because of their skin colour. Of course, it can come in those forms, but it shouldn’t be condensed just down to that. Racism is an oppressive, structural system that has lasted for years and years. It’s layered, it’s complex, but, ultimately, it leaves white people at the top, and everyone who is not white at the bottom.
If you’re a white person, you benefit from this system. Yes, this is disgusting. Yes, this is wrong. Yes, every white person benefits.
In addition, from birth, we have been socialized to be racist. As gross as this sounds, it’s true – racism is the dominant ideology, so therefore, we’re socialized to become racist. Some people’s racism is more, lets say, noticeable than others. For example, these are the people who maybe refuse to acknowledge their white privilege, which therefore means they refuse to acknowledge the systematic oppression that is racism.
I’m a white person. I’m racist. I live in a white-dominated community. I also live in a white-dominated society. My racism, just like yours, is ingrained in me.
One thing that I want to make clear is that I’m not saying white people are scum and deserve to be hated from the moment their white parents conceive them. You shouldn’t find offense in this article – you should find truth. The white people who truly are scum are those who either refuse to acknowledge their white privilege, or do acknowledge their white privilege but in a negative way, i.e. using their whiteness to exercise control over POC. When you see the term ‘white people’, used in conjunction with something negative like ‘are racist’, don’t immediately separate yourself from your race. Don’t think you’re excused from this system. At the same time, don’t be insulted. Recognize that you benefit from racism, recognize that people are rightfully angry, and recognize that you should be trying to unlearn this racism that you have inside of you.
There are two main points that I want you to take from this. The first being that this isn’t an article designed to pander to the whites. This wasn’t written to stroke white people’s hair and tell them that it’s okay that they’re racist, it’s not fault they were born white! Wrong. Well, right in the fact that it’s not your fault you’re born white, and it’s not your fault you’re born in to a racist society. It is your fault if you’re racist though. Sure, I have said that racism is deep-rooted in white people, which it is, but this doesn’t give you a free ticket to use the n-word and different racist slurs, or whatever else. Because it doesn’t.
The second point is building on the first point. Yes, you’re an inherently racist white person. This means you need to be working toward unlearning this racism that you harbor inside of you. This’ll take years, and although it’s not necessarily okay that it’s going to take that long, it is okay that you weren’t born a Magnificent Non-Racist White Person™, as long as you’re genuinely educating yourself. You shouldn’t be using your white privilege to benefit yourself, as you’re being benefitted already. Use your privilege to spread awareness about this, because, sadly, POC are all too often ignored, despite the fact they’re the firsthand victims of this.
Check your privileges, white people. Keep learning, and keep listening.
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