What would it take for reverse racism to be real?
Ask comedian Aamer Rahman! (Hint: It requires a time machine!)
For more on so-called reverse racism, read Jamie Utt’s That’s Racist Against White People! A Discussion of Power and Privilege
h/t BuzzFeed
“Reverse racism” is a meaningless, made-up term. The intention behind it is to imply that all racism is perpetrated by whites and that it is somehow only possible for another ethnic group to exhibit hateful, stereotyping, bigoted behaviors through some inversion of the space-time continuum or some such. Last time I checked, the definition of racism (pick any reliable source) contains words to the effect of “a belief that one race is superior to others or that others are inferior to one’s own race.” The definition isn’t exclusive to whites nor is the behavior. Racism is racism, regardless of the… Read more »
I find it humorous that he talks about white european colonization and the conquering of peoples… ironically, the Muslims invaded most of Europe, and enslaved a good number of “white” Europeans. The battle of tours in france stopped the muslims from completely conquering all of Europe… if they had lost the battle of tours, we would be complaining about the “racist” arabs oppressing the white people.
Just so happens that I too have a time machine and last night I jumped forward to 2432, and let me tell you that our present day oppression axis is perfect the way it stands. In 2432, Asian and Brown people dominate and oppress in near every sphere of life. It’s critical that white people step up their current oppression efforts to ensure a more balanced hegemony in 2432.
The only time I have ever called someone a n****r was once on my way out of a gas station one night, to someone I vaguely knew. He was being… very loud and highly racist, I’m assuming to show out to his friends. I’m guessing he didn’t expect me to drop an n-bomb in his face, because he was so stunned that he shut up until I left. Sadly, I don’t think he got my point. That point being, I don’t really care what you think of me, racially. But, if you are going to open your mouth in public… Read more »
oh my god, no. no. that story, how you approach the right to degrade and belittle, is repulsive and completely the reason a comic can call white people out on privilege with out it being racist.
There is no reverse prejudice, there is no justified rascism…
If you want to take advantage of “them” because they are not “us” you are guilty.
Simple, to the point AND applies in all situations. Unfortunately its hard to rally behind; Occam’s razor never won any elections. Much like my youngest kid- people seem to prefer “but they started it!”
Il y a cinquante ans les québécois francophones étaient moins scolarisés que les noirs américains!
Effectivement, je vois un lien entre le mouvement souverainiste au Québec et l’émancipation des noirs, aux États-Unis et en Afrique du Sud. Personnellement, Nelson Mandela et Martin Luther King m’ont beaucoup inspiré durant les années ’60.
Speak White
Film de Pierre Falardeau en 1980, inspiré du poème de Michèle Lalonde
http://www.onf.ca/film/Speak_White/
Je vous souligne le livre « Nègres blancs d’Amérique » de Pierre Vallière.
http://bilan.usherbrooke.ca/bilan/pages/evenements/1986.html
Plusieurs Québécois ont été emprisonnés par PET pour avoir eu ce livre dans leur bibliothèque en octobre 1970.
I think a lot of people misunderstood the meaning of the term ‘racism’. Accurately described, racism is antipathy towards other races based on the belief that one’s own race is superior. So for someone from an ethnic minority to be racist towards a white person, they would have to walk around with the belief that they were in some way superior to white people. I would argue this is not the typical mindset of most people from ethnic minorities given the prominence of white achievement around the world. On the other hand, either on a conscious or subconscious level, it’s… Read more »
Didn’t the Moors invade large portions of Europe? Didn’t the Ottoman Empire commit genocide against the Armenian Christians? The Barbary pirates conducted raids in Europe to capture slaves. War and slavery have been around for centuries. When you got in your time machine, you wouldn’t have had to convince anyone to attack Europe, but you’d need to convince Europe to lose. I remember there was a fight in school. Each boy claimed the other started it. Both boys got suspended. A teacher asked the dean why he suspended the boy who was beaten up too. The dean responded that just… Read more »
This rationalization requires ignoring probably 80% of history. Applying this theory to the history of Eurasia means that any and all European colonization of east Asia is just a response to the historic “centuries of oppression” wrought by the Huns, Mongols and other nomadic tribes. Therefore- Europeans CANNOT be racist. (tongue in cheek)
I wish people understood what reverse racism means. It’s racism which is not structurally or historically based in oppression -it is a backlash to that. It is racism caused from anger towards another group for historical atrocities. This is why it is REVERSE racism. If reverse racism was about one group oppressing the other, it would be called racism.
Just another way to try and excuse crappy behavior by the home team while decrying the same behavior by the away team. How about we hold everyone to the same standard? This sort of distinction is incredibly useless.
For this kind of rationalizing to work one would need to find ethnic groups that never “oppressed” another- that pretty much leaves out anyone except Inuit Yupik and the Khoisan. If any ethnic group lives anywhere desireable in the least you can bet they fought, killed, competed and “oppressed” their way into it in one way or another.
You seem to want to take a conveniently short little snippet of history and declare everyone on an equal footing. “This sort of distinction”, as you put it, is nothing less or more than the acknowledgement that the playing field is not level; it has been deliberately tilted by centuries-longstanding one-sided privilege. Yours is a very common point of view, though; the number-one primary main perk of privilege is not having to think about privilege.
My “short snippet” of history encompasses over 10000 years (learn how and why the Khoisan and the Inuit Yupik ended up where they lived).
You do seem to like ending comments with cute platitudes though…
I’m not sure I agree with the video. I’m not from the US (Australia) so I can’t really comment on the whole white/black thing (We have a whole other bunch of races down here and I’m not entirely convinced there is a lot of difference between a slave and a convict as far as treatment and such goes) but I am an Irish Catholic and we have some fairly strong “ists” in our own recent family history. I say “ists” because I don’t know whether I could say for sure whether it was race or religion because both are involved.… Read more »
pretty much sums up what i was about to say, Racism is racism and wrong. when single out one people based on race for ANY reason and belittle them it’s racist.
I would add to that that its wrong if the attribute is negative or positive. Thats another thing that is b.s. , that if its a good stereotype its not racist and not wrong according to some…..
Thank you Rich. I was about to rant about this, but you made my night easier. I was slightly offended that this comic’s perspective was that somehow there was a democratic process where every single white person’s input was considered on how to treat others outside of that race.
That is hilarious. And sadly true.
I’m not sure what Aamer Rahman’s normal style of comedy is and what it is that he’s been called out for as racist, chances are that it’s probably not anything particularly troublesome, but as to the *general* idea that it’s entirely impossible to be racist towards white people, or sexist towards men, etc. – that’s simple idiocy. And if it’s not idiocy, it’s willful blindness, which in many ways is worse. If you make some judgement or someone by the colour of their skin, their ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexuality, or any other innate “characteristic” then you are, by definition, a… Read more »
The power systems and privilege are what we are talking about in this situation. You have missed the message. Aamer does not speak about bigotry. You have missed the point of his humor. Aamer is not blaming individuals for this. He is not saying, “Hey you, Rich! You did this, so, I hate you.” He is saying that culturally, socially, and institutionally people of color are disadvantaged in this country and when White people say that reverse racism is a real thing it is a slap in the face to people of color who live history every day. To pretend… Read more »
@ John I think one problem when people talk about “systems of oppression” is that they speak of it in the aggregate. The problem is that I don’t got to every school. I got to one school. I don’t live in every town. I live in one town. I don’t work for every employer. I work for one employer. Even if most schools, towns, and employers had “systems of oppression” set up to disadvantage “people of color”, I could go, live or work in one that has “systems of oppression” that disadvantage white people. Even different departments within the same… Read more »
This is an interesting perspective, especially the bits regarding privilege as it applies in different environments. Thanks for sharing.
“Aamer does not speak about bigotry. You have missed the point of his humor.” Don’t assume that because someone disagrees with your viewpoint that they are ignorant or have “missed the point”. I understand the point, I just don’t agree with it. He does speak of bigotry. Racism is a form of bigotry. From wikipedia (whatever, it’s valid): “Bigotry is the state of mind of a bigot: someone who, as a result of their prejudices, treats or views other people with fear, distrust, hatred, contempt, or intolerance on the basis of a person’s ethnicity, race … socioeconomic status or other… Read more »
Oh, dear. No, sorry, Rich—I’m afraid you really don’t get it, no matter how stridently you’re sure you do.
Good point well made.
Well said. Great point there. He does say very briefly say before he goes on the time travel rant that he doesnt think reverse racism exists which i think is key to understanding there is a sarcastic tone to what follows. He does also seem to give credit to white peopl for the term or at least that group as the leading uaers of the term. from my experiemce that has not been the case. Also to make the point more clear, he could have pointed out the fact that oppression exists in every society and always has. If its… Read more »
John, I’ve heard the power structure argument from Cornell West, Spike Lee, and now you. Plainlly, I reject the premise that minorities can’t be racist, if they aren’t the power structure. You found it necessary to point out that you are a white male. Thus, I will point out that I am a black male and a civil rights attorney. Putting the comedy act aside, Rich is not missing the point. He gets it. Your view attempts to obfuscate the point. In truth, I find your view overly–simplistic, paternalistic, and dangerous. It’s just sloppy thinking. Let me make this clear:… Read more »
Powerfully stated. Thank you.