I think it comes down to an argument of semantics. When people say "only white people can be racist" they are using the definition of "racist" that means institutional racism. What the person taking offense at the statement "only white people can be racist" means is prejudice which can be attributed to all people.
Personally, when someone is sharing their opinion and the other person says "only white people can be racist" it's like doing someone mid sentence to correct their grammar. You may be right and there may be a time and a place for that argument but rarely is it then and there.
this is just nonsense. the academics might be arguing it in that way but the laymen who repeat their argument are definitely interpreting it as individual racism, which is why you see so many posts on social media arguing that only white people can be racist.
And it's also a nonsense argument to claim that white people can't suffer from institutionalized racism. affirmative action is by definition a form of institutionalized racism, even if it's not necessarily a bad thing.
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u/[deleted] Dec 11 '19
I think it comes down to an argument of semantics. When people say "only white people can be racist" they are using the definition of "racist" that means institutional racism. What the person taking offense at the statement "only white people can be racist" means is prejudice which can be attributed to all people.
Personally, when someone is sharing their opinion and the other person says "only white people can be racist" it's like doing someone mid sentence to correct their grammar. You may be right and there may be a time and a place for that argument but rarely is it then and there.