#Politics #Racism
Started a discussion w @sfleetucker the other day and I wanted to re-up this part: Black ppl in the US cannot be racists. They can be bigots, they can have prejudice and hate. But racism is supported by history, institutions, and a large-scale societal context of white supremacy. Because of the context and institutions they can rely on, it is only whites who can be racists.
@publickovacs @sfleetucker Ahhh, so you've redefined racism then...
@wadepm
I am not sure how much of a redefinition it is - I think it is fairly standard social science to analyze racism as a large-scale societal phenomenon rather than a string of individual actions. Aka I am not smart enough to think of this by myself
@publickovacs @wadepm Hmm. I believe there is plenty of systemic racism in the US, but there are also racist individuals as well.
@sfleetucker
You are right that there are racist individuals. I am not disputing their existence - heck, I encountered some of them a few days ago. But they are white. BIPOC who are bigoted, don't have an institutional context for their bigotry in the way white racists do.
@publickovacs @wadepm That may be the associated definition in sociology departments, but practically Ye saying “white lives matter” and antisemitic tropes about control has the practical effect of being anti black and antisemitic, and to me that’s racist. I promise not to publish any sociology papers and or pass myself off and an SME.
@sfleetucker
I am actually not a sociologist but if I sound like one, that is the greatest glory I could attain, ever 😘
@wadepm