Grammatically, the phrase "reverse-racism," doesn't make any sense. If we're talking about white people being racist towards people of color; that is racism. If we are talking about people of color being racist towards white people, it is still racism. Of course, systematically, "racism" refers to the former. However, grammatically, both are considered racism. Just because the connotation in Western culture is white-against-color, that doesn't change the fact that both are actual races and that one against the other is racism.
The phrase "reverse-sexism" follows the same rules. Whether one is male or female, that person still has a sex. To simplify, "reverse-sexism", grammatically, does not exist because in actuality it is just sexism. Systematically, sexism is men-against-women, but in an instance, a woman discrimination against a man because he is a man would also be called sexism.
In class on Tuesday, we watched a Dodge Challenger commercial about "Man's Last Stand," and women's response to it; "Woman's Last Stand." As the discussion progressed, we talked about the men's burdens being mundane things like putting the toilet seat down and putting away his socks. The women's problems were life changes such as stopping their careers to have and raise the men's children. This discussion reminded me of something I saw online the other day:

yeah that's RDJ, for sure.
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely one of my favorite videos on "reverse racism." However, I feel as if you may be missing the point in your commentary below. For clarification: Are you suggesting that people of color can be racist against white people? As Marilyn Frye points out in her article, we need to be careful how we use the word "oppression," as it can come to symbolize any interpersonal rudeness rather than the systematic discrimination it is meant to represent. By stating that people of color are capable of racism toward white people, one would be forgetting this element of systematic racism. I don't think the word "racism" should be used for anything less than this systematic discrimination, or else it would be watering down the meaning of the word. Please do let me know if I am reading your commentary incorrectly.
ReplyDeleteI see how I could have made this seem a bit confusing. I agree that racism is systematic discrimination against people of color. What I was trying to say here is that grammatically, "reverse racism" doesn't exist.
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