The idea of “reverse racism” and “reverse discrimination” arose during the 1960s and 70s in response to affirmative and race-based policies meant to provide people of color greater access to education and job opportunities that had historically been denied to them. The term “reverse racism” is defined as the supposed discrimination against members of a dominant racial group. Today, 52% of White Americans “believe that discrimination against whites has become as big of a problem as discrimination against minorities” despite their position of privilege. White people often point to the fact that we don’t have a “White History Month,” that we don’t say “All Lives Matter,” or that we utilize affirmative action as proof of reverse racism in the United States.
However, the real question is: Does reverse racism actually exist? And the short answer is, no. No, it does not and we’ll explain why.
Racism is actually defined as when a racial group imposes dominance over another race through political, economic, and institutionalized means involving historical, systemic oppression, and power. The presence of a power dynamic in this sense is one of the defining factors between reverse and actual racism. As Assistant Professor Carlos Hoyt Jr explained in his paper, The Pedagogy of the Meaning of Racism, true acts of racism are the intersection of “prejudice plus power leveraged at an institutional level to maintain the privileges of the dominant social group.”
This power dynamic is present throughout every institution in the United States. The historic and systematic racism embedded in our foundation from slavery onward, has made it much more difficult for people of color to “receive quality health care, access affordable housing, find stable employment and avoid getting wrapped up in the justice system,” compared to the average White person. In the United States, White people are not a racial minority, but in fact the dominant racial group. Therefore, racism against them, as defined to be political, economic, and institutionalized privilege over another race, is impossible.
In 2015, Zeba Blay, a Huffington Post Black Voices writer, elaborated on the answer to this question in a video titled, Here’s Why Reverse Racism Isn’t A Thing. In her video she explained,
“Things like BET [Black Entertainment Television], Black Girls Rock, or Black History Month are not ‘reverse racist’ against white people. Because remember, in a society where white is seen as the default race: all history is white history.”
In this sense, when White people claim they have experienced reverse racism, it lessens the actual meaning of the word and with it, the very real injustices people of color experience everyday because of it. For example, having something like Black History Month allows for the creation of a distinct space to highlight the invaluable contributions of Black people to the United States that are often overlooked by our hyperfocus on White history. It draws attention to and opens the discussion for a need to create a more inclusive and comprehensive education system. One that teaches beyond the bare minimum of singular moments like Rosa Parks’ protest of bus segregation laws and Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech.
The same thing is true for those who claim “All Lives Matter” in response to the Black Lives Matter movement. One of the reasons the movement is called Black Lives Matter is because it elevates the voices and experiences of the Black community as a way to draw attention to the injustices they face. Exposing the structural flaws of the United States that allow for these injustices to occur forces those outside of the Black community, like White people and those in power, to notice what is happening and ideally, make changes. When people say “All Lives Matter,” it convolutes the experiences of Black Americans and doesn’t draw attention to any of the specific issues actually preventing all lives from truly mattering in the US.
As Toronto-based civil and human rights lawyer, Anthony Morgan stated, “When you're so deeply invested in your privilege, and in this case White privilege, racial equality feels like oppression." Because of this, it is imperative we make the distinction that taking measures towards equality is NOT White oppression nor is it reverse racism. It is important we continue to educate ourselves and keep our own privilege in check to elevate and support the voices of our fellow Americans who actually experience the true effects of systemic racism in our country.
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