by Joseph R. Barndt in Understanding and Dismantling Racism
How do we define systems and/or institutions, though?
My problem with the definition then is that all of a sudden, disenfranchised race groups suddenly can’t be racist towards each other, which appears patently false. If a black person called me “spick,” that certainly appears racist. If a Saudi man who owns a shop of some sort refuses me service on the basis of race, that also appears racist. We could say they displayed “racial prejudice,” but how does that euphemization not refer to the same problem that we commonly denote with “racism”?
Perhaps I’m not being coherent. I just have a beef with this fast-and-easy definition.
I’d hardly call this definition “fast-and-easy” given it’s complexity (relative to other, more common definitions) & the incredible resistance among the vast majority of people (particularly white people) to understanding racism as anything more than personal prejudices/individual acts of bigotry. But aaannnyway, getting to your central contention with this definition…
How do we define systems and/or institutions, though?
Systems and institutions are just that— …systems (such as white supremacy or patriarchy)…and institutions (such as government & judicial agencies). No one group among People of Color has the power to influence/control societal systems and institutions in a way that disenfranchises other non-white groups as a whole because societal systems and institutions are already created/controlled by white people for the benefit of white people (over PoC).
My problem with the definition then is that all of a sudden, disenfranchised race groups suddenly can’t be racist towards each other, which appears patently false… We could say they displayed “racial prejudice,” but how does that euphemization not refer to the same problem that we commonly denote with “racism”?
The “euphemism” of “racial prejudice” doesn’t differ in the slightest from what is most commonly denoted as “racism”…and therein lies the problem. To conceive of racism as limited to individual actions or attitudes neglects to address (or even recognize) the systemic/institutional factors that are responsible for pervasive material and social inequality between racial groups. Seems to me that the problem lies not with the definition itself, but with your own wish to continue labeling individual bigotry & localized acts of discrimination as “racism” rather than simply “racial prejudice”.
An honest discussion of interpersonal “racism” (racial prejudice) among People of Color necessitates, firstly, a basic acknowledgement that the concept of “race” was invented by white Europeans for the express purpose of facilitating and justifying the domination/exploitation (i.e. oppression) of those deemed non-white. Notions of “race” have never existed outside the context of white supremacy. People of Color have, to varying degrees, chosen to adopt ethnoracial prejudices against one another, but the hierarchies/biases/stereotypes/colorism/slurs that undergird PoC-on-PoC “racial prejudice” all stem from white supremacy. Furthermore, “racism” among People of Color is also rooted in the intense competition white supremacy fosters among oppressed non-whites. (Essentially People of Color are encouraged to fight one another for the scraps of dominant white society)
