link, the only feedback I received revolved around definitions of racism. Sure, the concept of reverse racism was partially what the article was about, but it was also about what problems nonwhites have that whites don't face. It was also a list of grievances that need to be fixed. Those points were completely ignored.
When you say that reverse racism doesn't exist, white people completely ignore the problems you're saying nonwhites face and the changes you want to make to fight them. Instead, they do nothing constructive and just argue on behalf of whites. We - people on both sides of the debate - get stuck in this rut of "your definition is wrong" instead of asking "what can we do to be better?"
The conclusion I've come to is that it doesn't fucking matter. It doesn't matter whether or not reverse racism exists and it doesn't matter exactly how we define racism.
The important thing is that you acknowledge that whites / men / heterocis people will never be as discriminated against as nonwhites / women / LGBTQ+ people (ignoring, for a moment, intersectionality).
Even if we accept the colloquial definitions of racism / sexism / etc. that claim that those "-isms" are just the same thing as prejudice, and therefore acknowledge that yeah you can be racist against whites or sexist against men or whatever else, it's still absolutely ridiculous to mount campaigns on their behalf. It's absolutely ridiculous to focus on them in the fight for civil rights. It's absolutely ridiculous to say "but what about white stereotypes" in the middle of discourse about how to end racism against nonwhites.
White heterocis men are not oppressed. They hold all the power in society and their issues are not even close to being on par with the issues of POCS, women, and LGBTQ+ people, who are murdered out of ignorance, face housing and workplace discrimination, have unfair wage gaps, are more often homeless, are called names and ridiculed, are stereotyped, are profiled, are kept from positions of social and economic power etc. Those issues are the ones that need to be focused on, and implicitly by fighting those problems we will also fight prejudice against the people who have power.
For example, prejudice against men generally comes from people saying that men have to be strong and emotionless. This is just plain ol' sexism because the flip side is that women are weak and emotional, and so men who don't live up to expectations are "feminine." They are called "pussies," "sissies," "girls," "fags," etc., all terms that show that masculinity is defined as a binary with femininity as its counterpart. By ending the bias that women are weak we also end the bias that men have to be emotionally and physically superior. Men's rights are part of feminism.
Basically, the argument about whether or not reverse racism / sexism / etc. exist is all about linguistics, connotations. It's all about definitions, and not at all about actual issues. In fact, the debate about whether it does or doesn't exist just detracts from the issues. Meninists spend their time arguing with feminists online and not actually fighting for men's rights, and at the same time feminists have to ward off meninists - who are ironically their very oppressors - telling them that they aren't oppressed. Feminists are forced to waste time defending themselves instead of engaging in activism or constructive discourse.
It's all about equality. Fight racism against nonwhites to end hatred against whites. Fight sexism against women to end bitterness towards men. It's not a competition, or the oppression olympics. We should all be in this together.
When you say that reverse racism doesn't exist, white people completely ignore the problems you're saying nonwhites face and the changes you want to make to fight them. Instead, they do nothing constructive and just argue on behalf of whites. We - people on both sides of the debate - get stuck in this rut of "your definition is wrong" instead of asking "what can we do to be better?"
The conclusion I've come to is that it doesn't fucking matter. It doesn't matter whether or not reverse racism exists and it doesn't matter exactly how we define racism.
The important thing is that you acknowledge that whites / men / heterocis people will never be as discriminated against as nonwhites / women / LGBTQ+ people (ignoring, for a moment, intersectionality).
Even if we accept the colloquial definitions of racism / sexism / etc. that claim that those "-isms" are just the same thing as prejudice, and therefore acknowledge that yeah you can be racist against whites or sexist against men or whatever else, it's still absolutely ridiculous to mount campaigns on their behalf. It's absolutely ridiculous to focus on them in the fight for civil rights. It's absolutely ridiculous to say "but what about white stereotypes" in the middle of discourse about how to end racism against nonwhites.
White heterocis men are not oppressed. They hold all the power in society and their issues are not even close to being on par with the issues of POCS, women, and LGBTQ+ people, who are murdered out of ignorance, face housing and workplace discrimination, have unfair wage gaps, are more often homeless, are called names and ridiculed, are stereotyped, are profiled, are kept from positions of social and economic power etc. Those issues are the ones that need to be focused on, and implicitly by fighting those problems we will also fight prejudice against the people who have power.
For example, prejudice against men generally comes from people saying that men have to be strong and emotionless. This is just plain ol' sexism because the flip side is that women are weak and emotional, and so men who don't live up to expectations are "feminine." They are called "pussies," "sissies," "girls," "fags," etc., all terms that show that masculinity is defined as a binary with femininity as its counterpart. By ending the bias that women are weak we also end the bias that men have to be emotionally and physically superior. Men's rights are part of feminism.
Basically, the argument about whether or not reverse racism / sexism / etc. exist is all about linguistics, connotations. It's all about definitions, and not at all about actual issues. In fact, the debate about whether it does or doesn't exist just detracts from the issues. Meninists spend their time arguing with feminists online and not actually fighting for men's rights, and at the same time feminists have to ward off meninists - who are ironically their very oppressors - telling them that they aren't oppressed. Feminists are forced to waste time defending themselves instead of engaging in activism or constructive discourse.
It's all about equality. Fight racism against nonwhites to end hatred against whites. Fight sexism against women to end bitterness towards men. It's not a competition, or the oppression olympics. We should all be in this together.