Racism 101: Are you a Racist?

One of the biggest problems PoC face is the idea that we are all the same. That seems to be the core of all racism. The lumping together of groups of people and then deciding that the lump is bad, ugly, dirty, unintellectual or generally less than.

Because of this never ending phenomena, one of the biggest hurtles for PoC is not necessarily from white racists but from other PoC.

I am constantly seeing arguments from white racists in some form of “But my ____ (Fill in ethnicity in question) friend said it was okay for me to say it.” This is far more difficult to combat than your everyday garden variety racist. The problem here is that it’s a double whammy.

When a PoC gives some sort of permission, it causes a racist person to feel justified in their comments, thoughts and words. While simultaneously (in their minds) giving them a “Get out of jail free card.”  In this instance, the PoC is so desperate for white approval (and yes, that IS what this is about) that they are perfectly willing to be the living abused dog of a dog killer. Then in turn, thanking the dog killer for keeping them alive. It doesn’t matter that they are being kept alive so that the dog killer can burn them with cigarettes because he thinks it’s funny to hear them howl.  

The most common permission is that of a racial slur. No matter the slur, if you are a person outside of the ethnicity who wants to say it, you must ask yourself why do you WANT to say it? I am sure you like saying it because some rapper says it. That’s super but no, you are still a racist. There is no reason or need for you to use a racial slur. Not ever. Not for any reason. So…if you find yourself looking for a person of a certain ethnicity to give you the okay, know for sure, without a shadow of a doubt, you are a racist.

For the People of Color that like to give permission for these things, I will repeat a statement I previously made…If the Klan came a lynching you would be strung up beside me. No matter how many permissions given.