Racism

rac·ism

ˈrāˌsizəm/

noun

1. the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.

   • prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.

     
     

     Contrary to popular belief, anyone can be racist. I have heard an abundance of different and inaccurate ideas about racism, many of them saying that "black people cant be racist," or "racism is a social system that requires power." Hearing these incorrect statements has begun to aggravate me, so I'm going to write this blog in attempt to enlighten some people. 

     
     

     First of all, anyone can be racist, and racism does not require power. Racism is a state of mind. No matter what ethnicity you are or how much power you have, you can be racist. There are racist people of all types, and the fact that slave owners were whites hundred of years ago does not mean that white people cant experience racism, or that whites are the only type of people that can be racist. Furthermore, identification by ethnicity is not neccesarily racist. Believe it or not, some people are mentally inept enough to claim that identifying someone's ethnicity is racist. For example, if a professor calls a name belonging to two people, one white and one black, and adds "the black one", after the name, it is not racist because the word "black" is not associated with any negativity. In order for something to be racism, there must be some sort of negativity, segregation, or discrimination associated with someone's ethnicity. 

     
     

     Another large part of racism are stereotypes. While stereotypes almost always involve some form of negativity, not all of them can completely be considered racist. For example, if a study shows that Asians perform better on tests, and someone says "Asians are smart," they shouldn't really be considered racist because what they're saying is backed by evidence. What they're saying isn't negative, either. That being said, stereotypes are extremely unhealthy for society and shouldn't be taken lightly. 

     
     

     Because I don't necessarily have anything else to say, I'd  like to end this blog by reiterating the fact that racism is a state of mind, and anyone can be racist.