Is there reverse racism? The answer is no. To get to this conclusion, it is essential to know what racism is. So, what is racism?
Racism is the institution of power and control. Paul Kivel (1996) stated that
"Racism is not just the sum total of all the individual acts in which white people discriminate, harass, stereotype, or otherwise mistreat people of color. The accumlated effects of centuries of white racism have given it an institutional nature that is more entrenched than racial prejudice. In fact, it is barely touched by changes in individual white consciousness."
The understanding of power and control by institution is most important to explaining why reverse racism is a myth. An institution is an organization founded and united for a specific purpose. An institution can be businesses that sell car. However, one car dealer don't consitute an institution. It need to be multiple car dealer. Together, car deal is an organization and their purpose is selling car.
How is power and control involve in this process of racism? Each insitution, like the businesses of car dealer, have the power to set the price of what they are selling. Also, the insitution is primarly control by white people. Lastly, the institution must disadvantage the people of color, whether it be intentional or unintentional. Disadvantage can be a multitude of things. It occurs when institutions, including corporations, governments and universities, discriminate either deliberately or indirectly, against certain groups of people to limit their rights. Race-based discrimination in housing, education, employment and health are forms of institutional racism.
First, remember that I am not talking about discrimination. Discriminate and racism is not the same thing. Anyone can discriminate but don’t mean that they are racist. There is a difference. There are those that are non-racist, reform racist, reluctant racist and overt racism.
Non-racist are people who are not prejudice and do not discriminate.
Reform racist are people who are prejudice but do not discriminate.
Reluctant racist are people who discriminate but is not prejudice.
Overt racist are people who are prejudice and also discriminate.
Note: Reform racist and reluctant racist don't mean that they are actually racist people.
This topic apply to all people of culture, female, GLBT, people with disability, and indigenous people. Instituttional racism is not just a black and white problem.
Reference:
Kivel, Paul. Uprooting Racism : How White People Can Work for Racial Justice. New York: New Society, Limited, 1996.
There is institutionalized racism and racism between individuals. "Affirmative action" and it's cousin "tokenism" don't really do much to get rid of either type. Perhaps "affirmative action" in education can because education grants people social capital they can use to garner more power to get rid of racism when they reach positions of greater respect and power in society.
If people equate "reverse racism" with "affirmative action" then they are wrong. Institutional power is still in the hands of whites, so by definition institutional racism against whites cannot exist. It seems like anytime when people of privilege lose some power, they automatically cry "oppression". Straight religious people do the same thing over gay marriage, they claim their rights are being taken away.
Common sense is as rare as genius. ~Emerson
Texas Charging Women For Rape Kits
My Other Blog Posts
Institutional power is increasingly being used against whites.
There is a case that was just heard and not yet decided by the Supreme Court where a bunch of white firemen (19) who passed the exam to be promoted to officer in New Haven Connecticut were denied their promotions because no black firemen and only one hispanic were able to pass the test. This was despite the fact that the City had spent quite a lot of money on a consultant specializing in these kinds of things to design a race neutral test.
New Haven's Racial Test
Here is another good article on the same case:
Reverse discrimination case could transform hiring
Instead of promoting them on the basis of obvious merit, the City threw out all the test results and refused to promote anybody. Including this guy who is the lead plaintiff and who clearly earned his promotion:
Frank Ricci, the lead plaintiff, had trusted a test of merit. He had been a firefighter for 11 years and was determined to become a lieutenant. All applicants were given three months to prepare for the exam and provided with a detailed reading list. Mr. Ricci is dyslexic, so he paid an acquaintance more than $1,000 to read textbooks onto audiotapes, made flashcards, took practice tests, worked with a study group and participated in mock interviews. He gave up a second job in order to study long hours. His work paid off: He came in sixth among the 77 candidates who took the exam.
I wonder if any of the black candidates would have passed if they had worked as hard as Frank Ricci?
This is not an isolated example. Cities all over the country have had this problem and they usually solve it by finding ways to systematically discriminate in favor of minorities against more qualified whites. First they spend money hiring consultants to design race neutral tests. When whites end up dominating the top grades on these tests, they make the tests easier (essentially easier means they become meaningless as objectives measures of competence or merit) so that more minorities pass them. And then they start using non-objective criteria (except that skin color is fairly objective and you have a big advantange in this brave new world if you have dark skin) to determine who gets promoted.
In the case of a dangerous job like firefighting, less competent command leadership can easily mean lost lives so competence is not a trivial matter.
Institutional power is being used against whites so reverse discrimination is very real. Essentially, public jobs are not based on merit but must be divided up based on racial composition of the community. It is a racial spoils sytem and it is pretty disgusting. It will be interesting to see if the Supreme Court allows it to stand. We should know in about a month.
The sad thing about all this is that it leads to the saddest form of all discrimination of all: pity. It is hard to see a minority in a position of authority or in a top school and not wonder if they really deserve that position or if they are just another affirmative action charity case. If I were a minority who had earned my position in life or in school based on merit I would resent the hell out of laws that caused society to look at me and assume I was mentally inferior and needed an unfair advantage to succeed.
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-obama-deception/
You have been active on the frontline, :-) must had been a crazy period during 9/11!
I can imagine it might not have been all that easy a period to have experienced.
Well, I’m not trying to bash upon reporters, newsreaders or journalists, my focus is more in a direction of those who are pulling the strings on top and behind the scenes of media platforms.
Media (TV) (Newspapers) were used to mislead general opinions in order to start that war in Iraq!
Once again, I understand your reasons and reasoning, do know, when I refer to media, I’m not referring to the structure of it, a structure which involves all kinds of individuals who are working in this area.
I’m referring to those behind the scenes who are calling the shots upon what is and isn’t projected towards the many upon this globe!
The use and control of media is a key tool for misleading information which allows certain individuals to start new wars whenever they chose in doing so!
Media is the most powerful tool around used for various purposes:
Indoctrination
Hypnotism
Misguidance/misleading truth
Dumb down minds
Control and mould mindsets
Dictate behavior
Control emotional states of those who linger inside the herd
While most important, to keep each and every one of us to remain inside a prison
This (mind)prison is an illusion created in order to keep you away from the truth, we are all being exploited as slaves!
We are all being denied to reach out for our full potential, this is exactly the reason why so many amongst are losing it, why the use of anti depressant drugs are skyrocketing, why youngsters become narrow minded because of the lies they are being fed with on a daily basis.
Media is responsible for these manifestations which no one hardly seems to understand or even recognize other than in a fearful feel of anxiety.
Media (TV) (Newspapers) were used to mislead general opinions in order to start that war in Iraq!
It was also used to mislead the public into voting for Barack Obama. Compare the complete pass he got for his lack of experience, and association with a former terrorist and the Chicago machinge compared to the absolute hatched job that was (and continues to be done) on Sarah Palin. She got accused of being inexperienced when she had run a state as governor whereas Barack had never run anything. Her family's sex life was put under a microscope while Barack's long term friendship with a domestic terrorist was barely covered.
Media is the most powerful tool around used for various purposes:
Agreed!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7984436.stm
Well, that would definitely counter the information I have regarding racism in other countries. I was told there is none by people who live there and soldiers who have been stationed throughout Europe. Although this doesn't exactly prove that a problem with racism still exists... since this describes repercutions of a specific problem that started in the 1940s; it does seem to indicate that there are problems.
Thank you for correcting me on that point and showing me this article. However, I still stand by my argument that Affirmative Action is antiquated and is no longer needed in our country; and the definition for racism presented here is skewed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"when you have nothing else to say, "Fwonk" is always the perfect thing."
"yeah well, fwonk"
--Devon
Fanaile Essence
Well, still today in Europe things are not that much different than in the rest of the world, things were actually going pretty fine starting from the late seventies.
Understanding, comprehension and tolerance slowly entered the minds of whites, this all came to an end when 9/11 kicked in.
The amounts of hypocrisy which are projected upon people with a tan has shifted once again, mainly to vent frustration upon, whether its verbal or in acts of aggression, it is becoming a problem again.
Media is responsible for this occurrence, they who are in control of media have become specialists in creating a negative veil over minorities, some individuals have even chosen to change their name in order to have a better chance to get a job.
Our European politicians fail to properly address the various cultural problems which are around and very much alive, they fail to address the illegal immigration which is causing all sorts of misfortunes, they fail to address problems which have risen due to opening borders of what is now the European Union.
Girls of the Balkan region have become a product which are being sold and moved around all over the richer parts in Europe. While males from those same regions are more and more involved in brutal acts of crime over nothing worth to kill for.
It is not so much racism, rather a general rising dislike of whomever with a tan or look which doesn’t fit the general profile of the countries they reside in, this regardless if a person is born inside this country or not.
Especially youngsters are getting very frustrated amongst one another, Neo Nazi shit is getting popular for those who don’t even fit in within their own culture, the lack of governmental insight and proper management is for the least to say worrying.
The crises is only fuelling up tension between all, racism in all of this is purposely being brought back to surface for various reasons, the root of this occurrence is to be found in England, while we all know religion is the number one tool used to inflict in order to create conflict.
9/11 an inside job!? Still today the majority of people believe what they had been told throughout the media, well, unless people start to wake up, order out of chaos will have its way, while all of our asses will become micro chipped some time soon.
Regardless of one’s tan, we all face interesting times to come our way.
http://www.wowzone.com/monkey.htm
Media is responsible for this occurrence, they who are in control of media have become specialists in creating a negative veil over minorities, some individuals have even chosen to change their name in order to have a better chance to get a job.
I think everyone should, at some point, work in the media. Forgive me, but I am tired of hearing the media being blamed for everything when 90% of the time, the media has absolutely nothing to do with it and the other 10% of the time they don't have the power over it.
This was one of the reasons why, after being laid off for budget reasons on 9/11 (after covering the terrorist attacks all day) I decided to leave the media... people began outright accusing me of withholding information or skewing the information I was given to report. I was accused of everything from doctoring videos and graphics from that day to being a terrorist sympathizer for standing up for one of my reporters who was of Middle Eastern descent (people were throwing food at her as she was trying to interview some of the college students and people at the military recruiting centers in my city on the day of the attack).
And for the entertainment side of the media - who's really to blame? We pay actors and actresses billions of dollars and then bitch that they aren't good role models because they've dropped out of school or they're too thin or they're on drugs - yet we still pay them; we still go to their movies, buy their DVDs and CDs and MP3s at outrageous prices (or - even worse - steal them and drive the prices up even higher).
Again, forgive me... but prior to 1996 I might have agreed with "the media is to blame"... but after working in the media for so long - and seeing first hand how managing media stations works and how news works... it's anything but the media's fault.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"when you have nothing else to say, "Fwonk" is always the perfect thing."
"yeah well, fwonk"
--Devon
Fanaile Essence
I agree with Jackbenimble... having an institute such as affirmative action still in effect is antiquated and allows racism to continue under a legal pretense.
If you truly want equality...
Certainly colleges are institutions with power and control. They can and do set policies based on race. It is not clear that the admissions offices of these institutions are controlled by whites. In many cases they are not.
For decades now, colleges and universities have systematically made it easier for certain favored minorities to gain admittance while discriminating against whites and certain non-favored minorities (asians).
Using your own definition of racism it seems that your thesis that there is no reverse racism is false.
You find similar examples of reverse racism in other institutions. For example, not long ago I read an article about Hispanics in Los Angelos being very upset by the hiring practices of the US Postal Service. Apparently, there is a strong hiring preference for blacks and they are vastly over-represented in the USPS workforce compared to their percentage of the population.
I am not saying that institutional racism does not exist against blacks but reverse racism is not a myth.
What you are talking about is affirmative action. Affirmative action is not a tool of discrimination. It is use to equal the playing field for those that had been disadvantage. Statistically, the playing field is not equal yet, even though it is a popular opinion that it is.
Affirmative action work with two equally qualified individual. If one is a minority or female and the other is a white male. The minority or female can invoke affirmative action and become the flavor. That is if the representation of the institution is disproportional. However, if the minority or female is not as qualified as the white male, affirmative action is useless. In facts, women invoke affirmative action more than minority.
Affirmative action is a continuous affect to improve equality, diversity, equal pay, and equal distribution of resource. Affirmative action is a plus unless one is against equal equality.
Just because a person may see one or two businesses being over-represented by minority or female does not mean there is reverse racism. There should be overall to the extent of an opposite effect in the society to constitute reverse racism.
Also, there have to be some form of disadvantage to be reverse racism. Just because someone, whether that person be white, black, or female did not get into a college or job, that does not mean reverse racism. It is the act of disadvantaging a person after the institution accepts them as a student, buyer, employee, and etc.
Lastly, reverse racism is currently a myth but does not mean that it can not be achieve. With that, I'm not arguing that we should try to achieve reverse racism but merely to achieve equal equality.
"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-Benjamin Franklin
Affirmative action work with two equally qualified individual.
Affirmative action does not limit itself to "equally qualified" people. It actively discriminates by requiring a lower bar for the people who belong to the so-called victim classes. This causes higher qualified people of the so-called privileged classes to be discriminated against. They are displaced by less qualified students solely on the basis of their membership in a "privledged" racial/thnic group.. That is an example of reverse discrimination. Affirmative Action is government sanctioned discrimination.
Here is a very recent example. California in 1996, in response to anger over reverse discrimination passed Proposition 209 which banned the consideration of race as an admissions criteria to the California State College System. Since that time, the admissions policies have been very OBJECTIVELY based on performance with grades and test scores being factors which guaranteed admittance to the highest performers. Asians have thrived under this system, blacks and Hispanics have not done so well. Importantly, it was race neutral. It was neither discriminatory or reverse-discriminatory.
The University of California Regents were against Proposition 209 and have long chaffed at its requirements. A couple of weeks ago, the University of California Regents voted on a massive revision of this admissions structure to de-emphasize objective criteria and allow greater emphasis on the "whole person". A lot of critics, probably with good reason, fear this as an end-run around Proposition 209 and a return to the days of reverse-discrimination. Time will tell if the people of California need to pass yet another popular initiative to force the California government to quit [reverse]-discriminating on the basis of race.
UC approves sweeping overhaul of admissions policy
Interestingly, the driving force behind Proposition 209 was a black man named Ward Connerly who understands that racial preferences expose the recipients to a whole new kind of discrimination. When people see a person from the victim groups with a college degree they are left to wonder: Did that person deserve that seat in that college or are they just an affirmative action charity case that would not have been admitted if their skin had been a different color?". Raced based admission preferences do a huge dis-service to the individuals from the groups they supposedly benefit who actually deserve their seat in college. Ward Connerly understand that if you want discrimination to stop then the government needs to stop discriminating.
You're so right about this.
I was working as a manager at a radio station several years ago when the time came that I needed to hire a new receptionist. I had all but made my decision when the general manager came into my office to submit another resume.
The person I had chosen had 5 years of experience as an administrative assistant, with 2 years of experience in the media. She was polite, funny, and held an associate's degree. She was also a single mother - so I knew she would need her job and would not be out all night partying or calling in sick for arbitrary reasons.
This new resume being submitted had no work experience at all, and no related work experience. She was 18 years old and looking for her first job to tide her over the Summer until she was scheduled to leave the state to attend college. I looked up at the general manager and asked if she was serious.
"Yes," she replied, "hire this one. We have to keep up with our EEO."
My hands were tied, and I was pissed. This girl was not qualified at all for an advanced entry-level position; but she was given the job over another girl who was qualified... and the only reason she got it was because of her skin color - and the general manager was scared that if we didn't hire her that EEO would get on our case.
She lasted almost a week before walking out and quitting because she thought answering the phones was too beneath her. And of course that was after being late 3 times to the office because she overslept...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"when you have nothing else to say, "Fwonk" is always the perfect thing."
"yeah well, fwonk"
--Devon
Fanaile Essence
"Statistically, the playing field is not equal yet, even though it is a popular opinion that it is."
Will it ever be 'equal' in your eyes? The specific example of the USPS in California was given. There more of the jobs are held by Black workers than the proportion of the comunity they represent. Is it time for that specific institutional racial discrimination to end? Or, are we waiting for some bigger signs of an equal playing field? What exactly would those signs be in your opinion? Something like a black President....?
---
The biggest obstacle ANY person faces is themself. Dwelling on any excuse longer than it takes to overcome or avoid it is counter productive. Teaching children that they are victims is just plain stupid. How does the content of this blog say anything that helps us proceed beyond the problem?
"Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it."
--Andre Gide
Institutional racism is not based on representation of people in job. It is the institution of power and control.Also, using a few examples to contradict the million of job that is dominates by privileged class don’t really mean anything. Know that a 1% exception do not prove that the other 99% is wrong. Discriminate and racism is not the same thing. Anyone can discriminate but don’t mean that they are racist. There is a difference.
Using the USPS to combat my argument is maybe one of the worst examples. USPS doesn’t really interact or even see who they deliver to. This mean, they don’t really have the opportunity to create a bias or act of discrimination if they don’t know who they deliver to. So racism and discrimination both don’t apply in the process of power and control.
With respect, your comment on Obama as being a sign of equality is nonsense. One person making it to the top doesn’t mean equality for the rest down below.