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BunnyBop wrote

They're arguing that racism against white people doesn't exist, not that "racism" against white people is okay. Those are two very different perspectives and I think you're conflating the two.

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Flopmauser OP wrote

I must be, do you mind explaining the difference? I feel like I am missing something, since to my view, saying "White people are scum" or "Black people are scum" are both equally bad and undesirable.

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BunnyBop wrote

I'm not that up to date with race politics, I still have a lot of reading to do, but the way it was explained that made sense to me is that racism isn't simply prejudice against someone's race, but prejudice along with the power to act on that prejudice in a way that is supported by society in some way or built into the way things are done. You can be prejudiced but not racist, if you don't have the power to oppress those who you are prejudiced against.

You also have to look at why people say "white people are scum" vs "black people are scum." When people say the first, it's probably because of that disappointment/resentment/whatever that society has been built around these people and they themselves aren't doing anything to correct that. When people say "black people are scum," however, that comes from a very different place. It's the belief that black people are inherently inferior somehow, that they don't deserve the respect we give others because they're inherently lesser. They might sound the same but their meanings are different.

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martasultan wrote

To quote Malcolm X,

The American Negro never can be blamed for his racial animosities -- he is only reacting to four hundred years of the conscious racism of the American whites.

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Flopmauser OP wrote

I'm not American and really have no frame of reference for American race relations past some stuff in movies or on TV, but I'd argue that everyone ought to be equal and treat each other with respect.

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martasultan wrote

Where are you from? In my home country, also not America, we continue to praise people who enslaved Africans and have statues of King motherfucking Leopold standing high above our capitals. It's far from just an American thing. Nevermind all the racism that I saw all across Europe after the World Cup.

If you must, simply substitute slavery with colonialism in any context.

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