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.
2. A belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race
3. Poor treatment of or violence against people because of their race.
4. Hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.
These definitions were taken from Google, from Dictionary.com, Merriam-Webster, etc. If you look closely at each definition, you’ll find something interesting. The definition is broader than its current connotation suggests. You see, my point is that racism is defined as irrational bias against a group of people based on their ethnicity....notice how I said “a”, nor did I specify what ethnicity. Because that isn’t what racism is. Racism has ALWAYS been considered one-sided; it has ALWAYS been whites being racist against blacks, it has ALWAYS been whites being racist against Hispanics, it has ALWAYS been whites being racist against another race. However, society has failed to realize that racism is not one-sided and that the opposite situation is considered racism, a.k.a other races discriminating against whites. And I know I’m going to get blow back from this but I really don’t care; I will probably be accused of trying to take away from Black Lives Matter or the discrimination against Muslims that is currently being carried out by Americans. You see what I did there? I said Americans, not whites. Last time I checked, America is not 100% white. Thus, there is a very VERY high probability that there are African Americans, Latinos, Asians, and many other ethnic groups discriminating Muslims. And yet, it’s not called racism unless it is done by whites.
I went to a Catholic school for 9 years. We wore uniforms, we went to church, the whole nine yards. When I was in about 4th grade, a boy came up to me and made derogatory remarks against me because I was German. He was only 10 but he learned such disgusting stereotypes from somewhere, whether online or in a textbook or wherever. I remember we had just learned about World War II and was saying such words in regard to Nazi Germany. He had made the assumption that I was as bad as the Gestapo and Hitler because I was from Germany. I mentioned it to my teachers, who happened to be black. She insisted that it was discriminatory and that he was just teasing. I was only 10 at the time too, but I understood that what the boy had said was not right. However, because I was so young, I listened to my teacher and let it go. Thinking back on it, it would have been interesting to see what my other teachers had said, to see who thought it was discrimination and who did not. Look, for a moment, back up at the definitions at the top of this post. The words haven’t changed; there are no specific ethnicities listed. It merely says one race against another.
Let me ask you: if the situation had been reversed, if I had said something to him about his own race, what would I have happened to me? I would have been punished. End of story.
My mother came home from work one time and told me a story. She and two of her coworkers were enjoying a break together, chatting about nonprofessional matters. One of the women--who happened to be Haitian--had a son that was getting married soon and the woman stated that she was very pleased that her son would be marrying a Haitian woman. The other woman, who was Indian, said that she very much hoped for her son and daughter to marry an Indian woman and man. My mother remained quiet until that point and then she said, “And if I told you that I hoped my daughter would marry a white man, what you say? You would call me a bigot.”
Discrimination is discrimination; racism is racism. Period. There is no gray area. There is no maybe or maybe not. Some people may disagree; some are too afraid of the societal backlash to say their agreement. Regardless, equality and freedom is the primary mission of America; perhaps Americans should start acting like it.
