People of colour/minorities cannot be racist?

[sundayrose10]

Do you agree with this statement? I was on a different forum where they discussed black people cannot be racist. Many said blacks/minorities could NOT be racist but there were an equal number also arguing that it was impossible. The reason they gave for the impossibility was that whites have the political and economic power to supress minorities.

Do you agree with that statement or disagree?

I know some people have a problem with the term 'people of colour' but I use it to include anyone who is not white. If it is relevant, I am black myself.

[Birdsgottafly]

Springbok-that is splitting hairs really because every fraction considered themselves a different 'race' otherwise they would have been breaking the rules of the 'religion' or belief that they lived by.

[pinkmagic1]

Anyone can be racist. I havn't got time to read the whole thread and I am sure others have already said it but racism is about hating someone and making derogatory comments because of the colour of their skin. Anyone regardless of colour can do this.

[MrSpoc]

springbokscantjump - I appologise if i have offended but yes every white MALE i met in South Africa where very elitist and racist. They absolutly hated British Males which whent back to the time of the Boar War (however it is spelt) the women were the opporsite. Know I do not know if it is every White Male in SA but it was most if not all that I met. We went to a few clubs that were white only and as soon as they realised we were British there was huge tension & sometimes fightes. In the end we went to the clubs that all the blacks went to and has some of the best nights of my life. There is one place just out side of Capetown that has a massive club (tiger shopping centre i think)

[MotherPanda]

I moved to Birmingham to study for a year and was bullied because I was the only white girl in the class.

It opened my eyes up a lot - these girls just weren't used to seeing white people around. I think they felt I was invading their space and where quite aggressive towards me, blaming me for the way white mainstream culture had treated them/ their parents etc.

They were racist and it's not excusable just because I was white. Anyone who thinks otherwise is silly - or is it right that I should carry the burden of my races racist past?

[springbokscantjump]

If that was at my post, birds,I've just re-read it and it does sound as if I'm saying apartheid started the divide, which obviously isn't entirely true. But I do think that the level of distrust and hatred amongst certain tribes was actively encouraged as well as forcing smaller tribes (which geographically had very little to do with each other) into conflict due to population movement and settlement orders.

Not explaining it very well

[onagar]

"People of colour/minorities cannot be racist?" is a ridiculous statement, but you don't have to go to other forums to encounter it. You see it on MN regularly.

I thought most MNers extended racism to mean any prejudice based on ethnic, cultural, religious or national differences Some do, but they are wrong. Skin color does not affect the sort of person you are or how you act. Whereas the whole point of Religion/culture is that it affects the sort of person you are and how you act.

[lljkk]

is it only true racism when it is equipped with the political and economic power to suppress?

er, Zimbabwe, anyone?

Suppose a Nigerian employer refuses to offer a job to a Bangladeshi person just because the person is Bangladeshi (call it a cultural distrust, if you like) but the same employer would offer the job to a white person ... are you saying that never happens or that because neither of them is white we can't call it "racism" What can we call that unfair employment practice? Could we call if racism if the employer was white?

I think my head hurts & I need to go lie down!

[Birdsgottafly]

pink-racism is believing that you are superior to another race and tha they should have less human rights than you. You can use racist language because you have been brought up to use that terminology but when challenged you then start to think about what you are saying.

Mrspoc-you would probably find the same amongst and between Germans and the British, its an overspill from a major war.

[ReindeerBollocks]

Anyone of any colour/creed/culture can be racist. Racism is an intolerance/hatred of other ethnic groups.

Racism should never be tolerated, regardless of the ethnicity of the perpetrator.

[Birdsgottafly]

Spring- yes you are explaining it well but slaughter took place before the white population ever landed. Ofcourse those who wanted to make money out of the newly discovered land used the tensions to their advantage.

[lljkk]

So when other MNers or even media pundits mention British "racist" attitudes towards the Irish.. they are wrong? There can be no such thing? Ditto if we're talking about unjustified opinions on Irish travellers, French or Germans, the word "racism" cannot be used correctly?

[MrSpoc]

Birdsgottafly probably but i thought the Brit - German (I am ex forces) was more an on going joke but we never really have arguments, tension or fightes over the WW. Or i could be really wrong about it.

[Birdsgottafly]

lljjk- it's ethnic/cultural discrimination or possibly religious if that came into it. That is why the Equality Bill was introduced to shut loopholes across the EU.

[LuckyWeKeptTheCot]

Anyone who negatively judges others on groundof race is racist. Colour of perpetrator irrelevant.

[caramelwaffle]

People of colour can be, and many are, racist.

Absolutely.

Without a shadow of a doubt.

[Birdsgottafly]

MrSpoc yes you are wrong, i still see fights when on holiday. Especially in Eygpt where alot of Germans holiday (or seem to when im there)

You only have to look at football to release that people will use any excuse to hate each other.

[MrSpoc]

Birdsgottafly - is that because of race (i.e there is a Brit lets smash his head in) or because there was an England V Germany footy match on and so there is some rivalry going on?

to me there is a difference but could still be seen as racist I guess.

I suppose the whole subject is very ambiguous

[Birdsgottafly]

Its all about opposing sides. As humans we pick a side, if your inclined to be violent or just plain nasty then you act against the opposing side. Others get caught up in it to survive or make money.

I read alot of the nazi biographies, for some it was all about income. Theres always power and gain somewhere.

[microfight]

I was walking into a newsagent not so long ago and I was physically kicked (hard) because I was a "white bitch" by a group of black girls. This was a blatant racist attack so yes of course anyone can be racist.

However, whites not having been oppressed. This is not strictly true, white women have been oppressed and so have working class white men by higher class white men. So it's not really a colour issue but a gender and class issue.

That is why the only group who have no protections in place and no political correctness surrounding them white middle and upper class males. In society it is perfectly acceptable to call a white upper class male with a certain accent a toff in a derogative way, where it would not be acceptable to use derogative generalisations in any other group.

[Birdsgottafly]

It might be accepted as a general rule but you can find a catagory under the law why it is unacceptable, if it was taking place in the workforce.

[MrSpoc]

EXACTLY RIGHT microfight but i would say alot of toffs feel justifed in slagging off the working class as shit on the bottom of thier shoes and also scallies, scrotes, chavs etc.

[LuckyWeKeptTheCot]

I have travelled a lot on buses around Hackney - used to live there and there was frequent frightening intimidation of white people by black youth gangs - male and female. I would never understate the history of oppression on grounds of race, although as mentioned, oppression on grounds of gender, class etc was running in parallel. Also, as a counterpoint to British involvement in the slave trade, is British abolitionists, such as Quakers, Methodists, Women's groups and individuals who campaigned for freedom - we should always remember the many sides to our history and not let any future intolerance be accepted for reasons of past failings.

[microfight]

Your right Mr Spoc!

[microfight]

You're even not your

[nijinsky]

I've lived in Germany and found it to be possibly the most tolerant country I've been in. Perhaps it was where I was living, but I really participated in a lot of activites with Germans and was never made to feel unwelcome, despite barely speaking the language. Some immigrant groups were also really badly behaved and I couldn't believe how tolerant they were. Almost as if they were afraid to react because of their roles in two world wars.

I've also spent a month in South Africa, in a real Afrikaaner area in the middle of the country called Potchefstroom, and yes it is still quite a racist country I would say, but that is changing. I thought the racism was strongly tied up with being old fashioned and prejudiced towards women. Perhaps it is to do with colonising such a vast country and having to be single minded in dealing with so many difficulties. Obviously though as a white person I only saw a very limited amount of racism, but I experienced more sexism. Although the only actual abuse I got during my trip was from a group of black men who thought it acceptable to make sexual comments at me.

The worst racist incident I saw in person was in London between an African woman and an Afro-Caribbean woman.

I didn't realise that Chinese people could be racist towards white featues, this explains the comments of the Chinese man in the garage towards me that I referred to earlier.