Why do people think racism has to do with minorities?

Question

Racism is discrimination against others based on race. Racism is a bias against people who are not of your own race.

I have heard, time and again, that you cannot be racist if you are a minority. I believe that is patently untrue. If you hold to this belief, can you defend it? If you do not, can you explain why others believe that?

Edit: To the "answer" that is a question.... it does not make a difference if I am a minority or not. That's the point. Racism is racism by definition. If a minority hates someone based on race, they are not exempt from being called a racist. They are just as racist as anyone else.

2nd Edit: There is no implication here that anyone is racist inherently. Racism is just hate with a racial focus, and anyone can hate. And thanks all, for the answers so far! :)

3rd Edit: Bob, I'm not asking why there's racism, nor am I surprised by it. Human beings seem capable of plenty of atrocities, and racism is but one of them. We're talking about the definition of racism.

Answer 1

Yes, there will be some people who tell you that you can only be racist if you are part of the benefitting "dominant" class, and since minorities cannot benefit from a biased position, then it is not racist.

However, I agree with you in that racism is the bias itself, and not the benefit. I think racism hurts both people, the people that are cutting themselves off from people who they could have been friends with, filling their hearts with hate - and the people that receive their hurt and hate.

But maybe that's perceived as being too emotional of a definition - and people referring to benefits mean tangible benefits and losses.

Answer 2

As far as I am concerned, there is only one race:human race.

We are very critical of each, especially if we are different. And the criticism does not have a race. I have heard black people making racist comments about other blacks. We just cannot agree on everything, and many times hate causes racism. We want to draw a line between what we think that we are and what we think we are not. And it can get very hostile. And tricky.

When I came to the U.S.A. I realized that racism is more like an inhuman thing rather than a racial thing. In my country we did not have at the time many people from other countries. Here I witnessed white hating whites, white hating blacks, black hating whites, black hating blacks etc etc among all "so called races"...We are all humans.

We tend to criticize and hate the people, things we do not understand. Oftentimes we think that we understand...

I think it would be better and wiser for us to disapprove evil and everything that represents bad, and not to put these disapproved things under any particular race...because we are all humans. And we should not hate. And if we discriminate, we should discriminate against the bad and the evil among us.

Answer 3

I think that people can be racist if they are a minority, however I don't think it's as much as if you were not a minority. I believe however that there is a lot of stereotyping more than being plain racist. Being a minority I hear it all the time. I believe that racism now is due to ignorance, the less you know, the more you are afraid and therefore people have the need to discriminate. We can't change everyone's personal experiences, but I think everyone should know by now that we are not all the same. I am Salvadorean, yet people continue to refer to me as Mexican, just because I am latin. Believe it or not, there are people out there that don't know the difference between the two.

Answer 4

Because of the past history of whites suppressing other races in their culture we have gotten a bad name for racism, and thus it seems that when other races are racist, it is often overlooked as a "reverse prejudice" because of previous offenses. There seems to be even now a little prejudice left, but that is more spread among the different races towards each other when they stereotype them as being certain ways just because of their race or color of skin, when really we are all just individuals that cannot be classified like specimens in a lab. Now days there is a lot of unseen prejudice in favor of minorities because of the priority in job placement and scholarships. Yes there is an initial inequality that it is meant to amend, but it is perhaps smiting another person in the eye for the first person having their eye smiten, does that really do anything to make the first offense right? Do two wrongs make a right? I don't think so. So basically I advise not to base any single decision or assumption upon a person's color of skin, but by their character, their personality, and what they make of themselves to be.

Answer 5

The argument is that only minorities can be victims of racism comes from the word being defined as a position in which one is relegated to a lower standing in class or position in life because of his race. Its like eletism. Here in America minorites always get the short end of the stick therefore, as far as the argument goes, whites don't experience racism and minorities can't be racist because they don't recieve any inherent benefits for being a minority. Minorities can be prejudiced, however, which is what you probably see as being interchangable.

Answer 6

I agree with you fully,all walks of life are capable of racism all colours,creeds and religions wether they be minority or not. Why some people chose to believe they have the right to be racist because they belong to a minority is beyond me,i assume it's based on some out dated idiosyncrasy such as an eye for an eye or some other such nonsense...

Answer 7

You Can Be Racist Because Of Your Hate Of Another Ethnic Group because you don't want that Ethnic Group To Succeed,Thats Why Back In The Times Of Segregation Many White People Did Not Want Black People,Like Me To Prosper,It's Like Jealousy and Envy .

Answer 8

Your "question" is a blatant lie and ordinary Republican stupidity. extra whites are on welfare than blacks. i comprehend a white Republican on welfare on the instantaneous. All he talks about are nutrients stamps, taxes and wealth redistribution. As he holds out his hand and advantages from "wealth redistribution" and then interior an same breath you men all declare "affirmative action" meaning minorities are operating. for sure what you declare won't be able to be real. Merck, McDonald's, American teach and Xerox all have black CEO's. Do you imagine they are on nutrients stamps? Or became that "affirmative action"? Unemployment is over 8%. As a hiring manager 2 blacks accountants at present left my company for different organizations with better pay. So minorities are operating and with unemployment at 8% a great number of whites aren't any more. how lots of those are on nutrients stamps? tell your white welfare recipients they should be conscious at Merck, McDonald's, American teach and Xerox. possibly they are hiring.

Answer 9

I am a minority and i'm not racist. I talk the same to everyone one in my school. I just hate people who think they're big. And that may be the muslims, chinese or the indians.

I treat them the same and I don't treat anyone differently cause of their skin color. I even like this black girl :o ((i'm a sikh... so i'm brown ^.^))

Answer 10

You are right. Anyone can be a racist. Usually minorities feel threatened (perceived) when they are amongst a majority. Then there are people who use it as an excuse for their own inferiority or laziness.