Any number of recent events and movements have brought about the charge of reverse racism: Charlotte Rampling’s comments regarding the lack of diversity in the Oscar nominations; the “Black Lives Matter” campaign; the memes decrying “Black Privilege” that appear on many Facebook pages. I found the following example by inadvertently visiting an aggressively anti-black Facebook page. The actress Stacey Dash said: “If we don’t want segregation then we need to get rid of channels like BET and the BET awards, and the [NAACP] image awards where you’re only awarded if you’re black. If it were the other way around we’d be up in arms.” One of the comments posted in response said, “Imagine the outcry for a ‘WET’ [White Entertainment Television] awards. It makes my heart sad that it is so shunned for me to celebrate or honor my own culture.”
The obvious fact, however, is that the WET awards already exist: they’re called the Emmys. And the WEM (White Entertainment Movie) awards exist as well: they’re called the Oscars. The reason there is a Black History Month, or Hispanic History Month, or any Ethnic History Month is that every day of the year is White History Day. We only need to look at our children’s textbooks, at our college curricula, at the books published (and not published), and at the news media in general to see that this is true. At the end of his book on Paul the Apostle, A Radical Jew, Daniel Boyarin raises the question of whether or not discourses that attempt to maintain a strong ethnic identity are automatically racist. He asserts that there are social and material conditions in which racism may be justified (p. 249). Those conditions really depend upon who has the power. If the dominant group imposes its own values and constructions upon others, without their consent, that is racism; but if the subaltern, or oppressed group, asserts its ethnic and cultural difference, that’s resistance—at least according to Boyarin. Of course, members of the dominant culture (that is, white people like myself) frequently see themselves as disprivileged and subaltern. That’s how I interpret the responses to Stacey Dash’s comments. This is confirmed by Facebook posts that feature photos of actor Will Smith’s home, with the caption “It’s tough being black in Hollywood.” Visit any number of “Black Privilege” websites, or at the least, http://en.metapedia.org/wiki/Black_privilege. Whites feel aggrieved, and some of those greivances are legitimate, though not all of them. But these views of “Black Privilege” ignore the history of race and race relations in the United States. They overlook the structures of racism that continue to exist: environmental racism (think Flint, Michigan); political racism (think closing voter registration offices in black neighborhoods); economic racism (think higher unemployment rates for blacks than whites); educational racism (think inner city schools) and so on. Those who believe that “Black Privilege” exists tend to focus on the success stories of the minority, rather than the social conditions of the majority. Our response to competing claims should be to articulate these facts and this history. Calling each other racist, or reverse racist, does not serve any of us. Can we say instead: “Brother, Sister, can I talk to you about this?” And then listen before talking.
Darin
1/26/2016 08:32:01 pm
Aww...poor little rich kid got an owie on his entitlement.
Foofie
1/26/2016 09:43:19 pm
Good grist for the mental mill. Thank you Becky.
Rebecca Moore
1/27/2016 10:52:57 am
You're welcome, Foofie!!
Zeke
1/27/2016 10:50:55 am
As a white guy, I hear the charges of "Black Privilege," especially when I'm around some members of my family. They skate up to the edge of the concept of "uppity" before falling back. For the sake of family harmony, I *don't* ask: "So who in Ferguson, Missouri are you willing to trade places with? Who in Baltimore? Who in Flint?" But I think it.
Rebecca Moore
1/27/2016 10:54:11 am
Good questions, Zeke.
Laurie
1/27/2016 03:47:58 pm
Thank you for the thought-provoking post Becky! Comments are closed.
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Author Rebecca Moore is Professor Emerita of Religious Studies at San Diego State University. She is currently Reviews Editor for Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions and Co-Director of The Jonestown Institute. Archives
December 2021
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