General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The problem is that white people see racism as conscious hate [View all]athena
(4,187 posts)just as women can be sexist against women.
On the other hand, it's disingenuous to claim that anti-white attitudes among black people, or misandrist attitudes among women, are even remotely as harmful as racism by whites and sexism by men. What makes racism and sexism so damaging is that the entire social system has been racist and sexist for millennia. Most companies are owned by white men, so if a black woman who owns a company refuses to hire a white man because she is anti-white or anti-male, that white man can find employment elsewhere. If a man's female boss refuses to promote him, he can change jobs and work for a man who will promote him. Similarly, if a white man is treated rudely by a store clerk who happens to be a black woman who dislikes white men, that doesn't make the white man any more likely to be put in prison for drug use, or any less likely to get a good lawyer if he does happen to be charged with a crime. In other words, racism and sexism are only damaging because the powerful group yields power. When a black person is "racist" against a white person, or when a woman is "sexist" against a man, that's like statistical fluctuation: it's indistinguishable in its effects from a randomly nasty person or a random bully.