By Clarissa Olson Posted May 9, 2018
Everyone in this country is so quick to shout about racism. A white cop shoots an African American kid. A white boss doesn’t hire an African American man. A white voter doesn’t vote for an African American candidate; all racist. It couldn’t possibly be for any reason other than the color of their skin, could it? The truth is, America, we don’t understand what racism is. I mean, only a white person can be racist, right? That’s what racism is to us. Today, the term “racist” is ignorantly and disrespectfully overused and misinterpreted.
This is the part where you decide that my opinion is invalid because I’m white, and therefore couldn’t possibly know anything about racism. Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is completely and utterly racist.
The definition of racism, as recognized by Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “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; racial prejudice or discrimination.” Race is not a characteristic limited to black people. Anyone of any race can be racist against anyone of any race. That includes black on white. People can be hateful too, and it does happen. Everyone can be hateful and prejudiced. It’s not something that is defined by the color of your skin. To assume otherwise as we are accustomed to, is in fact racist by definition.
Funny as it is, nobody seems to ever remember the real reason why racism is an issue. Slavery, oppression, and segregation were actually a thing that happened. It is absolutely disgusting the way our politicians go around screaming at each other about racism. Disagreeing with something a propaganda promise given by a black politician isn’t racist, just as it wouldn’t be if they were white. It’s just having an opinion of your own, which is an inalienable right that we possess, as humans. Beating, killing, and forcefully indenturing people to brutal servitude for nearly 250 years because of the color of their skin was and is racist. Segregating people into different bathrooms and shops is racist. Not letting black children go to school is racist. These things are serious and actually happened. Children actually grew up like this. Racism is not the silly little trifle our politicians and media run on about with their heads screwed on backward, yet in our society, it is all we know.
As Americans, we need to get over ourselves. If everybody is truly as equal as we so often push for, the color of someone’s skin should be nothing more than a meaningless physical feature such as the freckle on the back of your hand. It should be so insignificant as to not notice it. It shouldn’t be any kind of defining factor. It shouldn’t even be something we take notice of when electing a president or hiring an employee, and it doesn’t even matter if you’re white or black. We’ve been waging this racism war for years, yet we still manage to do nothing but be hypocritical. America, you don’t know what racism is, so you can’t possibly hope to go and “fix” the rest of us.
