Lot’s of arguing

under Ryan O’Connell’s Thought Catalog post about the “Things White Girls Say…to Black Girls” video. It angers me that any white person would argue that this video isn’t about racism or assert that the idea of “reverse racism” is something real, and not just a figment of the white imagination. So I responded as a guest with this:

White people have white privilege and thus they have power. No matter how prejudiced a person of color may become of white people, white people will still have more power. This isn’t to mention the millions of middle class families of color who are one of very few families of color in their neighborhood. Even cities—look at NYC, where the majority in lower income neighborhoods are people of color. Look at most schools in the US, where the majority of teachers are white and the majority of cafeteria workers and janitors are people of color. I interned at a magazine, and the large majority of people sitting in cubicles were white, the majority of people of color worked in the mail room. Racism is a machine and an institution. No matter how prejudice a person of color may be against a white person, it will not undo this structure.  Addressing persecution of people in Eastern Europe, as someone above did, is only dodging the residue of the US’ racist past, present and future. Furthermore, when white people are prejudiced against people of color it is because they are societally conditioned (meaning it can be subconscious) to believe that they are superior of more entitled that people of color. When people of color are prejudiced against white people, it is because they dislike the oppressor, not because they see themselves as better or worthier—therefore it’s not racist to be prejudiced against white people.