“Reverse” Racism
Is it, or is it Not?
By Ananya Shree
This topic dates back to the 1960’s American Civil Rights movement, and now once again comes under the spotlight during the “All Lives Matter” movement. The term “reverse racism” itself explains it as a phenomenon where the dynamic of racism/discrimination turns upside down, or flips.
It occurs when the oppressor feels as though they have become the oppressed, and the socio-economically oppressed appear as their “oppressors”.
But how does this phenomenon usually operate? Is there enough evidence to suggest its existence, or it is just some random term flying all over the internet? We need to look out for these questions. In order to do so, first we need to know what this term means. It is difficult to describe, because racism and prejudice is believed to be the same. But this is not so.
Racism is the belief that people of some ethnicity or race are inferior to others, and the behaviour which is the result of this belief; or when a perceived discrimination is practiced against those superior groups.
This is most often associated with black and white communities in American society, but we can observe the pattern of these changes in other places as well. For instance, there is a common joke among black individuals that white people can’t season food well. These things can hurt the feelings of whites, but it is not racist because here the blacks cannot oppress the white people by just saying these things. It’s important to understand that one can be prejudiced but not necessarily racist, as racism is often associated with privilege and power.
We should not associate affirmative action with reverse racism. Affirmative action refers to the policies adopted by a government or any organisation to increase the participation of any particular group that has been socially or economically discriminated against — for example, in the USA there is limited preference given to black individuals in job hiring or academic admissions to institutions of higher education. These actions taken is not the discrimination or favouring of blacks over whites, but is given to level the opportunities for each and every individual in society. These measures are carried out as black communities have been oppressed from the very beginning, and they need to be provided certain socio-economic advantages to overcome the long-existing gap in our society.
People of the dominant group assume these affirmative actions to be that of reverse racism. We also cannot deny the fact that whites have been subjected to violence, but not to the extent that black people have — the brutality and oppression they faced in slavery is itself enough to explain the bigotry towards them.
According to a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, white students are 40% more likely to get private scholarships than black students. A study of homicide in 2011 showed that 83% of white murder victims were killed by fellow whites, while 14% were black. Thus we do not have enough empirical evidence to suggest that white people are discriminated against, or have lesser opportunities compared to black people only due to some decisions taken in favour of blacks, who are at disadvantaged positions.
Reverse Racism in the Indian Context
In India, discrimination is heavily faced by people of the northeast region, by those in the so-called ‘mainland’ India. In a study conducted by the National Human Rights Commission, 54% of people from northeast India believe that discrimination is a reality as they are frequently called ‘Chinese’ or ‘Japanese’ and also face humiliation in public places or sometimes even denied entry. During the Shillong riots in 2018, this term gathered attention. It described the bias and discrimination faced by people of other states who have migrated to Northern India, and we need to understand that it takes place in very subtle ways, like the prices of commodities being unusually high for people who have migrated from other parts of the country.
So, we have to realise that these “reversed” actions are being performed, but not to a large extent or scale, and we do not have the proper material evidence to suggest its existence. These affirmative actions are allegedly practiced when the people who were oppressed are now at a “dominant” position leading to equality in society, but it is not so!
We need to observe these terms carefully to understand rather than just believing things that are out there on the internet, social media, etc., or as rumours.
References:
- Wida, E.C,(June 26 2020).’What does reverse racism mean and is it actually real? Experts weigh in’. Today. (Accessed via: https://www.today.com/tmrw/what-reverse-racism-experts-weigh-term-t184580)
- Ira, P.(November 30,2020). ‘Why Reverse Racism is Myth?’. Medium (Accessed via: https://medium.com/equality-includes-you/why-reverse-racism-is-a-myth-c2374b8837af)
- Curry, M (March 11, 2020) ‘Solved: The myth of reverse racism’. The Berkeley Beacon. (Accessed via: https://berkeleybeacon.com/solved-the-myth-of-reverse-racism)
- Pradhan, S. (June 05, 2018) ‘Shillong clashes expose a reverse racism often camouflaged. Firstpost. (Accessed via: https://www.firstpost.com/india/shillong-clashes-expose-a-reverse-racism-often-camouflaged-by-treatment-some-northeasterners-face-in-mainland-india-4496839.html)
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Originally published at http://lighthousemh.wordpress.com on January 14, 2021.
