Racisim in America

[J_New aka Uncle Curl]

Recently I had a conversation with an older gentlemen about racism in America. As we were talking he made the point that "Minorities cannot be racist." He stated that it is possible for minorities and other social groups that have been oppressed to be prejudice, however not able to be racist. Wanted to pose the question to any and all who are interested in the topic seeing as we are on the eve of monumental day in the history of this nation, Can minorities be racisit?

[The Nature Boy... Whoooooo aka Rdot]

i think so. I think that the prejudice v racism argument is one of semantics. when i was young i used to believe that as a minority you could not be racist due to the lack of power, however, as i have gotten older i do believe that minorities can act in a racist way. the bigger issue in my opinion is that race and racism is still very prevalent in America even though we are on the brink of potentially having the first black president. race still matters and i don't know how and if we will ever let go of the feelings of racism that plague our society. the reason i feel that is because there are a lot of "minority" groups that feel disenfranchised and have been during their time in America and people generally like to keep to their own kind ie race, nation, and creed

[J_New aka Uncle Curl]

That is the exact argument that the older gentleman made. That minorities were incapable of being racist because of the lack of power. It was interesting when I brought up the issue of blacks who are racist towards whites or any other race for that matter, he stated that the reason that blacks held this feeling was based on a long standing history of suppression and degradation by those in power. He basically stated that whites at a root level where the only ones capable because of a simple feeling of superiority towards minorities. and that the feelings that minorities felt towards those in power was simply a reaction.

[Oxy]

I have to disagree with the older gentleman. i grew up in a neighborhood that was all hispanic and there were plenty that were racist against asians and whites and actually blacks for that matter. It wasn't because they had any situations occur, they just didn't like those races and would constantly bad mouth them, say really mean things and act out on those feelings. I also went to school in harlem for 5 years and there were a lot girls from the black community that would seek out hispanic girls and constantly jump them for being hispanic and no other reason.I think that there's racism everywhere...in europe,in africa,in asia, wherever. Theres always going to be people that dislike others for different reasons even within their same ethnic backgrounds.Its so sad and ignorant but its true and I don't feel like some people will ever change.

[Brittney Eguakun]

yes minorities can be racist, there is no doubt about it. i witness it everyday.