Bigotry and Racism
Often times I hear people use the terms bigotry and racism interchangeably. This mistake is made by pundits on 24 hour news networks, by people in the community, and by fellow activists. The question I get asked frequently is “so what, you know what I mean”.
The major problem with this attitude is confuses bigotry ( obstinate or intolerant devotion to one’s own opinions and prejudices : the state of mind of a bigot) with Racism( a doctrine or political program based on the assumption of racism and designed to execute its principles). Racism incorporates an element of societal power. It is bigotry, with the mechanisms of a society setup to support that bigotry.
In the US, racism is the exclusive realm of Caucasians. The long history of enslavement, Jim Crow, and continued Police Violence, and anti-immigrant rhetoric have ensured that our society is setup to work against those that fall into different racial and ethnic groups. Examples include the Tulsa Race Massacre and the Chinese Exclusion Acts prove how the power of our society can be turned to support the goals of racism.
There are examples of White Americans facing bigotry whenever they reside in a predominately POC area in the US. While these examples are used to point out how racism can be turned towards White Americans, there is a flaw in these examples. Yes, the bigotry experienced by White Americans in this situation is wrong. But it is still tied to the effects of white supremacy and institutional racism in the US. Many of the people participating in this type of bigotry are reacting to decades of targeted racism against them. Their anger, at ICE raids, police shootings, society discrimination, will sometimes spill out to targets that resemble those that benefit from society racism and white supremacy.
White Supremacy only benefits the rich and powerful white people in charge of our government and corporations. Inherently it seeks to turn poor White Americans against those that are different. It seeks to use “model minorities” as a wedge against other people of color, in order to distract and enable the continued presence of institutional racism in the US. It keeps Americans obsessed with our differences, instead of uniting on our common goals. Racism hurts us all, it divides us, it turns us bitter towards each other, and it absolutely undermines all of our chances for opportunity.
Bigotry of any kind is wrong. There is no excuse for the hatred or ignorance of another group of people. It’s doubly wrong when the mechanisms of society reinforce this blind hatred and ignorance. The only solution against these mechanisms is transparency and knowledge. The meaning of these words matter. Racism affects us all, continuously, it is ingrained in our society and poisons the potential of our society. The argument that calling out bigotry and racism is “prejudiced against the bigot” is nonsense. Calling out injustice is not ignorant. It is not hateful or destructive. It is meant as an act of resistance against hate.
