hi, so I read your ask about the whole USA-defined racism vs. European-defined racism, and I myself (biracial American Latina) have had qualms about the argument where black people cant be racist……. I’ve agreed when said black people cant be racist towards whites bc of the whole position of power thing but that they can be racist towards other poc’s. how do you feel about this in terms of European racism that whites can be racially targeted/etc?

naliya:

Hi,

So this post has been sitting in my askbox (with a bunch of others) for a while now, sorry for not answering earlier but I didn’t have neither the time nor the drive to write anything, I hope you will still see it. 

Now, I have struggled with how to word this and I hope I won’t be misunderstood, but the first thing I feel many americans need to understand is that their definition of racism (as being power + prejudice) simply isn’t how racism is understood almost everywhere else in the world. For us Europeans, racism is simply prejudice against someone for being different; it can be about colour, ethnicity or nationality and power plays aren’t necessarily factored in the definition of racism that we are taught even though we are well aware of their existences. This is why often Europeans will be very confused when you tell them that an entire group of people can’t be racist toward another no matter which, because according to what they have been taught on the issue all their lives, racism is simply hatred against someone else for something they were born with and can not help and as everyone is capable of hatred then everyone can be racist against anyone according to this very simple definition. 

Pulling out one of my French dictionary, this is the definition I have under “racisme”:

“n.m; 1. Idéologie fondée sur la croyance qu’il éxiste une hiérarchie entre groupes humains, les “races”; comportement inspirée par cette ideologie. 2. Attitude d’hostilité systématique à l’égard d’une catégorie déterminée de personnes.”

It means : “1. Ideology founded on the belief that there exist a hierarchy between human groups, “races”; behavior inspired by this ideology. 2. Systematic hostile attitude toward one specific category of people.” 

You can notice two things: first, nowhere is it said that it HAS to be about colourism, it only talk of “human groups” or “specific category of people” which can be about colour, or ethnicity, or nationality … etc, just as well since – and as I have explained before – “races” and “racism” are far murkier concepts in Europe than they seem to be in the USA,  colourism for instance was never the sole factor differentiating the “others” from the “same” here. And secondly, nowhere are power plays mentioned as being essential to the definition. 

About that last point, and this is where I don’t want to be misunderstood, I am NOT saying that power plays are non factors in Europe, because it is obvious that they exist; but since racism was not overall something that was institutionalized in Europe to the extent it was in the USA (no segregation well into the 60s for example), those power plays are not understood within the definition of what racism is and will often be less visible and less defined. It doesn’t mean that they are “better” and even less so that they don’t exist, in many ways it makes the problem harder to tackle, it just means that those things will express themselves differently and therefore should be approached differently and understood with the specific history and constructs they carry. If we try to fight racism in Europe with an American definition in mind, I do not think we will go anywhere because it won’t resonate the same as our history is different. 

Additionally, it is important to keep in mind that power is not a fixed thing, it is fluid and won’t be held by the same people everywhere all the time, who has power and who doesn’t lies on a number of factors which won’t be the same everywhere, it depends of where you are, of your wealth and yes, of the individual we’re talking of as well since individual racism, from person to person, exists. Insisting that the power plays existing in the USA are the default and valid everywhere is absurd, and when social justice oriented tumblr tries to argue that, this is where they lose people. For example, if you are a black American in Europe, there is 90% chance that you will be treated far better than a romani, even if they look and are white (and yes, plenty do, especially if they have been sedentary for a while and/or have married outside of their group), this doesn’t mean that you can’t suffer from anti-black sentiment as well, as (as I’ve said) racism here takes many pervasive forms but you can’t argue that the white looking romani (or the European jew, or the Slav in WE or whoever) has any significant power that somehow makes it impossible for them to be the targets of racism no matter where this racism comes from (in the case of the jews it would be a vastly problematic thing to say in fact as an overwhelming amount of antisemtism comes from the muslim community, as uncomfortable of a fact as it is) – also, if you are latino with lighter skin there is a huge chance you will only be seen as white, period as odd as it may seem. And this is only about Europe, because those power plays are again far different and have their own structures everywhere else in the world. 

When Europeans, who do not believe and are not taught that “races” are anything but social constructs, disagree with you that white people can’t be the targets of racism they disagree for many reasons; witnessing many people who would be constructed as “white” in the US be the victims of it time and again is one of them, the fact that this “power + prejudice” definition isn’t the one they were taught is another and I think it is vital for Americans to keep that in mind before they lash out at Europeans (especially younger ones) for being confused by the American point of view on the issue. It is valid for you, no one is denying that, but it isn’t for us and it isn’t what we are taught.