{"id":5249,"date":"2009-09-17T10:09:25","date_gmt":"2009-09-17T14:09:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/?p=5249"},"modified":"2009-09-21T18:15:00","modified_gmt":"2009-09-21T22:15:00","slug":"why-cant-black-people-be-racist-a-brief-primer-on-white-supremacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/?p=5249","title":{"rendered":"“Why Can’t Black People Be Racist?”: A Brief Primer on White Supremacy."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"dave_chapelle_show_-_black_white_su\"<\/p>\n

Dear The Domestic Terrorist<\/a>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Greetings. Thanks for linking to and quoting my post, “‘Is Kanye the New O.J. ?'”<\/a>, from my blog, Media Assassin<\/em>, in your post about Kanye West and Taylor Swift, “Much Ado About Kanye.”<\/a> I enjoyed your writing.<\/p>\n

In your piece, however, I couldn’t help but notice the following excerpt:<\/p>\n

Where Mr. Allen lost me (well, he never really had me but I was going in with an open mind since I highly<\/strong> respect the person who referred me to his article), was when he spewed forth this nonsense:<\/strong><\/p>\n

My ongoing call, however, is for non-white people to develop an understanding of race that is meticulous, logical, and systematic. Racism has a sole, functional expression: White supremacy. Racism is not historical. It\u2019s futuristic. It is not going away. It is being refined. It is weaponized through deceit, secrecy, and violence, in that order. It\u2019s chief tools are not clubs, bullets, or nooses, but words.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Now here I almost agreed with him, save for this line: Racism has a sole, functional expression: White supremacy.<\/em><\/p>\n

Seriously?\u00a0 You\u2019re kidding, right, Hank? … I had to read it two or three times to really understand what this man was trying to say, and folks, he almost fooled me.<\/p>\n

At the end of the day, Mr. Allen throws us a whole boatload of $50 words, but his insinuation that only white people are racist is, in fact, highly suspect at best, and racist at worst.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s so outrageous to claim that racism is a white-only problem that I\u2019m not even going to comment on it.<\/p>\n

Instead, I\u2019ll simply offer a sampling, with commentary, of OTHER tweets I discovered in a very brief, unscientific, cursory 30 minute search.<\/p>\n

Had Mr. Allen wanted to present an honest, fair, and balanced assessment of what\u2019s happening on Twitter with regard to Kanye and racism, he\u2019d have done well to include these:<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"kanye-west-and-taylor-swift-pic-getty-image-1-364547169\"Then, you list a large number of tweets by Black people, using the so-called “N-word,” threatening white people over the Kanye West controversy, right, etc.<\/p>\n

Now, I don’t know why you call me “Hank.” My name is Harry. Thanks for these thoughts, though, and I should be clear: It’s not my practice, as anyone whose read MEDIA ASSASSIN even briefly might notice, to either second-guess our commenters, or other bloggers, who disagree with me. I typically do not even reply, because, to me, after I’ve spoken and expressed my opinion, others should be able to do the same.<\/p>\n

I’ve cited your text, however, because a significant number of the nearly 200 comments we’ve received on the Kanye piece\u2014as I write this, I’ve put up only about 120 of them\u2014raised a similar objection: “How can you say only white people are racist when Black people do racist things, also?”<\/p>\n

\"dictionary\"Because of that, I have to ask you to forgive me if the section that you quoted, by me, above, was unclear, or tended toward exaggeration. (Indeed, the part that most stung was your remark about “$50 words,” right. I so<\/em> try to speak very simply when talking about race, and will work harder to do so.)<\/p>\n

As well, what I’ve said may be incorrect, all of it. Also, I’ve been told, mostly by my longsuffering wife, that I frequently say things that people don’t initally understand, or that they think sound crazy. So your response is not unusual.<\/p>\n

I’ll try and address it, now, but must do so very tentatively. You see, today, I’m leaving town for a lecture I’m giving in Baltimore MD, at Morgan State University’s Carl J. Murphy Fine Arts Center Recital Hall<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"t_la_rock_300e28094lo-res1\"<\/a>This evening, at 7:30 pm, I’ll be presenting a series of hip-hop photographs I made in the early 1980s<\/a>. They’re mostly of the people who would become the band Public Enemy, and their production arm, the Bomb Squad. There are other subjects, though, like this image of rapper T La Rock, right, so its a good mix. It’s similar to the lecture I gave at the University of Iowa this past April<\/a>. As well, I’ll be visiting other schools and universities this year, in order to show these classic, mostly black & white images. I’m looking forward to doing so, as I am to meeting the students, staff, and faculty of Morgan State.<\/p>\n

But, to your protest: In short, when I say that racism has a sole, functional expression\u2014or as I usually say, a sole, functional form<\/em>\u2014white supremacy, what I mean is that white supremacy is a more powerful, effective, and dominant kind of mistreatment than, apparently, any other yet devised by people.<\/p>\n

So, to make a very limited example, Black kids and white kids may both call each other horrible names. This is true. I know this. (Indeed, many of the people responding to “‘Is Kanye the New O.J. ?'”<\/a> have said this, and also found my statement outrageous.)<\/p>\n

\"coverstory24\"So we’re agreed here. But, here’s my point: In the end, when it’s time to go to school, the Black kids\u2014if they’re lucky\u2014are taught by white teachers, about white concerns. Mostly.<\/p>\n

By this, I don’t mean white teachers are “better” than Black teachers…or that they’re not. I’m simply saying that schools which have a lot of white teachers tend to be “better,” right, than ones with a lot of Black teachers. Mostly.<\/p>\n

Following, when the Black kids need jobs, they tend to go work for, or report to, the white kids’ dads and uncles; i.e., other white people. Mostly.<\/p>\n

If their bones are broken, or their stomachs hurt, they go to hospitals administered by white people, and are attended to by white people, or by people trained by them, and\/or in their ways of doing medicine. Mostly.<\/p>\n

If they work hard and decide they want buy a home, the Black kids will probably go talk to a white person, below, or a person who answers to white people, about a mortgage. Mostly.<\/p>\n

But, in all of these situations, the reverse is not true<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"banker300px\"In other words, white kids are not likely to be taught by Black teachers, to have to ask Black people for jobs, or to press any Black folks for mortgages. Ever.<\/p>\n

Now, why would that be?<\/p>\n

I say it’s because white supremacy is dominant.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In fact, it’s so dominant that any system on Earth that does the opposite\u2014that compels white kids to go to schools with Black teachers, ask Black guys for jobs, and pull for mortages from Black financiers\u2014is so inferior, miniscule, and of such limited range it doesn’t even have a name, or a location.<\/p>\n

That is, you’d be hard-pressed, right this second, to tell me where it is, or where white people live like this. However, you can find places like the one I’ve described if you just close your eyes, throw a rock in the air, and follow wherever it lands.<\/p>\n

\"onion_news1663\"<\/a>This fact leads directly back to the name-calling, by the way: In an arrangement, such as the one I’ve described, it’s only the white name-calling that has any real weight. Because, under it, if a white person decides you’re a nigger<\/em>, then they can make it hard going for you.<\/p>\n

However, if a Black person decides you’re a cracker<\/em>, sure, it’s unpleasant. But the chances that they will be able to affect your life in any reasonably serious way\u2014in the ways I’ve described, above\u2014is almost nil<\/em>.<\/p>\n

So, this is why I say white supremacy is the only functional<\/em> form of racism; the only kind that actually works<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"cronulla_wideweb__470x3130\"Most white people think of racism, or race\u2014I use the terms interchangeably\u2014as harsh feelings and sounds; in a sensory way. They do this, because, to them, that’s when racism becomes most apparent. That’s when they notice it. Hence, when white kids see Black kids doing “the same things” that, when they do it, gets called racism, they think, that’s racist, too.<\/p>\n

In fact, though, a more useful way to think of race, or a more functional<\/em> way, is as field<\/em>; as a context where certain kinds of outcomes are likely<\/em>; i.e., ones that “favor,” or “empower” white people, and “power-less<\/em>” non-white people.<\/p>\n

Now, this is a very simple example, above; really just a thought experiment. However, if one is serious about it, one can sit down and, with pencil and paper, come up with, literally, millions of similar examples and scenarios that reveal the practical dominance of whiteness, or, again, white supremacy.<\/p>\n

However, I repeat: I could be wrong about all of this, and probably am.<\/p>\n

What are your thoughts?<\/p>\n

I welcome your, and anyone else’s, response.<\/p>\n

Sincerely,
\nHarry Allen
\nHip-Hop Activist & Media Assassin<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear The Domestic Terrorist: Greetings. Thanks for linking to and quoting my post, “‘Is Kanye the New O.J. ?’”, from my blog, Media Assassin, in your post about Kanye West and Taylor Swift, “Much Ado About Kanye.” I enjoyed your writing. In your piece, however, I couldn’t help but notice the following excerpt: Where Mr. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[46,33,51,20,65],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5249"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5249"}],"version-history":[{"count":39,"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5319,"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5249\/revisions\/5319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}