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It can't be racist if you have no power [1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prejudice_plus_power




This is just blatantly untrue. Some piss-poor unemployed KKK member yelling racial slurs at the TV during the 2012 election is still a racist, despite having infinitesmal power - especially institutional power! - compared to the person he is being racist towards. I doubt there's a single person who would doubt that. Would you?


Sounds like something a white would say. Perhaps you suffer from the "white fragility" cited by the wikipedia article [1]?

[1] https://libjournal.uncg.edu/ijcp/article/viewFile/249/116

    White people in North America live in a social environment that protects and in-
    sulates them from race-based stress. This insulated environment of racial protec-
    tion builds white expectations for racial comfort while at the same time lowering
    the ability to tolerate racial stress, leading to what I refer to as White Fragility.
    White Fragility is a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress be-
    comes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves. These moves include
    the outward display of emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors such
    as argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation. These behav-
    iors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium.


And that sounds like something a racist would say. Seriously, "a white"? Does my race matter to you because you judge the validity of arguments by the skin color of the people making them?

Also, while I haven't read DiAngelo's greater oeuvre, that's a pretty poor quote to pull. The symptoms (anger and fear particularly) and strategies he gives of a white person experiencing "white fragility" could just as easily be applied to a black person experiencing racism! Which honestly is in accord with my wider experience with the anti-racist movement. Its most ardent supporters tend to say things that, as a non-American (and non-European before you make that assumption), are almost indistinguishable to me from white supremacy. I find myself agreeing greatly with John McWhorter (https://johnmcwhorter.substack.com/p/the-elect-neoracists-po...) over Ibram X. Kendi.


You touch it with a needle.


Let's redefine racism, nice play




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