An Intro to The Myth of Reverse Racism

Intro: Reverse Racism is a widely misunderstood concept in today’s society. To accurately understand what reverse racism is one has to understand that racism and prejudice have two distinct definitions. They are not interchangeable even though many today use both terms to describe prejudice more than racism. Understanding reverse racism is important to combating popular discourses on present social issues that oppress people of color. Through educating society on the correct definitions of prejudice and racism one can then prove that reverse racism is a made up term used to justify oppressive behaviors towards people of color. Rhetorical analysis allows readers to gain better insight on their topics of reading. Through rhetorical analysis the credibility, purpose, stance, subjectivity or objectivity, and the genre can be determined. This will help to better analyze the strength of the works of writing as useful articles that could aid in educating others on reverse racism.

Source One: Blay, Zeba. “4 ‘Reverse Racism’ Myths That Needs To Stop.”

Summary: Zeba Blay is a credible author who has written many pieces for the HuffPost about major Black social issues and Pop Culture news. In this specific article Blay addresses reverse racism directly. She briefly talks about how many people wrongly use prejudice and racism interchangeably. Blay redefines the words racism and prejudice to begin to give the reader an idea of why reverse racism doesn’t exist. She explains, “racism is a concept that operates on both an individual and institutional level”, whereas prejudice just operates on the individual level. Blay continues to debunk the myth of reverse racism by analyzing four social issues and explaining why it is not an example of reverse racism. She talks about affirmative action, black women “appropriating” white culture, black on white crime, and black history month and why they do not hold up as acts of reverse racism due to the true definition of racism.

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to debunk the myth of reverse racism. Blay hopes to persuade those who do not know or have a misconception of reverse racism that reverse racism in fact does not exist. She aims to prove this through the use of evidence, definitions, and opinions. One can conclude she is writing to inform and debate the argument because she states, “Before you cry outrage and send me a nasty email about how reverse racist this article is…” This shows that she acknowledges that this is a debated topic and some people she aims to educate on the topic will ultimately still disagree with her even after reading her article.  

Stance: Blay’s stance in this article is that reverse racism does not exist. She states that reverse racism doesn’t exist, “Because if it did exist, it would mean we lived in a society in which all racial groups have an equal amount of power.” Especially in the light of what has been happening in American politics the past couple of years it is obvious that all racial groups do not have equal power, thus reverse racism does not exist. Blay also disproves reverse racism by explaining how some social issues are not forms of institutional oppression. For example, she explains that affirmative action is not a form of reverse racism because it is used to balance a system already built to oppress people of color.

Genre: The genre of this article is a web-based opinion article. This article is subjective but is supported by evidence that Blay believes would benefit her stance. However, the proof given is not proven to directly correlate with Blay’s opinions. She analyzes the evidence and interprets it to form her own opinion on the popular debate of reverse racism. Many others have formed an argument on why reverse racism is not a myth and can use affirmative action as an explanation of why they feel reverse racism does exist.

Audience: This article is targeted towards a younger American audience. The target audience is ideally interested in black activism, defending greater black issues, investigating counterarguments to their own beliefs, and people who are curious about reverse racism and what that may be. This can be concluded because Blay puts a gif of the popular Netflix movie, Dear White People, which is a show that deals with modern American black issues. This show is apart of today’s pop culture and has been digested by many people apart of the Netflix and chill generation. She also uses another gif of the popular meme, Confused Nick Young, as a display of her emotions in one of her arguments. This is an attempt to be relatable to the youth of today who are familiar with popular memes such as the one she used.     

Source Two: Camfield, David. “Racism finds a thousand ways to kill, scar and oppress.”

Summary: This magazine article written by David Camfield, defines racism and explains specifically what that entails. “Racism, like other kinds of oppression, is a social relation, a pattern of interaction that’s part of how society is organized.” Camfield explains that racism is a form of oppression but more specifically is enforced systematically. For example, people of color who live in poverty face lower wages, insecure jobs, major health problems, premature death, or at the very least everlasting mental scars. He also makes sure to define prejudice to help educate the reader that all races can be prejudice but not racist. “Racial prejudice arises out of a natural antipathy between groups on the basis of difference”. Camfield gives more specific examples of how racism is systematic and how people of power bend these systems to their benefit. This leads to an explanation of white privilege which is the advantages given to white Americans by society as a result of the legacy left by slavery.

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to educate the audience on racism and thus why reverse racism does not exist. He does this by explaining in depth what racism is and relating it to the real world. Racism according to Camfield is a building block in society that singles out either the physical features of a race or their cultural differences. Thus stereotyping a group of people, “we see this in how Muslims in the West are considered inherently angry, irrational and violent.” One can conclude this writing piece is aimed to educate the reader because the author himself believes the only way to challenge racism is through education.  

Stance: The author stance is that racism is systematic and effects every person of color in some way. “RACISM KILLS….But racism also kills in more subtle ways.” By explaining that racism is systematic the author can also conclude that reverse racism does not exist. Camfield states that the explanation of racism as a systematic form of oppression “helps to dispel the pernicious ideas that many white people have about “reverse racism.” Once we accept that racism is a form of oppression, it doesn’t take much effort to see that white people as a group aren’t systemically harmed as a consequence of being white.”

Genre: Camfield’s article is a magazine opinion piece. His article is similar to Blay’s in the fact that they are both subjective and interpret factual pieces of evidence to benefit their arguments. The use of words such as “supposedly” and “unfortunately” proves his writing to be opinionated and analytical. If the writing was objective the author would have estranged his feelings from his work of writing and used more conclusive language.    

Audience: The target audience for this article seems to be Canadians since the name of the magazine website is called the Canadian Dimension. However, it is more specifically targeted towards Canadian and American black activists and other people who are curious about racism and social issues that affect oppressed racial groups. It can be concluded that the author is targeting these specific groups because he uses real-world examples of racism in both America and Canada. Camfield also brings up historical figures such as Malcolm X in his writing proving that he is trying to relate to the audience using popular black activists.

Source Three: “Prejudice and racism: They differ more than you might think.” UWIRE Text

Summary: This article, written by an unknown author, explains the difference between racism and prejudice. Racism is defined as a system that is meant to prevent a race or ethnicity from success or evolution. While prejudice is defined as judging someone based on their race, gender, or looks. The author clarifies that racism is a structure deeply ingrained into how society operates while prejudice is isolated and revolves around the individual. Based on that definition Caucasians cannot experience racism because they are the ones in the position of power thus proving that reverse racism does not exist.  

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to define racism and prejudice and explain how these definitions prove reverse racism is not real. The author defines racism as, “a system built to keep a race or ethnicity away from success and evolution — a systematic disadvantage based solely on race.” Whereas prejudice is, “described as “pre-judging” an individual with opinions not based on actual facts or experience. Though similar to racism, it is nowhere near as harmful and oppressive and does not have the same impact”. The people in charge of the system are the people who reap the advantages of racism. As a beneficiate to the systematic oppression of others those people in power can not face oppression under their own system thus proving that reverse racism does not exist.

Stance: The author of this article clearly believes that reverse racism is not real and argues against it. At first, they state the importance of correctly understanding the terms of prejudice and racism. “Here on campus, it is important that we understand the difference between racism and prejudice.” They then continue to express their beliefs on reverse racism by stating, and “please do not use the false “reverse racism” theory to downplay minorities’ experiences and hold them back from expressing their truths.” Showing his or her clear passionate stance against reverse racism. The authors have a strong opinion on the matter of racism and reverse racism and believe that racism remains because of the power and privilege of white Americans.

Genre: The genre of this article is another opinion piece explaining why racism doesn’t exist. The author is very passionate and subjective in this article. The author urges readers to stop and think about her argument even if it is contrary to popular beliefs, to stop and speak up if you witness racism on campus, and pleads for readers to stop using the false reverse racism theory. This newspaper article is definitely meant to educate fellow college students on campus on racism and reverse racism as well as prove as a form of advocacy for marginalized races.

Audience: This article seems to be targeted towards college kids since this article was written for a college newspaper. These college students who would read this article would be interested in social justice and learning about the history of oppression and the specific terms that apply to it since that is what is covered in the newspaper article.

Source Four: Wallis, Jim. “America’s original sin: the legacy of white racism.”

Summary: In this article, Jim Wallis talks about the lasting effects of slavery in America. Wallis explains that prejudice is a “universal sin” whereas racism is America’s original sin. Racism was created to justify the use of slaves in early America. This left an everlasting legacy in the United States where systems were put in place to help White Americans succeed while oppressing other races. Many White Americans fail to recognize this legacy and underlying racism in present society. This lack of recognition combined with America’s economic, social, and political structure still oppress people of color today.  

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to explain the origins of racism and how it still has a grasp on society today. Jim explains that racism was originally created to justify slavery and slowly molded into a systematic structure meant to retard other races while uplifting white Americans. The effect of slavery on our society shows that racism cannot be targeted towards the people who created and then inherited this system thus debunking reverse racism.

Stance: The author is against racism and the use of reverse racism to justify the oppression of the people of power. Jim states, “We must not give in to the popular temptation to believe that racism existed mostly in the Old South or before the 1960s.” Explaining that despite societies popular belief racism is still very real and alive today. We must as a nation come together and come to terms with racism in order to start developing a better America.

Genre: The genre of this article is an educational scholarly essay. The author is very objective in his writing as he talks about the history of America up until present day. He recounts history with little opinion but talks about how each event correlates The article is dense with information and historical events.  

Audience: The target audience would be individuals curious about the history of how racism came to be in America. This can be concluded by the vast amount of knowledge shown in the article about slavery and how it’s legacy lead to the creation of racism in America.

Conclusion: All four articles come together to create a strong argument against reverse racism. Each one supports the fact that racism is a structural form of oppression of people of color, whereas, prejudice is a more personal form of oppression where someone judges you and acts a way towards you based on your looks, race, or gender. Reverse racism simply cannot exist because the people in power can not face oppression from their own system.

Work Cited

Blay, Zeba. “4 ‘Reverse Racism’ Myths That Needs To Stop.” HuffPost, 6 June 2017, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/reverse-racism-isnt-a-thing_us_55d60a91e4b07addcb45da97. Accessed 13 Sept. 2018.

Camfield, David. “Racism finds a thousand ways to kill, scar and oppress.” Canadian Dimension, Winter 2016, p. 18+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, http://link.galegroup.com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/apps/doc/A447636983/OVIC?u=cuny_ccny&sid=OVIC&xid=d12e9180. Accessed 13 Sept. 2018.

“Prejudice and racism: They differ more than you might think.” UWIRE Text, 27 Jan. 2016, p. 1. Infotrac Newsstand, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A441503147/STND?u=cuny_ccny&sid=STND&xid=2a404f95. Accessed 13 Sept. 2018.

Wallis, Jim. “America’s original sin: the legacy of white racism.” Cross Currents, Summer 2007, p. 197+. Academic OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A168215072/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=AONE&xid=c56431b4. Accessed 13 Sept. 2018.