Response: “Reflecting on Racism”

Selene you are not racist. You are prejudice. There is a difference. Racist would imply that you are assisting your group in using its social, economic, and political influence in order to limit the opportunities of another ethnic group. Prejudice on the other hand would imply that you are making a prejudgment with the information you have on hand i.e. skin color, ethnic group, religion, last name, geographic location, etc. So that example you gave about someone cutting you off and you chalking it up to their ethnic group was prejudice, not racist. In contrast, if a white person had a complaint about the driver he could actually lobby government officials to close down DMVs in predominately minority counties like they are currently doing in Alabama or deny birth certificates to first generation Mexican Americans babies like they are doing in Texas. These are racist attitudes because one group is using its power to limit another’s. The only ones capable of doing so in America are white people especially white males such as Nathan Palmer. Given that I wasn’t present at this event, I can only assume that you were misinformed or that you used a poor word choice in the article. Racism at its core, just like Rape, is based off power. Given that you are a double minority, in being Mexican American and a female, you do not have the power in order to be racist. Nathan Palmer who is a part of the majority, being that he is a White male, is capable of being racist. Racism just like Capitalism is a power structure where there are those who are at the top and those who are at the bottom. Minorities, who are at the bottom, are incapable of being racist in America because we do not have the same amount of power as our white counterparts, who are at the top. To put a bow on this, when was the last time Mexican-Americans used their power, by their own volition, to limit another ethnic group’s economic, social, or educational opportunity? I’m just saying though.