Recently, an online controversy erupted when Conservatives angrily rejected the idea that Black folks can't be racist. As I see it, their problem stems from the continued refusal of those on the Right to acknowledge systemic racism.
Look, Black folks can exhibit racial prejudice against white folks, but while such behavior is bigotry, it isn't racism, for the simple fact that racism = prejudice + power.
For Blacks to be considered racist, they would have to systemically benefit from that bigotry, and in the history of the USA, only one group has ever benefitted from such a system: white folks.
That's why it's so ludicrous when rich white folks like Elon Musk and Bill Ackman claim that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs are racist, when, in fact, those programs are meant to help combat racism.
Musk and Ackman whine that such programs amount to "racism against white people"—which is not only something that doesn't exist (see the helpful formula three paragraphs above) but on Jeopardy would probably be known as "Things White Supremacists Say".
To summarize: black folks can be bigoted, but not racist. White folks, on the other hand, can be both (re: Musk and Ackman)
As an eternal optimist, I continue to believe that someday all of us will live together free from the blight of racial strife—but when one side fails to even acknowledge the existence of systemic racism, that struggle remains an uphill battle.
Update: Just read this interesting article from the UK's Guardian which contains this very pertinent quote:
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