Thank you for your response, Annika.
I am not at all offended that you disagree as a White person. Maybe I can clarify my message by sharing some of the ways I have benefited from anti-Black racism, even though I have been oppressed by racism as a Black person:
1. I have benefited from having access to cheap products that would have been more costly if not for having been produced by prison slave labor--which Black people are disproportionately likely to represent.
2. I have benefited from opportunities from people eager to make their teams appear more diverse by including a "good" Black person.
3. I have benefited from living affordably in gentrifying areas where darker-skinned, poorer Black people have been pushed out to make space for young professionals like me.
In as much as these and other actions have supported existing racist power structures, I consider myself racist.
To go off your sexism analogy, I would argue that there are many examples of women, especially in the Middle East and Northern Africa, who perpetuate sexism too. This is evidenced by the fact that almost all female genital mutilations are performed by women. From my own experience, my mom was actually way more critical of women in power than my dad was. My dad thought women can make great leaders, but my mom thought women were too prone to mood swings to be in powerful leadership positions.
I know "racist" is a loaded and very negative term that provokes a strong reaction, so I appreciate your instinct to defend me from it. My hope in writing the article though was to demonstrate that even those who are oppressed are not immune from upholding or benefiting systems of oppression.
As you alluded, I and other Black people did not create this system, and neither did any White people who are living today. Some groups benefit or suffer more from the system, but I think it can only ever be dismantled when each of us are willing to reflect on how our own behaviors perpetuate it. Sadly, I think part of why many people are still so resistant to that is precisely because of how stigmatized the word "racist" is. It seems that as a society we are so quick to categorically demonize anyone who harbors bias or fails to recognize their privilege, yet it is so easy to be blind to in a society where elements of racism are virtually everywhere.
We all fall victim to ignorance--that is not an excuse for society to stay the same, but a call to action for each of us to do our part to change it.
I hope that deepens your understanding of my perspective. I appreciate you for sharing yours.
