Just to make things even more complicated, there can be a power imbalance at a macro level that favors group A over group B, whereas at a more micro level, there can be situations where the power balance is reversed. I’m a white kid who grew up in a barrio (long story) and I experienced that at an early age. I got the shit beaten out of me many times because my face didn’t fit, as well as being on the receving end of disparaging and sometimes threatening comments (especially when I was dating one of the girls from the neighborhood).
So I think you’re onto something with the terminological distinctions you’re making. Equating “racism” with “systemic racism” gives a lot more truth to the “white people can’t experience racism” claim. But along with systemic racism, there’s ad-hoc racism and related forms of bigotry that can run counter to the prevalent bias.
Still, if my name were Gonzalez instead of my very common Irish surname, and I applied for a university place or (even more) a job, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to be treated more negatively, even with the same qualifications. I’ve seen it happen to my friends and neighbors.
There’s a whole, long discussion to be had about intersectionality, and about the fundamental incommensurability of the many possible axes of privilege and oppression. I’m not motivated to get into that now, but undertanding it makes some otherwise counter-intuitive observations make more sense.
Just to make things even more complicated, there can be a power imbalance at a macro level that favors group A over group B, whereas at a more micro level, there can be situations where the power balance is reversed. I’m a white kid who grew up in a barrio (long story) and I experienced that at an early age. I got the shit beaten out of me many times because my face didn’t fit, as well as being on the receving end of disparaging and sometimes threatening comments (especially when I was dating one of the girls from the neighborhood).
So I think you’re onto something with the terminological distinctions you’re making. Equating “racism” with “systemic racism” gives a lot more truth to the “white people can’t experience racism” claim. But along with systemic racism, there’s ad-hoc racism and related forms of bigotry that can run counter to the prevalent bias.
Still, if my name were Gonzalez instead of my very common Irish surname, and I applied for a university place or (even more) a job, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to be treated more negatively, even with the same qualifications. I’ve seen it happen to my friends and neighbors.
There’s a whole, long discussion to be had about intersectionality, and about the fundamental incommensurability of the many possible axes of privilege and oppression. I’m not motivated to get into that now, but undertanding it makes some otherwise counter-intuitive observations make more sense.