Michael Bahk

A&E Editor

Racism is prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior.
For a sensible discussion to occur, a clear definition of the subject must be established.
Every race has a prevalent stereotype or preconception, such as the idea that black people can run faster than other races, Asians are better at math, or that all white people are stuttering and incestuous rednecks.
I’m not saying that one stereotype is worse or better than another. What I’m saying is that white people can experience prejudice just like every other race, which means that they are subject to some form of racism.
Granted, it is not as prominent or as oppressive as other stereotypes, but it is a stereotype nonetheless.
A recent example of white discrimination involves a recent lawsuit against Google in which a white employee was fired from the tech giant simply for questioning the authenticity of a Muslim man’s story.
The company accused him of calling his Muslim co-worker a terrorist and he was promptly fired. Is it not racist to fire a white man simply for questioning the integrity of a Muslim man?
If their roles were switched, a Muslim man would surely not have been punished for questioning the integrity of a white man.
With the rise in popularity of the Black Lives Matter Movement, people seem to forget that pride in one’s heritage does not permit one to put down the heritage of other people.
Sure, be proud that you’re black. But stop acting as if it’s offensive if someone is proud to be white.
Everyone in the United States has the right to be proud of who they are, regardless of background.
It is not uncommon to turn on the news and see people at a Black Lives Matter rally accusing whites of being content with their unjust privileges.
This movement seems to have come to the conclusion that the cause of their problems is the white people of America, as if all whites constantly think and talk about how they are so much better than black people and other races for that matter.
An example of this skewed mindset is the incident from January 2017, in which four black teens kidnapped and tortured an 18-year-old white man, forcing him to drink toilet water all while making slanderous and hostile remarks toward whites.
Following their arrest, the teens remarked to the police that they felt no remorse over what they did and felt that their actions were justified. The horrifying treatment of this white man clearly shows that white people can also be abused to the point where, at times, they are treated as if they are not human.
It is understandable to be angry over events that are deeply rooted in the history of America, such as the massive slave trade and mistreatment of blacks.
But be angry at the history, not the people who just happened to be born white. Blame the unfair system that silences minorities and keeps certain races on the top.
Stop trying to unite a people through the hatred and antagonization of a common “enemy. It can have devastating effects and does nothing to combat actual racism.
We must be able to see past skin color to overcome division.

Brandon Victoriano

Online Editor

Can one define the color red? No, not really. 

Can one define racism? Sure, but the full meaning behind racism can’t be confined to one definition in some dictionary.

There is a difference between prejudice and full on racism.

 If racism can extend to just about any trivial racial slur, then sure, you can be racist to white people.  But racism is such a loaded term that it goes beyond just the mere definition stated in the Merriam Webster dictionary.

For one thing, racism requires systematic oppression. To argue that white people are the victims in this situation would be incorrect because they are deemed as the “ones in charge” and the default race. 

The oppressors can’t be the ones being oppressed.

 Now of course, you can be prejudiced toward white people and definitely stereotype them all you want. 

But to say that being white denies such people opportunities, such as obtaining a job or acquiring a loan, then you would be wrong.

What differs between racism toward minorities and reverse racism, which is racism toward whites, is that there are very few societal effects and consequences whites experience because of this prejudice. It’s rare that a white person is denied an opportunity for being white.

As of July 1, 2016, the U.S. Census Bureau has reported that the population of people in the U.S. that are white with no Hispanic or Latino origin is 61.3 percent. While this is an all-time low in U.S. history, it still constitutes a majority.

So to say that the majority of Americans, who are white and come from a position of privilege, are being oppressed by the minority would be obviously false.

In the last two years, several Cal High parents complained that select senior quotes in the newspaper and yearbook were racist toward white people. One of these quotes was a quote from Martin Luther King. 

It is impossible for there to be reverse racism in these quotes because movements like Black Lives Matter and Black History Month don’t advocate for the oppression of white people.

It’s also important to note that reverse racism is a made-up construct that holds no real weight. By saying reverse racism, one is implying that racism is being done the wrong way, as if there was a right way to be racist.

More recently, David Gudeman, a conservative white male and ex-engineer for Google, was fired for allegedly accusing a co-worker of being a terrorist. 

Now, Gudeman and James Damore, another former Google engineer who was fired under similar circumstances, are filing a joint lawsuit against Google for “allow[ing] harassment against white men and penaliz[ing] Gudeman and Damore for their political beliefs,” according to The Verge.

In a following statement from Google CEO Sundar Pichai, the termination of these men was not a “politically motivated event” and that it was to ensure their employees “felt [that] the company was committed to creating a welcoming environment,” according to The Verge.

Whites don’t experience racism, at least on a societal level.  Without the foundation of systemic oppression, whites could not possibly experience racism in a country where they constitute a majority and remain privileged in ways that minorities are not.