The Right to Decide What is Racist
A few days ago, I spotted this on Facebook in a comment to a posting on the subject of racism. “I am a white person so I don’t get to decide what is racist.” Say what? Okay let’s address the question of who gets to decide what is racist (or not). (Spoiler alert: The short answer is we all have the same right to decide, regardless of our skin color, because we all have the same inherent right to freedom of thought.)
One recent opinion is that “oppressors” don’t get to decide what is racist, only “victims”. And since white people are “oppressors” and people of color are “victims”, white people don’t get to judge if something is racist. If you buy into that claim, you end up affirming a fundamental right (freedom of thought) for one group, but denying it to another group, based on their skin color. That is the classic definition of racism. Proponents of this view are actually practicing racism in the name of getting rid of racism! (They would never say they are practicing racism, of course. But they are.)
Nobody can take away my freedom of thought, for any reason. Because I am a human being. And I cannot take away anybody’s freedom of thought, for any reason. Because they are all human beings. I would never even try.
Beware of those who want to use an alleged status as an oppressor to get you to give up your freedom of thought in any area of life, such as deciding for yourself if something is racist or not. When they try to do this, realize they are attempting to take power from you for themselves. To accomplish this, they will use your skin color, not the content of your character. That is wrong and it will always be wrong. It is racism and it will always be racism. The person who posted the comment in Facebook has given away an inherent right under the guise of helping to end racism. Let’s hope they realize their error and take back their right to freedom of thought. If they refuse to have this right abridged based on their skin color, they actually are fighting racism.