Racist

Why is it that nowadays the word racist predominantly refers to the white
communities views on different races? The definition of this word and its
current use are very separate. In todays society, we often throw this word on
white people and have made it a norm for them to be racist. Weve also made it so
that if you are not white you cannot be racist. Any stereotypes or racial slurs
you throw on anyone can go unnoticed if youre black, Latino/Hispanic or,
essentially, anything other than white. The way the term is stereotyped to
refer to white people is wrong. White people are automatically deemed as racist
and are put in a box of shame, not because of anything theyve said or done, but
because theyre white; that in itself is racism and a form of hypocrisy. Using
terms like cracker or honkey is racist, a person's skin color has nothing to
do with that. One can be stereotypical, one can be racist. The whole definition
of the word racist is close to change.
The term racist applies to anyone who believes that their race is superior to
others. 1932 as a noun, 1938 as an adjective, from race (n.2); racism is first

attested 1936 (from French racisme, 1935), originally in the context of

Nazi theories. But they replaced earlier words, racialism (1871) and
racialist (1917), both often used early 20c. in a British or South African
context. In the U.S., race hatred, race prejudice had been used, and,
especially in 19c. political contexts, negrophobia.T
his word is misused

because of issues that stem from events such as slavery or the Civil Rights
Movement. White societies and ancestors have made mistakes that have been
pulled into the present. During times of slavery in the 1800s and the early
1900s white communities had a superior place in society and governed as a
dominant race, but todays definition didnt apply itself to all whites. This
definition applies to a variety of people. There are many people who believe
that their race is the highest and throw labels and stereotypes on other races
to make theirs seem better by comparison. The word racist is a label used to
identify white people, not just to make other races feel more empowered, but to
remind white people that what they did in the past was wrong, there is still
anger from periods that enforced slavery. When the Emancipation Proclamation
was introduced it was enforced to allow black slaves to be free and be frontline
in the army, but still in the aftermath black people werent allowed to vote,
own businesses or do anything whites were allowed to do. In the time of the
Civil Rights Movements, African Americans were treated unfairly and werent
equal to white people. Blacks and whites were separated in areas of living,
schools, and even by relationship. Now in our current society this term
racist keeps blacks and other minority communities separate from white
communities with its current use in common culture. The reason this word
racist is often connected with white people is not only because of what we
learn in history, but also things that happen currently between white people
and black people and what the media wants us to hear.

In the media it is now common to hear and see a lot of stories about police
brutality, especially involving white police officers and black victims. In
society it is also common for people to judge a racial community when it is one
person committing the action or causing the problem. This White and Black
conflict is what is most often expressed in the media. We only hear about
situations like Mike Brown or Eric Garner where in both cases black men were
killed by white police officers or the Ferguson riots where this Black and
White tention came to a head and subsequently White people were the sole cause.
The media's influence is part of what creates these stereotypes and pushes the
term racist on the white community. When certain situations like these are
elevated in the media this long lasting hatred of Whites from the Black
community grows and it further makes our world and societies more black and
white than in full color. The way we use the term racist contributes to the
increase of stereotypes on white people. We need to move past using these terms
for only one race. Times like slavery and Civil Rights Movement or events of
White on Black crimes in the past year, although not forgotten are in the past
and although the word racist is not a positive term we shouldnt limit it to one
person. We need to expand our idea of this word and stop using one person's
actions to define a whole race.