African Americans are Racist: Fact or Fiction

African Americans are not racist according to Dr. Frances Cress-Welsing, author of The Isis Papers. That's what a source from africanwithin's website records from an interview with the psychiatrist and former Howard University Professor. The website also notes Cress-Welsing as saying "the majority of non-white people do not have a sufficient analysis of racism, white supremacy."

The above cartoon about racism is courtesy of Google Images.

So what exactly is Racism? Racism is defined as a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. In other words, a person is racist if she or he is a member of the "majority" race that abuse their financial and social power to degrade and belittle other races. Members of the Aryan Nation , a white supremacist group can be seen as racists. According to this group's website, they feel Caucasians deserve "sovereign existence and racial self-determination within a territorial area." But according to a global minority website, the world has been brainwashed by White Supremacists; believing that the white race is the majority when they are actually the minority.

Lack of color pigmentation sparked jealousy is what Cress-Welsing says led Europeans to enslave Africans for over 400-years. She also says African Americans were the first people on the planet and everyone on the planet including Caucasians came from people of color. "They lost the color through a genetic mutation to albinism, which genetics defines as a genetic deficiency state and they were forced out of Africa into Europe," says Cress-Welsing.

Even 142 years after the abolition of slavery, many people like Cress-Welsing are still disturbed by racist behavior. Within the last few weeks, hangman nooses, a symbol of hatred and tool used for lynching, have been found in the locker of a Hempstead police officer, at a post office near ground zero and on the door of a Columbia University professor. The noose doesn't only affect its target or victim. Its appearance has also disturbed New York State lawmakers to the point where they banned nooses completely. According to Yahoo's website, the state's lawmakers voted on an anti-noose bill on October 21 and made it a felony to display the symbol of hatred.

The photo of the noose was taken from Google Images.

Earlier this year, Don Imus and Senator Joe Biden were accused of being racist for making controversial statements. According to CNN's website, in February, Senator Biden made this comment about Presidential candidate Barack Obama, "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy." Months after the Biden incident, former CBS talk show host Imus referred to the Rutgers women basketball team as "nappy headed hoes." Both men claim they are not racist; their words simply didn't come out as they envisioned it would. They both later apologized to their victims.

If Imus and Biden say they did not intentionally make racist statements, does that argument prove true for Michael Richard's tirade last November? During a comedy show at the Laugh Factory, comedian and former Seinfeld actor repeatedly referred to an African American audience member as "a Nigger." The Richard's incident caused quite a buzz amongst many people, especially those who are unsure why there is a double standard. If African American's refer to themselves as the N-word why can't Caucasian's refer to them as such?



This video of Michael Richard's racial tirade at the Laugh Factory was taken from Youtube.

Many African Americans argue that the N-word has evolved from a oppressive slave term into a term of endearment for each other. However, not everyone is buying into that notion. A source on black voices' website says, "the lack of self identity probably causes some young men to identify with 'nigga,' because they do not have knowledge of self." If a word is bad for one group, does that mean it's bad for all groups? Even if the word is now viewed as "positive" by many of the people it was created to harm? No matter which which way the word is pronounced or spelled, "Nigger," "Niggah" or "Nigga," it's obvious that it causes tension and will continue to offend people of different races.

On American Daily's website, some Caucasians are curious as to why they are most often at blame for being racist. One feels people turn the other cheek for African Americans as if they aren't capable of being racist. Dave Gibson, the article's author says "while those in the media are very quick to point out instances of racism when they are committed by white people...egregious acts of racism go unreported if committed by a black person."

According keithboykin's website, African Americans can be racist. But his definition of racism differs slightly from Merriam Websters definition. The site defines racism as "racial prejudice or social discrimination." So we know the definition of racism but do we know what's defined as prejudice? Prejudice is defined as injury or damage resulting from some judgment or action of another in disregard of one's rights. For instance, if an African American man calls a Caucasian man a derogative name or says he hates all Caucasians he can not be racist. That is if we followo Cress-Welsing's explanation that African Americans can not be racist. Instead, she notes that they can be prejudice. She also says African Americans are only reacting to hundreds of years of oppression, physical and mental enslavement.

So is it true or false that African Americans can't be racist? It appears that the answer to this question will continue to differ by person and by race. However, one thing is for certain, racism is alive and thrives on personal hatred to survive.