So-called “reverse racism“ is a thing.

But it’s a very different thing

One of the most fruitless online exchanges, on Medium and elsewhere, usually goes something like this. 1) Author says a sentence of the form “all white people are X”. 2) Commenter accuses Author of “reverse racism“, thinking she has successfully played a game of “gotcha“ 3) Author says snidely “don’t you know reverse racism is not a thing?”. 4) Commenter mentally accuses author of playing “Calvinball“ i.e. a game in which the author can change the rules whenever she wants, insuring that she always wins. Any generalization about Black people, positive or negative, is racism, forbidden on pain of social ostracization or firing. Any generalization about white people, usually negative, is encouraged and applauded.

An online dictionary defines racism as “harmful or unfair things that people say, do, or think based on the belief that their own race makes them more intelligent, good, moral, etc. than people of other races”. By this straightforward definition, reverse racism is a thing, and a very commonly occurring thing. White People, according to many Black writers on racism, are moral degenerates, which makes them inferior to Black people. Here’s a sample of comments from various writers on Medium.

“White people are entitled, narcissistic bullies”

“Racism is a white invention. It’s fully understood, recognized, known, accepted and loved, and embraced by all white people.”