[mousepad]

I'm posting this because I need your opinion and your help. I know many of you are well argued and might be able to convince me that I'm wrong or the opposite, support me with good arguments.

My daughter attends high school and as part of the program racism is discussed, more specifically the teacher explains and defines institutional racism, interpersonal racism and internalized racism.

All of the definitions and examples provided by the teacher have a heavy anti-white slant to it.
However what especially struck me as wrong was the definition of interpersonal racism, which according to the teacher is

what white people do to people of color up close

I think this is wrong and I brought up the concern with the teacher explaining that I don't think this to be limited to whites, only.
As explanation I get from the teacher:

As I described previously, I am using the most up-to-date definitions, research, and applications of racism. Power is most clearly seen in the institutions and structures in the United States, which then influence our own individual beliefs and prejudices. Interpersonal racism is influenced by internalized racism, which is a product of institutional and ideological racism.

There are absolutely instances where those with the non-dominant identifier act on their own prejudices and discriminate against a person outside of their identifier, however, it not an "ism" unless there is an imbalance of power.

Ibram X. Kendi is one of the leading scholars in this field and I cede any further inquiries towards his scholarship.

I don't think this is correct as I don't think interpersonal racism is limited to white. I would appreciate if anybody could explain to me with convincing arguments whether I'm right or wrong. Am I wrong? and interpersonal racism is in fact a result of institutional racism and therefore interpersonal racism can only be perpetrated by whites? Or am I right and interpersonal racism is not tied to any specific race? How can I support my inner feeling with good arguments?

Thank you for any help or advice.

[asg70]

You have to look at the forest through the trees.

There is a fixation on identity politics today because life has become too easy. People search for ever more petty things to complain about. This slope has been slipping for long enough that a whole generation of people who are now part of the educational system are shaping current curriculum which is becoming ever more detached from anything truly important in life. While they have a lot of terms and rationalization for what they do, that doesn't mean it has any real substance.

SJW-ism is the snake chasing its own tail.

https://www.chronicle.com/article/What- ... nce/244753

[rockdoc123]

lookup the definition for interpersonal racism....nowhere does it suggest it is "white" people against any other race. It is non-race specific.

As to the teacher's suggestions that this viewpoint is that of Ibram X Kendi, well, respectfully he/she has his/her head up his/her backside. Kendi is Jamaican but changed his name to honor his African ancestry. He was deeply influenced by the knowledge his family's history was a consequence of the slave trade. That being said he eventually realized that he too and his family were racist in that they attributed certain traits etc to whites and others. In his book How to be an Antiracist he discusses this in-depth. So the teacher either has never read any of his work or just doesn't understand it.

[Tanada]

What it boils down to is an unfortunately large percentage of the progressive movement refuse to acknowledge that anyone who is not "white" for whatever value they assign to that term can act in a racist fashion or hold racist opinions. As a result the bifurcation has become White=Racist, Non-White=Victim of Racism.

When you start from a groupist definition you gloss over all the people trying their best to be decent people behaving decently towards other people. You then end up grinding down the folks who are trying to be better behaved and turn them from friendly allies into resentful colleagues or worse. I believe in many communities the grinding down of people who try to behave correctly towards all other people is forming a self fulfilling situation where people reach a breaking point and are no longer willing to passively accept being classified as racist on the basis of their skin tone.

[mousepad]

Thank you very much for the replies.
Is there any coherent argument I can make to push back on this a bit.
Something not founded in opinion but with facts for proof. I really would love not to having to swallow this, but I also don't want to be left standing looking like a fool.

[mmasters]

It's all feeler logic and that we're all created equal BS. Not all of us are at the same point in evolution. Back when we were in Africa some of us decided to leave the trees and were forced to learn new skills...some stayed in the trees and embraced the banana and what we have today is the result of that.

[asg70]

What it boils down to is an unfortunately large percentage of the progressive movement refuse to acknowledge that anyone who is not "white" for whatever value they assign to that term can act in a racist fashion or hold racist opinions. As a result the bifurcation has become White=Racist, Non-White=Victim of Racism.

When you start from a groupist definition you gloss over all the people trying their best to be decent people behaving decently towards other people. You then end up grinding down the folks who are trying to be better behaved and turn them from friendly allies into resentful colleagues or worse. I believe in many communities the grinding down of people who try to behave correctly towards all other people is forming a self fulfilling situation where people reach a breaking point and are no longer willing to passively accept being classified as racist on the basis of their skin tone.

[Tanada]

Thank you very much for the replies.
Is there any coherent argument I can make to push back on this a bit.
Something not founded in opinion but with facts for proof. I really would love not to having to swallow this, but I also don't want to be left standing looking like a fool.

Here s the link to the book recommended by rocdoc, see if your local library has it. That will let you use quotes from the source to counteract the teachers stance by the authority they are citing.
https://smile.amazon.com/How-to-Be-an-A ... 07TT85KLQ/

[Outcast_Searcher]

Well, as a white American middle class guy who basically never gave a crap about race, because that's how I was raised, and I was exposed to lots of people of color as I grew up in summer camps, etc, and who chose to live in a 99% black neighborhood from the time I was 22 until I was 53, to save money, I can give some firsthand accounts of how I've seen interpersonal racism change over the past 4 decades, FWIW.

First, the 99% black neighborhood I lived in (in the "bad" / industrial side of the city) gradually evolved from being 99% black to being a rainbow neighborhood with MANY races, countries, creeds, etc. all mixed together, and economics dominating the decision of living there vs. so much concern about the "black neighborhood". The first 15 to 20 years, the trend was VERY slow and minor -- the last 10 to 15 years it was quite persistent and accelerating.

As far as interpersonal stuff, I generally was treated very well by my neighbors, once they realized I was not "the man" or "management", and I was just basically a nice guy who tried to get along with everybody. I had a fair amount of curious questions over time about things like "don't you feel 'dominated' by black people living here?", and had some good discussions with groups of folks which could grow moderate as other curious neighbors would approach. Essentially, I'd tell them I didn't see anyone "dominating me", and that I only judged people based on how they BEHAVED. (MLK without the fancy oratory).

In the early 80's, institutional white racism was commonplace and deplorable. Telling jokes about people of color was common for white people. But over the next 30 years, that changed a LOT. Now, anyone doing that kind of thing is a social pariah by the vast majority of people.

Unfortunately, like many social pendulums, we've swung now to almost a point of lunacy, re claiming things like only white people can be racist. But people will push agendas as far as they can get away with -- just look at BOTH sides of the political spectrum in the US if you harbor any doubts about that.

Things could be better, but we're a HELL of a lot better off than we were 40 years ago with this, at least in terms of the general middle class population. For the past decade, living in a mostly white suburban neighborhood across town (wanted to live in a nicer, quieter place in my retirement, and the new management was letting the complex run badly downhill), I can't say anything about how the trend has gone, re my personal experience.

[Plantagenet]

...the definition of interpersonal racism, which according to the teacher is
"what white people do to people of color up close"

Introduce that teacher to some of the information available on the internet and in newspapers concerning racism in the US and in other parts of the world. For instance, the teacher might be amazed to learn that in China there is racism by Chinese people against people of other races.

africans-in-china-allege-racism

IF the teacher has an open mind, hopefully with time s/he will realize the definition she is working with doesn't begin to encompass all the varieties of racism that exist in this sad old world. Just about any group of people will include some who harbor prejudice (i.e. racism) against just about any other group. There are even dark-skinned people in Africa who are "racist" against other Africans who have even darker skin.

Cheers!