Is There No Such Thing as Non-White Racism?

Abstract

Race-related legislative advances have been made over the years to the advantage of non-Whites. However, this reality is yet to alter mainstream discourses of racism, which have portrayed Whites as having monopoly over the perpetration of racism, arguably because they have systemic/institutional advantage and power to be racist toward non-Whites. This paper argues that racism can be non-institutional, that there is power in non-institutional racism, that non-Whites can utilize non-institutional racism to their advantage, and that racism is not race-specific. With a primary focus on how non-Whites might utilize non-institutional racism, this paper draws on media reports of events of the 2016 presidential election campaigns to demonstrate that the perpetration of racism is no longer a White prerogative, and that the victimization experiences of racism is no longer specific to non-Whites. The paper concludes with a call for these important dynamics of racism to be made salient in academic and public debates.