Can Blacks be Racist?

The short answer is yes…but there’s a nuanced difference in the expression of racism for Blacks than there is for Whites. In our current racialized society, anyone who holds ideas or who practices behaviors or who promotes policies that intentionally benefit one racial group over others and who perpetuates racial group inequity would be racist. In the U.S., Whites benefit from how our systems such as employment, criminal justice system, healthcare, wealth creation, housing, and education are designed; and Blacks, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) are disadvantaged. Whites, in their collective social group identity, created the social, economic and political systems that are inherently racist and that still exist today.

To the extent that a black person promotes policies that work to keep the status quo which are designed to strategically benefit Whites then they would be participating in perpetuating systemic racism and therefore racists. In sum, Blacks didn’t create the systemic racism but they can perpetuate it.

Discussion Highlights

Readers explored the nuances of racism as expressed by Black individuals within a system historically built to benefit Whites. The discussion emphasizes power dynamics, historical context, and the importance of holding all individuals accountable for perpetuating inequities.

“This is a really interesting perspective. I have often heard that black people can’t be racist due to a lack of power and an inability to oppress another group systemically. I wonder if there have been any studies done or historical documentation to show that black people have perpetuated racism against another group.” — Raven Bailey

“Ibram X. Kendi addresses this in his books on antiracism. He names a few powerful Black politicians from state to national levels that have benefited from and perpetuated the status quo and racist systems or policies. I’m going to get things wrong if I continue to try to quote him here because I don’t have the book in front of me, but the take away I understood that struck me from his perspective was that to say that Black people can’t be racist because they don’t have power, invalidates those BIPOC people who do hold power–and lets them off the hook in terms of working to change policy or systems…” — Kiersten Moore