Many people vocally criticize those who make inappropriate generalizations about minority groups in the United States, yet encourage that the same type of inappropriate generalizations be applied to majority groups. They rightfully criticize those who falsely claim that the majority of Muslims are violent radicals just because the members of ISIS are Muslims. They rightfully criticize those who falsely claim that the majority of illegal immigrants are rapists or drug dealers just because a small number of them commit such offenses. They rightfully criticize those who falsely claim that the majority of black men are criminals just because a small percentage of them commit crimes. Generalizations like these, they will correctly inform you, are illogical, statistically false and, often times, racist.
However, the same people who criticize those who make claims like the ones above often fail to hold themselves to their own standards. One inappropriate generalization in particular that they fail to condemn and often even promote has impacted me personally. I have been inappropriately generalized by the same people who claim to oppose unreasonable categorizations of groups based on the actions or beliefs of a small minority. I have been called a racist simply because of my white skin.
Instead of opposing the blatantly racist notion that the majority of white people are prejudiced because of the actions of a small number of white-skinned individuals and being consistent in their criticism of inappropriate generalizations, many people — especially millennials, leftist media outlets, and celebrities — seem to be completely fine with hypocritically embracing such an outrageous claim. Instead of arguing against making this racist generality, they support it with the same type of arguments that they typically find appalling.
The concept that the majority of white people are racist has gained popularity in the last half decade. It has become so commonplace that many seem to have forgotten that it’s a racist and unproven generality. I have had many conversations with people who, to my amazement, frustration and even despair, fail to recognize how the claim that the majority of white people are prejudiced against people of color is even slightly racist. These people are either uninformed, willfully ignorant, explicitly racist against white skinned-individuals or a combination of the three.
Unfortunately, many people who do not recognize that it is racist to assume that the majority of white people are prejudiced simply because of their skin color are impossible to reason with because, even when you expose their anti-white racism by applying their argument to a different race, they then just make even more outrageous claims in an attempt to justify their racism. Some common justifications for anti-white racism that I have been personally presented with are that minorities don’t possess the capacity to be racist, white people have historically oppressed other races and there have been modern cases of white people being racist. The idea that any of these reasons even remotely justifies racism is absolutely absurd. There is never, ever any justification for racism whatsoever.
One of the reasons this generality has become so widely accepted is because those who oppose it implicitly accept its credibility. I recently realized that I had been doing just that during a conversation with one of my friends. She claimed that the NFL is racist because the executives of the league are mostly white. To dispute that idea, I began pointing out the fact that many of the players and half time entertainers weren't white. However, I realized that I had implicitly accepted the notion that, because of their whiteness, it was safe to assume the white executives were racist until proven otherwise. Instead of outright rejecting my friend's claim as racist and demanding real evidence from her to support such a prejudice assumption, I was trying to prove it wrong.
This conversation perfectly illustrates the problem. People don’t realize that the burden of proof lies upon those claiming that an individual or a group is racist, not upon those who the claims are directed at or those disputing the claims. This should not be a revolutionary idea to anyone, yet the fact that so many in our society are eager to accept that someone is racist without any real evidence has made baseless claims of racism into much more formidable accusations than they are in reality.
People of all races should unite against the prejudiced assumption that the majority of white-skinned people are racist to protect innocent people from inappropriate generalities and hold those who only protect minority groups from being criticized for the actions of few accountable to their own principles. We should start rejecting the premise of the many claims thrown around in today’s society, that it's safe to assume people are racist based on the color of their skin, and shift the burden of proof back on the shoulders of those making the baseless claims. We will never have a society where people are judged by who they are as individuals rather than racist generalities if we do not dispel with our preconceived notions against those of all races.
