“A lot of white people say to me, 'You get on stage you make your jokes about white people. You say white people this, white people that. What if I did something like that? What if I got on stage and said, 'Yeah black people are like this, Muslims are like that.' You would call me a racist, wouldn’t you?' And I say, 'Yeah, yeah I would. You should never do that; that’s bad for your health.'” — Aamer Rahamn (Comedian)

According to comedian Aamer Rahman, reverse racism of course exists. Simply, we have to travel back in time and change history entirely. The audience laughs as Rahman talks about colonizing white people and subjecting them to slavery as if it’s such a ridiculous notion. The roles could have been reversed centuries ago, but somehow, African Americans were the victims. He adds into his hypothetical scenario that he would set up greater privileges for black and brown people to make the racial hierarchy clear. Then, if the roles were reversed and down the line, a comedian stood on stage making jokes about white people, well, then we can call that reverse racism. Though, that would simply be called racism.

For some reason, people continue to use words even when they misunderstand the terms. Apparently, racism has several definitions. The first refers to racial prejudice, in which someone has a negative view toward another due to his race. Well, racist and prejudice aren’t interchangeable words, so I’m not sure why this term exists. People understand racism as discrimination, again two separate words. I understand racism as systemic advantages, as I believe the term should be understood.

Racism is a fundamental component of American history. Institutional racism refers to the idea that, over time, political and social institutions have racially discriminated against a particular group or multiple groups. Most racial minorities deny that reverse racism exists. Reverse racism means roles are reversed in terms of racism. Thus, people who complain that this notion does exist simply complain about privileges, not about rights. If in some scenario a white person is targeted because of his race, that’s discrimination. Not racism. In terms of American history, institutions haven’t targeted white people; therefore, understanding racism as systemic only shows reverse racism cannot exist.

No legislative action has provided African Americans with greater economic, social or political rights than white people. These laws continue to strive to bring about equality. Affirmative action may sound like minority students preventing another group, specifically white people, from being accepted into a certain school or getting a certain job. Initially, read in such a way, I can understand why the policy comes across in this light. But in reality, this provides a basic right to others who are historically excluded from certain higher education and employment opportunities. As I’ve said about white privilege, as a race, white people have some underlying advantage whether we asked for it or not. Systematic racism exists.

Clearly, I’m a fan of promoting social justice, the crazy belief in equality. I wouldn’t cry if you took away my white privilege. There’s a difference between equal opportunity and some sort of utopian society where everyone has equal income. Imagine being denied the opportunity to pursue your passion because of how you look. Take a step lower and imagine being denied a basic right because of how you look. Both are absurd. I can’t see myself preaching equality for women, the LGBTQ community or any other minority group if I don’t support racial equality. Also, how can you not? I will never understand how people can be racist, better yet, even believe in this term, reverse racism.