I remember standing in the career center at my high school, browsing the files of scholarship possibilities for exiting seniors. I was a junior at the time, so I was just curious and, mostly, relieved that I was not yet facing deadlines related to college.
My index finger caught the label of one file, and I saw the small handwritten letters, which spelled “for Latino students only,” under the sponsor. I’ll admit, and I am not proud of this, that my reaction was one of surprise and resentment. I thought this seemed like “reverse racism.” A “double standard.”
Since then, I’ve learned that I was wrong. I was naïve. Now I understand why there is no such thing as reverse racism and why attempts to redistribute opportunity and resources to people of color do not constitute a “double standard.” (*See below if you’re still struggling to grasp it.)
At the time, though, what I needed to have done was take a step outside of myself to see:
- The racial segregation that existed in the K-8 schools which fed the high school I attended. Two were large majority white (i.e., 78%, 68%) and three were large majority Latinx (i.e., 73%, 74%, 62%). Less than 1% of students were black.
- The racial segregation between groups of students in the high school cafeteria.
- The number of teachers I had, between kindergarten and 12th grade, who were people of color (i.e., zero).
- The number of people of color who sat in the Advanced Placement classes (<1%) relative to the number of people of color who attended the school (~33% at the time).
- Note: I did a little research and found that, currently, the percentage of minority enrollment at Burlington-Edison High School is 42%. Also, the percentage of students who are “economically disadvantaged” just so happens to be 42%.
Reacting as I initially did to that little label? That is what perpetuates racism. And when I realized this, I felt simultaneously ashamed and defensive. Because not only are we all socially conditioned within a system of racism; we are also socially conditioned to believe that to have a racist reaction makes us bad people. And I didn’t want to be a “bad person.” One of the (many) problems is that this belief prevents us from acknowledging the ways in which racism has shaped our own thoughts and experiences. Let’s normalize the learning, the changing of beliefs, the recognizing of our mistakes. Let’s have compassion for ourselves and compassion for others.
*To better understand why there is no such thing as reverse racism and why attempts to redistribute opportunity and resources to people of color do not constitute a double standard, try this article. As author Philip Lewis writes, “Racism can be described as ‘prejudice plus power,’ as the two work together to create the system of inequality… ‘There has never, ever, ever been a national set of laws or system put in place to systematically oppress white people’, senior editor Alexia LaFata wrote for Elite Daily. ‘Not once. Ever.'” So although prejudice may be observed towards white people, racism cannot be “reversed” and observed towards white people.
