Racial democracy rhetoric suppresses black political organizing by branding it as reverse racism

Evidence

It is too easy to say that Denico’s discomfort around naming ‘race’ must simply be an effect of racism – even if this too was my own initial reaction. Indeed, my intuitive response to both Denico and Ricardo (who was also uncomfortable talking about ‘race’) was to say: ‘you cannot be racist to white people … that is not how it works’. But it is important to pause here and reflect on what is elided by this closure. Put simply, stating that black people cannot be racist to white people might shut down other, more productive, questions – as ever, questioning what is and is not racist is not the most fruitful line of enquiry – and it might represent a failure to really listen to what people like Denico and Ricardo are saying. — Luke de Noronha, The conviviality of the overpoliced,…, 61 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Top officials treated black racial-identity activism as threatening while ignoring white supremacists — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 207; Racial branding makes a group’s guiltless political extinction more likely; Racial democracy prefigured today’s raceless neoliberal racism (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• The dismissal of reverse racism can silence what the marginalized are actually saying #complicates (0.78) — Luke de Noronha, The conviviality of the overpoliced,…, 61