Luke Visconti’s Ask the White Guy column is a top draw on Fair360.com. Visconti, the founder and CEO of Fair360, formerly DiversityInc, is a nationally recognized leader in diversity management. In his popular column, readers who ask Visconti tough questions about race/culture, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability and age can expect smart, direct and disarmingly frank answers.
Question:
Wouldn’t you say that those who “play the race card” are showing themselves to be racist
Answer:
It took me a long time to get this straight, but it is impossible for a non-white person to be racist in this country when referring to white people.
Racism is oppression based on racial hierarchy.
Bigots come in all races, but by definition, black people (for example) cannot be racist to a white person.
Some non-white people do “play the race card.” However, I’ll point out that white people “play the race card” every day of their lives. They may not know it, but they do. Such is the privilege of being white in this country.
