According to dictionary.com, racism is defined as "the prejudice that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other races:. Thus, since white people in the U.S. are considered "superior" and other ethnicities may be considered "minorities," can minorities be racist since the definition states that racism is the prejudice that members of one race are superior to those of another race (whites superior to monirities)?

I think the key word in Guest's post is "prejudice", which Webster defines thus:


2 a (1) : preconceived judgment or opinion (2) : an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge b : an instance of such judgment or opinion c : an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristics.

Prejudice then is preconcieved, adverse, not based on knowledge or fact, and irrational. I suggest that we could intrepret it then as being the result of ignorance.

Using this definition, it is possible that any sentient being could have an irrational prejudice against any other, wrongly believing themselves to be superior. A creature from Mars could have an irrational prejudice against human beings, and believe the Martians to be superior.

I am not sure where Guest gets his idea that white people are considered "superior". It is certainly an historical fact that white people have considered themselves to be superior, and this is probably a fine example of irrational thinking based on ignorance of the other. The example of the British in India is an excellent one; they defined themselves as "superior", and had the military and economic power to install themselves as "masters".

Regretably, such irrational prejudice is widespread, and runs throughout history and through all continents. It has frequently been based more upon religion and "tribal" origin than upon skin colour; it is in essence an irrational fear of "the other". In recent times we have witnessed terrible atrocities committed by different factions against each other in the same country, based purely upon prejudice.

If you are into satire, here is a Tom Lehrer song from 1965 that nicely sums up prejudice. (If you want to hear the tinky tonk electronic tune, go to

http://members.aol.com/quentncree/lehrer/natbroth.htm

Please remember - this is SATIRE!

Oh, the white folks hate the black folks,
And the black folks hate the white folks;
To hate all but the right folks
Is an old established rule.

But during National Brotherhood Week,
National Brotherhood Week,
Lena Horne** and Sheriff Clark*** are dancing cheek to cheek.
It's fun to eulogize
The people you despise
As long as you don't let 'em in your school.

Oh, the poor folks hate the rich folks,
And the rich folks hate the poor folks.
All of my folks hate all of your folks,
It's American as apple pie.

But during National Brotherhood Week,
National Brotherhood Week,
New Yorkers love the Puerto Ricans 'cause it's very chic.
Step up and shake the hand
Of someone you can't stand,
You can tolerate him if you try!

Oh, the Protestants hate the Catholics
And the Catholics hate the Protestants,
And the Hindus hate the Moslems,
And everybody hates the Jews.

But during National Brotherhood Week,
National Brotherhood Week,
It's National Everyone-Smile-At-One-Another-Hood Week.
Be nice to people who
Are inferior to you.
It's only for a week, so have no fear;
Be grateful that it doesn't last all year!

Sorry to go on; this is an emotive and provocative subject capable of rousing intense respone. Maybe if we all sat around and debated calmy on forums such as this, we'd learn more about each other, cure our ignorance and find that we have more in common than we think. After all, as old Bill Shakespeare said, "If you prick me, do I not bleed?"

My take.  Any person, majority or minority can be racist, that is prejudiced against another race, group, gender, sexuality (that's why I prefer the term 'xenophobia' - different.  Most people, no matter how liberal they may feel, are racist (prejudiced) to a certain degree. A society becomes racist when racism is institutionalized and some groups are disenfranchised either de facto  or de jure.

 

 

First, I feel the OP's own prejudices, of a sort, are getting in the way of his understanding the definition.
 To be honest, the answer is pretty evident to me. For example, a man is a member of the KKK. He lives in Mississippi and really really hates blacks. Now this man is forced to live in Zimbabwe. Is he still racist? I think if you reversed the situation, it would still hold true.

As to someone's comment about xenophobia, I more or less agree.