I was listening to some Exponential Podcasts while I was driving in Texas the other day and I heard Efrem Smith share a very helpful definition of racism.  He also wrote about this same definition on page 76 of The Post-Black Post-White Church, which is an excellent book.  Here it is:

Racism is prejudice plus power.

I love this way of looking at things because it helps me – a white guy – understand why some prejudices I express are considered “racist” while those that someone with less perceived cultural power expresses aren’t.

By: Emma Craig
Prejudice plus power equals a sword; prejudice minus power equals a pool noodle.

For instance, when a person like me uses a racial slur, especially one deeply connected with the history of racism in America (like the n-word, the ch-word, wet****, etc.), it is racist.  It stings the person it is aimed at deeply because it takes them back to their childhood when that word was used against them.  It causes them to recall the pain that they heard their grandparents talk about over dinner.  In other words, there’s power behind those prejudiced words.

But when someone who isn’t white like me calls me a cracker or white trash, there’s virtually no sting.  I don’t have memories from when I was a kid that involve those words being used as weapons.  My grandparents have a total of zero stories involving them.  There’s no power behind those words.

In other words, prejudice expressed by someone with perceived power is like cutting someone with a sword, while prejudice from someone without power is like slapping someone with a pool noodle.  The damage caused would certainly be different!

Maybe a definition like Efrem’s can help us think about recent examples of racist words differently too.

What do you think?  Does this definition help you think about racism in fresh ways?