One word:
- Nonsense.
Two words:
- Exemption fantasy.
Three words:
- Logic not included.
Full roast:
The line “black people can’t be racist” is like trying to win a debate with an UNO Reverse card that says “Power!” written in Sharpie. It’s not an argument; it’s a hall pass. In a free society, moral rules don’t change with the skin tone of the speaker. Either prejudice by race is wrong for everyone, or it isn’t for anyone—pick one, because you don’t get to toggle ethics like airplane mode.
Serious breakdown:
- Definition swap (begging the question): You redefine racism as “prejudice + power,” then declare one group always lacks “power,” so they can’t be racist. That assumes what it must prove. It’s circular and unfalsifiable.
- Non sequitur: Historic or systemic disparities don’t imply categorical moral immunity for any individual’s attitudes or actions. “Some systems are unequal” does not logically entail “some people are incapable of racial prejudice.”
- Special pleading and double standards: The rule against racial prejudice applies to one set of people but is suspended for another. If identical behavior changes moral status by who does it, you’ve left ethics for tribal bookkeeping.
- Category error: You conflate institutional analysis (systems) with individual agency (persons). Individuals of any background can hold racial animus. Systems don’t give people a free pass for personal choices.
- Motte-and-bailey: Retreat to “people can be biased but it’s not racism without power,” then advance to “therefore it doesn’t count and can’t be criticized.” It’s rhetorical shell-game, not clarity.
- Projection/transference: Branding all critique as “fragility” while demanding immunity from critique is textbook projection—accusing others of the very intellectual fragility you practice.
- Collectivist fallacy: Assigning moral innocence or guilt by group identity is the very collectivism liberty rejects, whether it wears a red armband or a pastel hashtag. Authoritarians always start by carving exceptions to universal rules.
Freedom lens: A pro-freedom ethic judges individuals by their choices, not by their census category. Equal rights require equal standards. The moment you grant any group a “can’t be racist” exemption, you’ve smuggled in the authoritarian premise that some people are above the rulebook. That’s not justice; that’s hierarchy with better branding.
Punchline: Racism isn’t a magic spell that only casts one direction. It’s a bad idea anyone can choose—and should refuse—regardless of who’s holding the wand.
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