A cartoon about the changing definition of ‘white supremacy’
In recent months I’ve noticed what I think is a migration in the meaning of the term ‘white supremacy’.
To me the term has always implied the conscious policy of domination by white people over other people and the implicit superiority of white people over other people.
Under this definition a white supremacist would typically be depicted as a fascist or a member of the KKK, as in the cartoon.
Recently I’ve noticed several commentators on race issues stating that the western world is a ‘white supremacist society’. This society is indeed white dominated, but that doesn’t make it supremacist in the KK/fascist sense.
I think that a danger of using the term to describe contemporary society is that it can be interpreted as labelling all white people as conscious co-conspirators in the oppression of ethnic minority people, thus potentially making all white people ‘enemies’. I believe that quite a few would rather be described as allies.
Drawn: August 2020
Cartoon reference number: a842b
