You wonder why people are saying you must suck at dancing. You hear jokes about thin lips and overconsumption of Starbucks. You wanna say the n-word or the c-word or the f-word but people say you can’t and you just don’t understand why. And for the icing on the cake, people make fun of how you season your food. What kind of treatment is this? This is… this is discrimination! This is reverse racism!

Hold on, though. Take a step back because no, it’s not.

Reverse racism isn’t real.

Racism is a system based off of privilege and power. Racism is the reason behind racial segregation, European colonization, and racist stereotypes. When a privileged group uses their position of power to oppress a disadvantaged group because of societal inferiority, it’s discrimination. But when disadvantaged groups act against their oppressors, this isn’t “reverse discrimination.” Fighting for equality and fighting to be recognized as human is a legitimate response to being oppressed. And the oppressed don’t have to moderate their tone for their oppressive audience.

To say that someone is committing an act of “reverse racism” is to say that you want to be oppressed so badly in a system that prioritizes your feelings and your personhood. Why do you want this heavy prejudice against you? Because you feel discriminated against for extremely trivial things that have no impact on the lives of people in the same group of privilege as you in a world that still carries on the legacy of colonization and imperialism that systematically represents you and misrepresents us?

Let me tell you: literally none of us on the other side want to be discriminated against. This discrimination keeps us feeling inferior. It prevents us from getting proper medical diagnoses. It keeps people from hiring us. It leaves our voices unheard for generations. This “reverse racism” is just hurting feelings. But racism is getting us killed.

Honestly, people love to cry “reverse racism” when they don’t get something they want, like wanting to wear a traditional outfit with strong cultural relevance even when they are not a part of that culture. Or wanting to wear racial stereotype-motivated costumes without being called a racist. Or wondering why they can’t say racial slurs that have never historically been used against them while the people these slurs have been used against are able to “reclaim” them. This is “reverse racism:” a huge, whiny mess.

You can get representation in our legal justice system. You can get recognized for educational achievement. You and your children can get proper medical diagnoses. You can get jobs without having to prove how much you’ve assimilated into society. You can bring gentrification into our homes and our neighborhoods and be called a “savior.” The racist system we live in makes sure that you’ll get this representation, this recognition, this praise. We don’t. Racism is a power dynamic that you, my friend, have the upper hand in. So no, you don’t get to cry “reverse racism.” Your feelings may be hurt for a day, maybe even a week, but our people have been hurting for centuries.