Reverse

You hear it everywhere these days. “It’s reverse discrimination!” “That’s reverse racism.”

No.

Discrimination, according to dictionary.com, is “treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than on individual merit: racial and religious intolerance and discrimination.”

Racism, from the same source, is “a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to rule others.”

Note that neither is specific regarding which thing or ‘race’ is affected. This is because it applies regardless of who or what is affected. If a Mexican person is trying to put down a Chinese person, that’s racism. If an olive-skinned person treats a person badly simply because they have reddish skin, then that’s discrimination.

There is no such thing as “reverse” of either of these. If it’s discrimination, it’s discrimination, plain and simple. And if it’s racism, then it’s racism, plain and simple.