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White supremacy can be understood as an ideological structure that aims to make whiteness superior to every other form of social difference. Whiteness is not superior to anything, however, and nor are white people better than anyone else. White supremacy is therefore false and always fails its aim of conferring genuine white superiority. White (mis)behaviors can thus be understood as attempts to maintain illusions of white superiority and guard against the loss of a superiority that doesn’t exist.
An illusion of superiority can be maintained by devaluing others and/or overvaluing oneself. “Negative” white supremacy involves devaluing the non-white Other, and “positive” white supremacy involves overvaluing whiteness. Black Lives Matter is so effective as a social justice movement because it addresses both positive and negative forms of white supremacy by simultaneously affirming the value of Black lives and leveling the overvaluation of white lives.
Racism, classism, sexism, and all the other -isms are different forms of negative white supremacy because they involve systematically devaluing (i.e., oppressing) the Other who isn’t white, affluent, masculine, or cisheterosexual. Racist jokes and microaggressions are also manifestations of negative white supremacy that occur in seemingly-benign everyday contexts. Police brutality has taken the place of lynching and is one of the clearest manifestations of negative white supremacy.
Positive white supremacy refers to the myriad ways in which whiteness is perceived to be…
