Can a Black Person Be Racist?

Trump’s ad hominem attack on Fani Willis dredges up an old question.

(Source: author)

(N.B. — Do yourself a favor and don’t be one of those who succumb to their own bigotry and refuse to read beyond the headline. Read the whole article and consider the very important issues it discusses.)

“They say there’s a young woman, a young racist in Atlanta. She’s a racist.” That’s what Donald Trump said about Fani Willis, the district attorney for Fulton County, Georgia. He made the same ad hominem attack on NY attorney general Letitia James.

Now, if I said that Trump was corrupt and childish and should be prosecuted, he’d insult me too (c’mon, hit me, big boy). It’s his self-serving way of lashing out, which is significant in itself. But the larger philosophical issue is with his ad hominem attack on these people as “racist.” What is a racist, and who can properly be called one?

Trump is hardly a reliable judge of human character. Nor can we place much weight on the angry comments made by a criminal defendant against his prosecutor. But let’s consider the idea that a Black person can be a racist.