This is a fantastic article. I agree with this. The baby boomer generation was born into a very different America. Not only was it more segregated between white and black, but whites were a greater proportion of the populous. Boomers were born into a white country, that had minorities. They are now forced to engage different people, of different colors, speaking different languages. From what I see, they either eagerly embrace it, try to ignore it, or quietly resent it. But, IMHO they don't seem to be able to be unconscious of it. As evidence, the Census still tries to make sense of the country through their eyes. There is definitely truth to this. However, I think the author under-appreciates Obama's whiteness. Not in terms of his mother being white, but in terms of the culture that he was exposed to, and raised in. I guarantee that Barack has sat among white people, and one of them forgot that he was black and said something negative about blacks, and then he/she qualified it by trying to make a distinction that he/she didn't quite understand himself/herself. IMO I think that there is a real possibility that one component of Barack's reticence to engage race is that he might not have the desire to do so. Barack has been white and black. He knows that although they can be distinguished from each other, they are the same cloth and have the same qualities of interactions. Race is a language, it is not communication. To defend or to embrace blackness or whiteness to any extent beyond the superficial qualities by which we recognize them is to point towards a path that gives credence to the idea that these qualities are not superficial. Therefore, IMHO Barack might very well only feel motivated to engage race when he sees people acting upon it, but not as a state of being, a condition, or a ideal. Race is dependent, it is not intrinsic. Of course, Obama is also a pragmatist and a politician.What we are now witnessing is not some new and complicated expression of white racism—rather, it’s the dying embers of the same old racism that once rendered the best pickings of America the exclusive province of unblackness.
In a democracy, so the saying goes, the people get the government they deserve. Part of Obama’s genius is a remarkable ability to soothe race consciousness among whites. Any black person who’s worked in the professional world is well acquainted with this trick. But never has it been practiced at such a high level, and never have its limits been so obviously exposed.
I would definitely agree. In many ways it is astounding that such a superficial thing still holds so much weight in society, and how often the issue of race in politics (while presented in coded ridiculous ways, i.e the birthers controversy) influences the way our politicians act in society.
IMO it boils down to a matter of perspective. Like in the Cultural Revolution of China, you can divide people that look the same and have the same culture simply over the profession of their parents. Children against parents, even. You can divide people over the blocks they live on. But, the moment we are invaded by aliens, we share a powerful unifying perspective. I personally believe (as I think you allude to below) that our politics, institutions and other power structures, have grown to depend upon (or started that way) institutionalized perspectives of division, and that they perpetuate these perspectives to their advantage by supporting whatever feeds them. I believe this is done with good intentions, bad intentions, and ambivalence. I also believe it is done both purposefully, unintentionally, and without reflection. IMHO that's how so many seem to be able to cast aside these assumptions when interacting one-on-one, but cannot make the leap and approach greater society in the same way. We are trained, and we train each other. Who would create the notion of a 40 hour work week de novo?! I strongly believe that when we focus upon our intellect, creativity, achievements, wonder, and our bittersweet human condition, we undermine perspectives of division, in favor of these powerful unifying perspectives that resonate within us all.
So well said! If we look at more homogenous countries similar debates are still being had, though they are over class or religion or ethnic group interactions. It is amazing how our need to catalogue and separate people into the "other" is constantly reapplied thought societies worldwide with various parameters. Focusing on what connects humans would make differences more superficial.
Yes, but it almost always comes from those that want power or are trying to keep it. So I think there is hope. We should be better at identifying it, and squashing it by now. :( Everyone that divides is selling something.It is amazing how our need to catalogue and separate people into the "other" is constantly reapplied thought societies worldwide with various parameters.
Haha, yea he has definitely gone through this horrible moment.I guarantee that Barack has sat among white people, and one of them forgot that he was black and said something negative about blacks, and then he/she qualified it by trying to make a distinction that he/she didn't quite understand himself/herself.
I think we have a language problem. Racial prejudice is entirely different from racism. Certainly there are racists in society, but I don't think they're as numerous as we are led to believe. Racism is the belief that group X is superior (however defined) to others, or the corollary: group Y is inferior. That white are superior to blacks (and men to women) was an argument that was made and defended by serious scientists up until the early 20th century. Volumes have been written and since debunked on the subject. I don' think that this has any traction in the modern main stream. For instance, try to use the N word at a party, even one with all WASPs. It won't play well at most. Racial prejudice--the practice of assuming certain correlates based on one's race--on the other hand is alive and well. I will say to the grave that I am not a racist, because I believe that I am not a racist. But, if I see a group a black teenagers who look like thugs hanging on the corner in my neighborhood, I'm going to subtly cross the street before I walk by. I think a lot of people would. How do we not judge others? Its a basic survival mechanism as old as consciousness. It so happens that 1) race is an easy identifier and 2) young black men commit a hugely disproportionate amount of violent crime, have low literacy rates, speak in a manner that's difficult to decipher at times, and have high unemployment. Unfortunately, this is what one correlates with inner city youth. And I don't think its even that much about race. No one judges a black guy poorly--even a young black guy--who is wearing a charcoal suit. But everyone judges a white guy who looks like a piece of white trash. Appearance is much deeper than skin color, it just so happens that skin color is a very obvious attribute of most people. Maybe I'm being unfair by saying that all blacks have to do to be accepted is to look white; I truly don't know. Its difficult to not view this issue through the lens of our current societal norms, most of which have been defined by whites. But I think to continually chalk all racial issues up to racism is dangerous and, above all, incorrect. We will never have any deeper understanding of one another when using this language, because most white hear racism and think "Well, I'm not a racist". I think racial prejudice is a more correct, more constructive way to frame these debates.
I think there are two really illuminating things you mentioned in reply to this post. The first is your overall point of terminology, particularly in your treatment of the words "racism" and "racial prejudice". I'm going to throw out another one: institutionalized racism, which in my opinion, is really a subset-but an extremely relevant one- of racism. I would argue that my understanding of racism goes beyond just one group's belief that they are superior to another, and encompasses when that belief is perpetuated and legitimized by their society as a whole. I would argue that is another difference between racial prejudice and racism. Everybody- regardless of their skin color- has some racial/ethnic prejudices of their own and in my opinion it would be simplistic to say otherwise. But I personally belief racism goes beyond that--> it occurs when such beliefs are legitimized through various power structures such as big business, government law enforcement, the media etc. I would argue that this is the major problem today; our society still creates and upholds an environment where one's quality of life and opportunities are dictated by the color of their skin, or their gender or the sexual orientation. Of course it may not be in as obvious ways (though it is still important and scary to note just how recent the era of Jim Crowe segregation was), but if you are looking for proof, turn on the TV and count how many times you see characters of color in commercials or television shows (and I'm not just talking black characters; in my opinion I would argue that Asians, Indians, Hispanics are even LESS often represented), whole segments of the United States population are ignored, essentially implying that they do not carry the same importance as their counterparts. Another great example is the one you yourself brought up in your second example of prejudices. While I am extremely hesitant of absolving individuals for their actions, it is an obvious fact that those same young black men who commit a higher amount of violent crime are products of a society that engages in racial profiling, provides them with lower educational opportunities, is more likely to deny them a job than their white counterparts etc. In many ways our society has created an environment where the decks are staked against these young men, yet we then condemn them for their actions, without examining our own influence/impact in it. To be 100% honest, I don't really think the terminology is super important... as long as we understand that racial equality is still far off (though we have made amazing strides!), and work in whatever way we can, (even if is only through engaging in this discussion) to combat it, that is what matters.
Fair point about institutional racism. But even institutional racism, as it is no longer codified in law, is merely a product of our collective prejudices. For example, there was a study that showed that identical resumes--one having a black sounding name and one white sounding--were far more likely to garner a callback for the "white" applicant (in quotes, because there were no actual applicants). I doubt that those managers said to themselves "I don't want a black guy working for me". My guess is that it was subconscious. There is further evidence to support this, as other studies have shown that we (I mean everyone, not just whites) subconsciously associate things that are white (culturally white, not white color) with positivity and things that are black with negativity. As JacobVirgil said in his response, we need to be aware of our prejudices before we can confront them. I strongly disagree that words don't matter. There is a reason oliticians have dedicated speech writers, and advertisers employ trained copy writers. Words, even their etymology, influence our thinking on everything. Language defines the way we interact with one another so often (for instance right now, where we don't have the luxury of inflection or body language). Being precise and conceptually accurate are paramount to understanding, IMO.
I would definitely agree with what you said above. Ironically (showing how much words DO matter), I don't think I expressed myself as clearly as I should have in my last paragraph. I simply meant while the terminology is important, the act of recognizing that these problems still exist in society may be more important than the words we use to express these problems, particularly because many people have slightly different ways that they conceive of and understand these words. That being said, I do think my treatment of that was rather simplistic, and that you brought up a valid and obvious counterargument to my last point.
Oh and one more thing: What does it mean to "look white?" Wearing a cowboy hat? Listening to Johnny Cash? Going hunting? I kid, (obviously being white does not mean you do any of these things) but I think that this whole idea of looking white or acting white (which you equated with dressing well), is another really destructive idea that goes hand in hand with the articles discussion of blacks (and it should be noted all other minorities, and even one majority-women) having to be 'twice as good' to prove themselves. I would maintain that the way one dresses, talks or acts has far less to do with their race or gender, and far more to do with the economic and educational opportunities and advantages that they have received. Speaking well and dressing sharply are not exclusive to being white; (one does not do these things because they are white) therefore you can't equate such things to 'acting white', which in and of itself is also a destructive term, in my opinion, for whites as well, because it seeks to relegate certain characteristics as attributes of their skin color. A POC/woman does not speak well because they are trying to "act white" they speak well because they are well educated. Are white people maybe more likely to possess such attributes? Sure--> but it is not something inherent to their whiteness by any means.
"If you're not white, you're missing out. Being white is thoroughly good" weeeee! Louis CK is great. "If you're not white and you don't admit that it's great, you're an asshole".
I agree wholeheartedly that dressing well and speaking properly are not the domain of the white man. On reread, I should have put "look white" in quotes. I was trying to be careful, because I have heard from several black and women activists that what we, as white men, expect from others is to conform to our world. For example, in order for a woman to be taken seriously at a job, we expect that she have male-associated traits, such as being unemotional, hyper rational and dominant. This is not my idea, and I don't agree with it. I was trying to anticipate someone hitting me with the "white man's world" argument, and I didn't succeed. See what poor language can do?!
Not using a bathroom because there are black people standing by it, even when motivated by fear is just racist. It might just be a matter of definitions here. I don't think they are afraid to walk through a bunch of blacks because they think they are better then blacks which you term as racism, you seem to be saying that it's an instance of racial prejudice rather then racism. I just say haha looks like the goddamn racist is going to have to hold it for a while.No one judges a black guy poorly--even a young black guy--who is wearing a charcoal suit.
You really think so? I see this all the time at my work. Our most rapidly growing demographic is the local black community that survived gentrification of our neighborhood, it took us about five years to get a consistent group of em to come in on a daily basis. Our best black customer is a young professional guy. He will bring by a dozen of his friends after a party or whatnot dressed in formal wear, every one looking smart and elegant. If they are on the end of the bar that is near the bathrooms I see white people on their way to the bathrooms that decide they really didn't need to go all that bad. I'm sure these white people think that they aren't racist...
Admittedly, I don't work in a profession where I do a ton of people watching. Also I live in a neighborhood that is ~80% black, and the whites that move here are inherently unafraid of blacks or else there's no chance they would live here. Perhaps my judgments have been perverted by my environment. I suppose my overall point (which maybe I didn't articulate well) was that using old, loaded language to describe the modern world might be a hindrance to progress toward a more just society.
Some folks are just scared of poor people and black is a heuristic for poverty. I think it is better to be aware of our prejudices and work on improving them than to stay in the dark on our own prejudice.