Writing About Writing About Racism
Last week someone on Facebook called me a racist. In fact he said his new nickname for me was “racist dave”. I would probably be deeply offended by this if not for the fact that just a few posts earlier I had called him a racist. I re-read the entire thread and decided then and there that my next blog post would be about racism.
Why not? Like almost everyone I have witnessed and/or been a victim of some sort of discrimination, be it racial or religious. I consider myself to be extremely open-minded and non-judgmental, so writing about racism should be easy, right?
Wrong.
I started by reading the original exchange out loud to my sister, who very quickly picked up on something I hadn’t. My statement was only non-racist because of my point. However, if you missed my point then the statement would in fact appear racist. The person to whom the comment was directed missed my point. It is entirely possible he missed my point because of the racial angle, however the angle was unavoidable to make my point.
The discussion, which can be found here, began with the breaking news of the shootings at Ft. Hood. A friend of mine, whom in her previous work in mental health had interviewed Timothy McVeigh for the government in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing, posted on Facebook looking to see what information anyone might have. I replied with what little I had heard,and another person immediately replied that it looked like a sleeper cell to him. I suggested not jumping to conclusions.
Then the name came in. Nidal Hassan, or as the other poster whom I will simply call PC put it “Nidal Hassan. hmm.” This lead to a back and forth on assumptions based on his name. At one point I tried to draw a parallel between PC’s assumptions and the treatment of Asian Americans during WW II. This is where things got ‘complicated’.
See, PC happens to be of Chinese descent, and has a Chinese last name. Since PC was failing to note that an Arabic name does not make one a Muslim, which in turn does not make one a jihadist I decided to drive the point home by pointing out that he may not have liked the way he would have been treated in America during WW II because of his last name. My point, which I mistakenly assumed to be self-explanatory, was that to many he would have just been the hated “yellow man” so regularly portrayed in political cartoons and ostracized. I already knew by his last name that he was not, in fact, Japanese.
His reaction was immediate and angry. Clearly I was a racist, according to PC. My assumption that he was Japanese showed that I could not tell the difference between one Asian and another. In fact, I can. My whole point was that one could just as easily make a choice not to differentiate, as he had in the case of Hassan. I thought my point obvious. However, my sister made me see that while it was obvious to me it may not have been obvious to PC. She pointed out that when one has been a victim of discrimination, as she and I have both been for our Judaism, it is easy to assume that a comment that miscategorizes you is racist, even if the miscategorization is the point.
OK. Lesson learned. I decided that in writing about racism I would discuss the issue of multiple perspectives. I would look at how difficult it could be to differentiate between the appearance of racism and actual racism. All I had to do was clearly define the various forms of racism.
Oh boy.
It turns out that we have come up with so many different ‘types’ of racism you need a scorecard to keep track of them all. In researching for my article I came across writings about innate racism, blatant racism, subtle racism, institutional racism, reverse racism, pathological racism, learned racism, and on and on. What’s more, every attempt to define one of these terms wound up borrowing from or being practically the same as another. I realized that if I tried to write about the different types of racism I would wind up with a dissertation, not a blog post. I also realized it would be a lousy dissertation at best.
My next idea was to go back to the roots of my conversation with PC. I would write about racism from much the same perspective as the Supreme Court wrote about pornography, the “I know it when I see it” argument. Of course since I had just learned that how you see it depends on your own racial history I would need to include examples of perspective. All I would need to accomplish that was to put myself in the shoes of a black man, an Indian, a Pakistani, a Sunni, a Shiite, a Palestinian, a Tutsi, a Hutu, a….. oh, crap.
Did you know that technically speaking, there is no such thing as a Hutu or a Tutsi? Seriously, these tribes were created by the colonists in order to foment internal discord and keep the Rwandans from turning on the occupiers. No one foresaw that these labels would stick to such a degree that eventually these two ‘tribes’ would become involved in one of the largest genocides of the modern age.
Then again, all racism is manufactured, regardless of the type. One person, or group of people, are somehow slighted by another group, or require some ‘other’ to blame for their circumstances, or need to distract the masses from a real enemy, or channel a fear born out of personal trauma, or justify a behavior – and thus racism is born. In the end any and all racism requires rationalization of the irrational, or at the very least the projection of the behavior of a select few onto all of those that share some characteristics with those few.
So now I realize that trying to write about actual racism is a lost cause for all but the best and brightest. Read President Obama’s books, or his speech on racism (most likely written by Jon Favreau) and you can begin the process. In the end racism appears to me to be all about inequality, perceived or actual, and thus I can not really write about it. To put myself into the shoes of anyone other than myself on the subject could be perceived to be – could actually be – racist. To write about it purely from my own perspective would be interesting to some, and perhaps open a few eyes to the antisemitism that is still prevalent in America, but it will not open any new doors to anyone who has not witnessed it. I certainly wouldn’t try to convince anyone that the election of President Obama is in and of itself an end to a certain sort of racism. If racism is all about perception then individual events, no matter how large, can not mark a beginning or an end.
So what is left? I suppose that by avoiding denial of racism, pointing it out, convincing people to try to understand that existence itself is a subjective experience and we can not hope to fully understand what does or doesn’t motivate an individual let alone a group, I can hope to make a difference. By “knowing it when we see it” and not being afraid to say so – like pointing out that many who call Obama a socialist/communist/Nazi without knowing the meaning of those terms are on some level really just avoiding using the N word, we can make a difference. But try to write about what it is specifically and then define how as a group we solve a problem that is a result of seeing ourselves as groups? Oy.
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PC is a racist. flat out unqualified. But he got triggered by the line “people like you”. That did seem to hit a nerve in you. He misunderstood your line of reasoning (and reasoning in general) when you (sort of) put him in the same bag with the Japanese.
I have heard that Japan was originally part of China (from a Chinese person; never from a Japanese person; the Japanese in general have some kind of superiority trip when it comes to being compared to the Chinese; this is a deeply ingrained attitude that I have to consciously struggle with myself about). One cannot necessarily tell apart Chinese and Japanese (or Korean) people; many of them look very similar and they are all related more than they will want to admit. Kinda like don’t call an Irishman an Englishman or don’t call a Ukrainian a Russian, or a Japanese person a Chinese person or a South American a Mexican; it will trip them out–I have to be conscious not to bite someones’ head off when they just assume I’m Chinese.
I’ve done a lot of political activism and I see it fruitless to argue with someone with fixed thoughts/closed mind. Too much of your intellectual energy is going down the toilet. I try to make a pithy statement, and leave them be. The real political work is mobilizing the sympathetic or pushing fence sitters to our side.
REM is a more subtle racist; he has what I might think of as “American centric” thinking.
The idea of Muslim outreach–he is aware that blaming the victim to justify themselves is uncool but if he is expecting the “moderate Muslims” to “disavow their terrorist brothers” he will be disappointed. The problem is more deeply entrenched because of most Americans’ profound ignorance (I’m including myself as not truly understanding Islam). He will find that most Muslims oppose the Western concept of “state” with borders and a nationalistic concept. They oppose the system of capitalism; and they appreciate and sympathize with the reasons that are the root cause of terrorism. What makes a Muslim “moderate” is their tactics and actions, and how pro-West they are. They will condemn Western imperialism before condemning Islamic terrorism because they see Western imperialism as the bigger problem, and the cause of terrorism. The mostly non-democratic regimes in the Muslim world are economically and militarily supported by the West.
There was obviously no Muslim voice in your discussion so it was always about “the other”
Everybody is racist. Because anti-racism means a lot to you, I think you got triggered when you got called “racist Dave”; I’m guessing it’s one of the last things you want to be called. When you asserted you could tell Chinese and Japanese apart, I was questioning how much you really know about our cultures…
There was a study on self-perception of racism; Asians rate themselves the highest for racism; there are two reasons I think for that; 1) because we are–I was raised in a family more overtly racist than any white person I know; and 2) they are more aware of racism than are say, most white people are. It is deeply ingrained in me and I find myself consciously struggling to squash feelings of revulsion about white culture. All I can do is to try and fight forms of racism whenever I see it, which may be one source of my obsession with killing the American war machine, and trying to be conscious when interacting with people of other cultures. I’m sure I make mistakes! The right thing to do when one makes mistakes is to try to correct them and to make amends…I do support reparations for the descendents of slaves; reparations would have been much less costly than these stupid wars that our allegedly non-racist President supports…
Your question about where all the black people were, as we entered the school on your first day , was answered by me, citing institutional racism, It was explained to you that it resulted from racist real estate patterns where banks kept black people out of some communities. In saying that, I realized where the hell we were and regretted that we ever moved, We should have stayed in Queens.
Yes, as I understand all too well now. Back when I was ten it was a little confusing, which is probably why I only remembered that you did explain it but not how. Hearing your recollection of it I have no doubt that is exactly how you must have explained it to me.
All of the responses to your blog offer interesting and enlightening views on the subject, Classical racism, if one
can say it exists, boils down,I believe, to two main categories, the fear of the other and the manipulation of that fear for political and economic reasons. The history in the USA among the working class is the fear of one ethnic group taking away the jobs of the other group, especially if that work is so-called “unskilled labor”.
A sub-category of this racism is the belief that your ethnic
group is superior in intelligence and skill to the other. This
of course is reinforced if the other group has been
denied educational opportunities or has a history of subjugation. This has a strong element of human nature to it and can be understood, if not excused. The second and more pernicious kind of
racism is the deliberate manipulation of the first kind by
the powers that be, for economic and political control
reasons. ( As Blanche stated about Africa). In this country
unions have often been used by the employers and the unions own leadership to encourage exclusion of African-Americans, as one example. Of course there are
other more nuanced causes for the persistence of racism
and many of them touched upon beautifully by previous commentators. I put in my 2 cents as a take on the broad
perspective of what I believe has been, and still is, the
driving force of racism in the USA.
Based on the comments here, any comment I can post would sound infantile at best. Nonetheless, one will never truly know how it feels unless they can speak about if from the first person. I see racism as two high-level types. Racisim based on fear, ignorance and the like does not have concious intent. The other being racism based on concious persecution and intentionally inflicting pain and suffering. Both are clearly wrong. However the distinction between the two to me, makes a statement about the person.
OK. Here’s the thing. I was born in the early sixties. In fact, Dr. Mr. Luther King was assassinated the same year I was born. I often wonder what that must have been like, to be hopeful new parents, and have that reality come crashing in to your cute little hopeful life. But in any case, I was raised in central California with certain understandings.
1. We don’t go to Sambo’s Restaurant under any circumstances.
2. Nothing on the planet is lower than PWT (Poor White Trash)
3. Folks with racist tendencies have limited mental capacity, so keep your distance.
4. No one is more likely to receive God’s love than me. We all receive according to how qualifications.
5. God loves me no matter what.
And truthfully, that makes up pretty much all of the complexity around racism that I had as a child. And it was sufficient. Absolutely not confusing and good until about 5th grade.
Your blog is well considered and well written. I read it through once for content and a second time for feeling. And where I want to throw in emphasis is around the concept of subtlety. The more subtle the racial differentiation, the more auto-intense the distinction becomes.
You give the example of the Hutus and the Tutsis. I did not know about the man made delineation between those tribes, but it sheds a lot of light. I’d always wondered why the fighting, when surely there would be only minor physical differences. Experientially, there would be only minor differences, but still valleys are carved between these tribes. And reinforced with violence. Could it all be because the combatants are working double time to enforce what differences they do know. What keeps them separate. No doubt the perpetrator-settlers set up a system with a hierarchy which, of course, fuels the discord.
Even today, and throughout African American culture, there are issues between blue black Black people and high yellow Black people. Those with ‘good’ hair and those with ‘nappy’ hair. The difference between House and Field. Me, being deeply toned, (look at that “deeply toned” ; why can’t I just say ‘dark’); I have experienced racist (classist?; sexist?) behavior from within my own gene pool. When the lines are more ambiguous, the participants have to work harder to differentiate. Sad really, because the mirror image of this is that the closer we are, the more we fight.
Thus the phrase, that is ever present when seniors in my family get talking about racism or racist acts: “The devil you know is better than the one you don’t know”. Which means, it’s better to have it out in the open. Divine it well, and then everybody knows the code. It’s when it’s hidden, sly and subtle (read: also backhanded, malintentioned, sneaky), that’s when you’ve got trouble.
Anyway, I’d been looking forward to participating in your blog, Dave. Thank you for being such a considered presence in the blogsphere. I think I came to the same conclusion you did, that to raise and process the idea of racism may in fact be an act of racism. But at the same time, we’re exchanging views. so perhaps something new will evolve. I think too that it’s the attempt to draw conclusions that licks the stamp on the the little package of racism that rides along in your blog. To observe is divine, to conclude is containment. I recently read somewhere that a conclusion is just where you got tired of thinking. Hmmmmm….
Well stated. I especially like “To observe is divine, to conclude is containment.” In that one statement, you hit on the sticky wicket of the whole discussion. “Containment” in the context of racism can be both a good thing and a bad thing. Containment of dangerous behavior is generally a good thing, but only if it does not force that behavior to find a different outlet. In many ways the history of racism is the history of containment, in that it is used to turn one population against another in order to contain any justified rage they may discover against a third party. Historically racism has been use in the US to contain class anger. However, we can theorize to death without ever reaching any conclusions, and without a conclusion to act upon, how do we act – and action is often necessary.
This is why I try to stress the subjectivity of my conclusions. We can each conclude what our experience allows us to, and the more we strive for a common understanding the more likely we are to reach a common conclusion.
Conclusions are unavoidable. As a species striving to accept it’s own mortality humans are bound to reach certain conclusions, I believe, out of instinct. The trick is in accepting the subjectivity of our conclusions and realizing that they, like us, are subject to change.
William and Danielle – Thank you for sharing your stories.
Danielle, I find your story particularly fascinating, as it really sums up the depth and breadth of the issue. How can one write about racism when no one can even agree what is or isn’t racist to any race other than there own, and sometimes not even then? I predicted that your friend’s reaction would be what it was before I got to that point in the story for two reasons. One is what I know of you. The other is that it had never come up. If this person defined themselves by race they certainly would have broadcast it somehow.
It is also interesting to me because in some ways your current experience is the opposite of my childhood experience. As you know I started at Glenwood Landing in the sixth grade, which is when we met. What you don’t know is that up until then I had gone to an experimental school in NY where whites were the minority. The culture shock you likely experienced when you started your current job is probably akin to the culture shock I experienced when I was 11! I can even remember asking my parents where all the black people were, and them struggling for an answer that I never quite understood and now can’t remember.
Racism may have many definitions, as I have mentioned in my post, but failure to think of someone differently because of their race to the extent that you do not even notice their race could only be considered racism under one circumstance – if they were being victimized or singled out by others because of their race and you failed to notice it. Since I am pretty sure I know who you are talking about (maiden last name starts with P?) and never witnessed anything of the type I find it hard to imagine how anyone could consider you racist.
Treating or thinking of people differently because of race? Racism. Growing up with someone, loving them, sharing your lives to the point that you are the godparent to their children and not even realizing a racial difference? Beautiful. Stunningly, wonderfully beautiful.
Hey Dave! Your essay is very interesting to me. My life has changed a lot in the past two years as I started working in a school whose students are predominately hispanic and african-american. My prior experiences were in schools whose student’s were 95% caucasian – which is basically how we grew up as well! I never considered myself a racist or prejudiced toward any group – and I thought I was raising my children in the same way. The very first children my son ever befriended in kindergarten were Turkish & Pakistani. I remember telling my best girl friend (whom we both went to high school with) that when the boys were together, they looked like the United Nations – but they never seemed to realize the differences between them at all! Our friend then stated “Well, look at his mother!” I was utterly confused. She looked at me and laughed “Well, I’m not white and we’ve been friends forever”. Now I was doubly confused. What did she mean?? Well, our friend is Filipino – of Asian descent – and I SWEAR it never even occurred to me. For the past (holy crap!) 29 years, it never even crossed my mind.
Fast forward to this past March, when I relayed this story to a wonderful friend of mine whom I work with now. He is an African-American male. Honestly, one of the most amazing men I’ve ever met – and definitely someone I respect and admire for his thoughts and insight regarding our students. We often discuss race and prejudice since there are so many issues pertaining to it in our school. His experiences as a black man offer me an insight I would never be able to have otherwise.
One day when we were talking and I told him the above story – his reaction was very upsetting. He was shocked that I never noticed that my best friend was Asian. He thought it probably was insulting to her that I didn’t acknowledge her race. It was part of who she is! I was devastated… This girl was the closest thing to a sister as I’ve ever had. Her family was my family and vice versa. We spent holidays and vacations together. Her daughter is my godchild!
I literally called her on my way home from work. We needed to talk – and I needed to ask her some serious questions – but I wanted to ask them in person. I wanted to see her face. Was she hurt by my blind eye toward her race? Was it insulting? I couldn’t believe that NOT acknowledging someone’s race or skin color was the wrong thing to do. Even if I HAD noticed – wasn’t it racist to point it out. Who cared?? Or was I insensitive and ignorant?
Her answer was a resounding NO. She loved that fact that her skin color never entered into the picture in our relationship. As a child, she had felt the sting of prejudice from others who made fun of her darker skin. She called her sister – and her sister agreed with her. They both felt completely opposite of the way my work friend had imagined. Thank God!!
Understanding and writing about racism is the hardest because it’s subjective. This whole incident proved to me that, while racism and prejudice are (unfortunately) alive and well today – it is completely different for each one of us. There are many categories: those of us who have lived it, those who have seen it, those who deny it exists, those that think it’s come and gone… I think I fall into the category of “those that hope”. I hope that each day I make a difference. I mother each child that comes into my office – and I give out the biggest hugs. And I hope it’s not racist to not notice their skin color/ethnic origin/religious belief/sexual orientation. They keep coming back for more hugs. And I hope it’s not because I’m a Caucasian woman. I’m hoping it’s because they love me too.
Very good blog Dave. I agree that trying to define racism is a futile goal. The old saying “Birds of a Feather Flock Together” sort of sums it up for me. As you know I am “ocularly challenged”. In the 30 + years I have been wearing this patch it has taught me that we as humans ( all races and colors ) are inherently threatened by any thing or anyone that is different and often lash out before we think, when presented with something we subconsciously perceive as a threat . This has led to countless encounters with absolute strangers making ridiculous and at times obscene comments about my patch and why I wear it. We as humans like to stick with our own “group” and tend to lash out at anyone who is different, on many different levels and in many different sub groups. Predominately the majority of strangers I meet that approach me and my patch with raw honesty are children. “Hey look at the Pirate” picture the mother in the grocery store shushing her child and rushing away in embarrassment. I have learned over the years not to take the comments I hear to heart but rather understand that the person who said it only did so in a knee jerk reaction and in most cases regretted making the initial statement. Human nature.
(However I do believe that change does often actually happen.)
I do not think of race so much as an indicator of class as a tool of class. “Indicator”, to me, invokes “symptom”.
And I do believe in progress. I just believe it happens very very very slowly.
Race is used as a tool of class. But it is a primary indicator of–that is, it is seen as denoting–class.
I believe that the concept of progress is essentially bogus.
From an American-centric view, yes. However in a more homogenous society, such as the Nordic nations, almost certainly not. I know I am just being overly semantic on this one, but if one can not safely assume A simply from knowing B then I would say that B is not an indicator of A.
And it always works. Have I mentioned that I believe progress is an illusion?
And differences have always been exploited by demagogues.
Race is the most salient indicator of class in this country (and others).
Blanche’s comment in many ways gets to the heart of the matter of why it is difficult to write about racism. I have not read Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s book, though I have seen her interviewed and take part in panel discussions several times. I do not believe she is a ’self-hating’ Muslim, but I do believe that everyone experiences the world subjectively – all of us – and that her experiences must strongly color her perception of the Muslim community at large. Does that make her wrong? Not necessarily. She may be 100% correct, I simply don’t assume that she – or anyone – is when it comes to such subjects. I don’t believe anyone can be – which is largely my point.
This leads nicely into what David Nolan has to say. First for those of you have not witnessed us posting on Facebook be prepared for the use of full names. We are not being overly formal, our names are just so damn similar it is the only way that works.
That said – I think perhaps a better word to have used would have been prejudice, but I am not sure. Racism by definition refers to race, while I am discussing more than race – religion and nationality are included in my discussion. However, while prejudice is certainly more ‘all-encompassing’ than racism, it also has a problem fitting into my point. Prejudice comes from “pre-judge”, which in tern assumes a process of judgement – which is not to me the same as a process of blame. I know I am just being a semantic nitpicker here, but I can’t help it – I’m just wired that way.
Which finally brings me back to the Hutu/Tutsi point. Blanche is correct in the history she provides. However, the differences she mentions, and did exist for centuries, were largely perceived as class distinctions. The idea of using the physical differences to distinguish them as separate races with separate names was introduced by the colonists – who realized that any continuation of a class distinction would clearly work against them. They saw two classes as well, them and the natives. From their perception they needed the racial difference between the two African classes to overpower the class distinction between the occupiers and the natives, so the terms Hutu and Tutsi were born. This is not all that different in thinking than the Glenn Becks of the world who would protect today’s privileged classes by fomenting racial tensions.
I’m busting into this all-Norman rumpus.
There’s a nice short piece floating around out there by an African American writer whose point is that we just all are. Racists etc. She remembers one evening she was with a group of people and saw a black man enter the room. She quickly checked the whereabouts of her purse. It was Dave Chappelle (insert embarrassed grin here).
Her point, of course, is that we all labor under the effects of prior learning, whether it’s an attitude or experienced. We are by nature noticers of difference, and in that we are just like many other animals.
But surely what we do beyond that is our responsibility.
Hey can you make the comments so they can be self-edited once posted. That way I will not be embarrassed in the future by my negligent use of the apostrophe.
Where my wife works, they do extensive work on issues related to racism – both out in society in general, and within various organizations – from businesses to non-profits and progressive organizations.
The interesting distinction they make is that for them, racism is different than prejudice. Racism contains an element of power and the ability to keep the object of your prejudice at a disadvantage – economically, socially, etc…
Not sure how much I agree with their analysis or approach, but it makes an interesting point about how it’s one thing to think people of another race are less than you in one way or another – it’s quite another to have the power to act on that prejudice in ways that significantly adversely affect the population, race, or community being subjected to that prejudice…
OK, another Norman chimes in . . . Am I racist because I think that a large amount of Muslim’s are abusive toward women? Because I think that most Muslim’s in Asia and Africa are taught from a young age that the after-life holds more than life in the present. This is a very dangerous idea. One that, yes, immediately made my mind go to terrorism when I heard the name of the shooter at Fort Hood. While this was not a terrorist conspiracy we must accept the fact that this man was in contact with people who endorsed terrorism. Being involved in an organizational plot is not necessary in order to be a terrorist. Fundamentalist thinking that teaches that some people deserve to die or be excised (as women still are, some dying of infections), or stoned to death for adultery, etc creates a very dangerous way of thinking. This kind of thinking as we all know has come to the Western World via 9/11, Fort Hood, and the death of Theo Van Gogh in Holland. In her book, “Infidel” Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Dutch Parliamentary member who grew up as a muslim in Somalia, Kenya and Saudi Arabia states that she often gets angry when she is called a self-hating Muslim. She states that when 9/11 happened anyone who believed that radical Jihadism was extremely rare was fooling themselves. We endorse the idea in the U.S. because we don’t want to appear Racist, but she points out that an extremely large majority of the muslim world is dangerous. As she puts it there is nothing self-hating about thinking poorly of a society that still brutally cuts off little girl’s genitalia and stones grown women to death for commiting adultery or refusing a marriage. Any fundamentalist belief that includes a doctrine that only those who believe are worthy is, in itself, yes, dare I say it, Racist. That to me includes not only fundamentalist Muslims, but also fundamentalist Mormons and Hasidim.
Also I want to point out something about the Hutus and Tsutis. Which tribe people were in was NOT random and has existed for many centuries. There were physical differences that were visible between Hutu and Tsutsi. The ruling class stayed within itself as did the servant class. This created a kind of “in-breeding” for lack of a better word. Tsutis were whiter, thinner and taller than Hutus who were dark skinned, shorter and more physically built for labor. When Belgium colonized Rwanda they supposedly tried to create more opportunities for Hutu, but in reality they played into the division and made it stronger. That’s why all hell broke loose as Belgium was on its way out. For lack of a better comparison it is similar to Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq. “Thus ends the lesson” from your annoying little sister.
Don’t quite understand your last sentence …”modern age
more challenging to isolate and thus assimilate etc.??
Not clear and contradictory. Do you mean “more Likely”.
If you mean the modern age leaves behind some
cultures, I agree but I think the overall trend is for more
tolerance if we can get a handle on unequal economic development.
PS’ Robert Wright is the author, not Richard that I referred to in my previous comment. He has an ex-
cellent op-ed in today’s NY times online.
The important part of your statement is “if we can get a handle on unequal economic development”. Until that day, which seems to be receding rather than approaching, I would argue that the modern age has the opposite impact.
In the earlier history of organized religion, assimilation and co-option often involved a trapped audience. Nowadays in order to convert people to a certain way of thinking you have to first isolate them from others that might want to convince them differently. Racism is an excellent tool for doing so.
In this context I am talking about racism as a tool, something deliberately wielded upon others. The wielder of the tool is not necessarily themselves racist – just as much of the gay-baiting to come out of congressional right-wingers has more to do with solidifying their base than it does with any actual homophobia they may feel.
Again, I agree that racism can be used as a means of
political control. e.g. The Dems losing the South after the
Civil Rights Act.etc. however history has to be seen in the
long run and progress is slow with many setbacks. Economic progress in China and India is forcing them to
more and more face their racial internal problems as
the World and the internet looks on. Keep up the musings,
they make us all question our assumptions about how
society works or doesn’t work..
I think you are just more optimistic than I am. You see things moving in one directon, and I see them moving in another.
The Atticus Finch quote as well as “walk a mile in my shoes…” just about says it all. I am currently reading
“the Evolution of God” by Richard Wright and it strongly
suggests an important universal truth., Belief systems
throughout human history did best increasing their
number of adherents when they tolerated and incorporated
the beliefs of those they proselytized or conquered. They
accepted the “Other” when it made political sense. So, in
a world of increasing interdependence,toleration makes
sense for the survival of us all . Perhaps, lowering, if not
eliminating, the negative influence of racism.
Yes, but that same history shows that when assimilation through acceptance or co-option fail the fallback is always racist-fueled violence. As a result I am not sure that the modern age, which makes it more challenging to isolate and thus assimilate or co-opt, does not actually increase the likelihood of racism as a tool.
good stuff…truly difficult to make sense of it all. noble and honest attempt, Normalicious one.
Atticus Finch: If you just learn a single trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.
Sounds good, but easier said than done, as you suggested (or as I inferred…?)
Potential non-sequitur alert:
Methinks that most “racially motivated” or “racially biased” thoughts, feelings, behaviors (whatever you wanna call em) lurk strongest within folks who’ve never done acid. Just a hunch
Or did too much.
And yes, I was suggesting that it is easier said than done.
(or not quite enough)
Word meanings change over time. Racism can be a mindset, a predisposition to act or interpret, an epithet, or a general term of dislike or disapproval to name a few. Context helps sort out how the term is used.
Dave — brave topic, well done. You address one of the most difficult conversations that we must have today and one of the most emotionally charged and personally felt topic. Thanks for trying to work through this.
Thank you for the kind words.