The problem with the assertion that power is institutional is that institutions are abstractions. (So is power, for that matter). In both cases, if you say that the behaviors of individual people does not count, you end up with an empty set.
Social structures without people are like computer screens without pixels. It is true in an important sense that I don’t spend my day staring at pixels, but at images created by patterns of pixels, but it is the pixels that make up the bloody patterns. Likewise, the educational system, or the United States of America, or the Sovereign State of Alabama, or the Racist Capitalist Patriarchal Imperialist Pig-State…are patterns of behavior, and the components doing the behavior are ultimately individual people.
Therefore, while it may be true as a post hoc observation that powerful institutions work to perpetuate the hegemony of white power, this is the pattern formed by interacting people; and we as individuals own our power locally. (I as a white person can do things as an individual; so can a black person, whose behaviors at any given moment are creating and maintaining social structures, or changing them, just as mine are, and both of us are politically accountable for our behaviors, but not directly and personally for the the behaviors of the institutions themselves).
Also, if racism was a “scam” to hurt “whites”, it wouldn’t account for a lot of racism between other ethnic groups. I mean, 100 years ago, you had racism against the Irish, Slavs, Italians, etc. Or anti-semetism or what have you.
Nope, doesn’t work.
Well said, Number Six.
One can certainly make observations based on classes of individuals without being any “ist” of any kind. I look forwards to the day that we can all recognize reality as it pertains to racial characteristics.
I propose that Racism, Classism, Sexism be defined as follows:
1) Having an irrational or unfounded belief about a class of individuals.
If one thinks “Polacks are stupid,” but you’ve never met one, clearly that’s irrational bias – as opposed to 'stutterers won’t make good radio talk show hosts," rational bias.
2) Having one’s rational class belief supersede individual information.
Cluster A may have a higher mean than Cluster B, but any given data A needs to be evaluated vs. data B. Put another way, this is the “George seems nice enough, but you can’t trust black people” argument. If George has shown himself to be nice and trustworthy, he is no longer an member of class “black guy”, he’s George, the guy I play racquetball with who sneezes funny. To let a rational class bias take precedence over first hand evidence is racist, and ridiculous. Would you say “My husband seems to make less than I do, but we all know men make more than women, so he doesn’t?” Well, some do, but that doesn’t make any more sensible.
Wow, another driveby from janl, posting a link to his site. I can safely predict we have seen the last of him in this thread. Engaging in actual debate does not seem to be high on his list of priorities.
I don’t know if my story is relevent to this topic but it is an experience that has changed my perspective of the race issue. A few years ago I was at work attending a crew safety meeting. The crew meeting had not started yet and a couple of co-workers and I were talking. Across the room, a female co-worker used the word “honky” to describe a white male member of the crew. BTW, she was black. I made the comment to her “Why is it okay for you to use a term about my race that I find offensive but I would be fire for using a racial term that you find offensive?” She suddenly seemed upset and left the meeting room. 3 days later I was summoned to the company’s HR department and was threatened losing my job, being fined, and that I could be sued in civil court. I had been accused of making a racial threat. I would like to think some cooler heads intervened and I was placed on 30 days probation.
I successfully challenge the probation with the help of my union steward, who just happens to also be black. He felt my comment had merit and he thought I made a valid point. When I told the story to my brother in law, who happens to be hispanic, he felt offended too. He feels it is okay to call white people racial names but not the other way. What am I missing?
You’re not missing anything. You’re just up against people with ignorant beliefs.