Doper 1: “One of the first things you learn in anti-racism training is that you’re racist. You can’t help it as a product of our society.”
Doper 2: “This is not true.” (quoted verbatim)
Deniers like Doper 2 above feel the accusation of racism is a worse evil than the existence of racism itself. They categorically deny that they “are racist.” The copula to be identifying an individual with the designation “racist” is the sticking point.
I argue the position of Doper 1 against Doper 2, but without saying “you’re racist,” because the copula is a scary thing in the mind. It cuts to the heart of one’s self-esteem and social reputation and hits the amygdala as a vicious attack on the very person.
I argue that Doper 1 is right, because the truth is subtler and much deeper: 1. First you have to accept the truth that the world we were raised in was built by racism from the ground up and sustained by racism right up to our own lifetimes. 2. Because of that, nobody born and brought up in that system is free from racist thoughts. 3. For proper self-esteem and social responsibility, it is essential to confront any sign of racism in oneself.
If someone is only, say, 23% racist instead of 100%, Doper 1 argues, you mustn’t compare them to the evil Klansman as though it’s all or nothing. The problem with this: It implies there is an acceptable level of racism one may hold. There is no acceptable level of racism that a person may nurture in their soul. It all has to be rooted out, and it’s everyone’s individual and collective responsibility to keep doing so.
I stay consciously anti-racist every moment of the day… but when a racist thought slips into awareness unbidden, I recognize it as having been formed during my impressionable upbringing, too many racist uncles in the extended family. I perceive it as a loathsome vermin discovered in the basement of my mind. I attack and destroy it on sight. How to exterminate all of them? They hide in cracks in the foundation itself. I want to root them all out and utterly cleanse the pit of unconscious filth they spawn in. Short of finding a way to accomplish that, I maintain vigilance by squashing the damned things whenever they scuttle out of the darkness.
It helps if prejudice isn’t conflated with racism. EVERYONE is prejudiced, to some extent. it’s a natural human/societal condition. Racism is an act, taking those prejudices and using institutional and societal power to act on them in a negative and oppressive way.
So, everyone harbors prejudices, but not everyone is racist.
The problem is denying something can instantly label you as a “denier”, causing any explanations on your part to be dismissed as part of the problem. It is a non-falsifiable argument that disturbs me somewhat.
But that is the point of understanding implicit and institutional racism, which can and do occur even in the absence of any explicit prejudiced beliefs. They are actions of impact nevertheless.
But yes it is somewhat difficult as the word “racist” poisons the well to some degree. To me the key is to clarify that the person (myself included) isn’t a racist, but in ways that we may be honestly unaware of we participate in racist actions, individually and collectively. Very much the same as my kid wasn’t a bad kid even if they did a bad thing.
The statement is made that everyone is racist. When this is denied, instead of telling that particular person in what way they are racist the person questioning the statement is blindly accused of being a racist and that the reason they supposedly covering it is that they don’t want to be labeled a racist. There is no way out for the accused because anything said will be called part of the coverup.
I suggest avoiding the copula to be on this topic. I wouldn’t endorse Korzybski’s General Semantics, which goes overboard in opposing use of copula be altogether. But in this instance, find other ways of wording to achieve the intended goal: to remove racism from society without getting hackles up. Everyone grows up in this system polluted by pervasive racism, nobody’s immune, we’re all in this together. Me no less than you. You like having a healthy body? You have a wonderful immune system that protects you from germs. All I’m saying is let’s develop an immune system for the mind - one that seeks out and neutralizes all manifestations of racism that creep in from the unconscious. Will that sound acceptable to Joe Sixpack?
Honestly, I don’t think so. I think telling Joe Sixpack or Joseph Ardbeg that they have racist thoughts when they do not experience having them is a conversation ender.
The problem is this argument presupposes that you are racist without any evidence being presented, and any evidence provided by you is only evidence that you are covering up your racism.
The above is the truth. (Bulletized for easier reading.)
I think the problem people have with “I am racist” is what exactly the “I” is. What I mean by this is how a person views their unconsciousness. Some people feel responsible for their unconscious thoughts and feelings. Others only feel responsible for what they consciously think and feel.
I think @Johanna’s formulation is a great one. Point 1 is obvious; anyone who denies it needs to educate themselves, and that means listening with an open mind and heart. And educating each other is an important part of this.
Point 2 is recognition that each of us have internalized racist thoughts, and that is not a fault in ourselves, but a fact of our upbringings. Accept that you can’t control your past and unconscious biases, nor can others control theirs.
Point 3 is where our faults lie. We are not responsible for our unconsciousness, but are responsible for our impact on others. We of course make mistakes, but responsible adults recognize our errors, make corrections, and strive to do better in the future. And we accept in good faith that others will make mistakes and can change themselves for the better as well.
I read How to Be an Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi, which extols a position much like this but more fundamental. Any activity which doesn’t explicitly fight racism is racism. He even indicts his parents for this, because they wanted him to be successful in American society.
However, since we live in a pluralistic society, Kendi’s focus on racism equaling antiblackness is itself racist. Yes, he does make all the standard platitudes about other races and decries replacement theory and immigration crackdowns. Words he apparently does not live up to. But he undoubtedly feels that blacks are more oppressed and works for them in a silo that doesn’t provide similar service to other races. He is part of a national discourse that celebrates victories for one silo and ignores, or at best slights, victories for those in the other silos. No multicultural society can eliminate racism this way.
Antiracism is a laudable goal. As does the OP, I recognize in myself attitudes that are inescapable from merely growing up in American society while being white.
The devil is in the details. If no one outside a select few are 100% antiracist, then antiracism becomes yet another hurtful religious belief that can be used to damn everyone outside the circle. From your post, @Johanna, you have not reached 100% status and so like me you are outside redemption. How is this useful? None of us with white skins can ever reach the 100% target, so your argument defaults to saying that all attempts to improve yourself are fruitless.
More sensible are suggestions like this list, which calls for learning, advocacy, and sensitivity, rather than 100% devotion to an unattainable goal. Yes, better to be 23% antiracist than 2%. Better to be 43% and 63% as well. Strive to move ever higher on the curve. Acknowledge and applaud the ones that demonstrate high awareness. Try not to demonize those who have not reached satori, since none of us have or ever will.
If the statement of “Everyone is racist” is made, and I ask for evidence that shows I am racist, it only makes sense that evidence is shown that I am racist so that I know where to make corrections in my thinking.
What the @#$%? That’s a bizarre concept of “redemption.” It certainly isn’t implied in anything I said, making it logically inane. Speaking of redemption, Bob Marley in “Redemption Song” said it best:
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery
None but ourselves can free our minds
Edit: All of yous, Walter, Czarcasm, Exapno, quit misreading my OP already. Either you respond to what I really said, or I can’t dialogue with you.
Is it not possible that some of us already have? Unless you tell us what you have in mind, there is no way to tell if we already made it, or even if we are on the right path.
