Racism is a touchy subject for most. Even those who recognize that it still exists in our everyday lives prefer not to talk much about it. It's one of those topics that isn't likely to be brought up over dinner or at a party. At least, not if you're white. One of the many unearned privileges of being white in America is not having to spend much time thinking about racism. Not if you don't want to.
And why wouldn't whites feel a need to spend time concerned with this? Because they are...
* ...less likely than blacks to be arrested; once arrested, they are less likely to be convicted and, once convicted, less likely to go to prison, regardless of the crime or circumstances. Whites, for example, constitute 85 percent of those who use illegal drugs, but less than half of those in prison on drug-use charges are white.
*...more likely than comparable blacks to have loan applications approved and more likely to be given poor information or the runaround during the application process.
*...charged lower prices for new and used cars than are people of color, and residential segregation gives whites access to higher-quality goods of all kinds at cheaper prices.
*...represented in government and the ruling circles of corporations, universities, and other organizations at disproportionately high ratios.
*... disproportionately cast as national heroes, success models, and other figures held up for general admiration.
*...more likely to have greater access to quality education and health care.
*...much more likely to succeed without other people being surprised by this.
*...more likely to reasonably expect that if they "play by the rules" and work hard they'll get what they deserve, and feel justified complaining if they don't.
*...not likely to have to deal with an endless and exhausting stream of attention to their race. They can simply take their race for granted as unremarkable to the extent of experiencing themselves as not even having a race.
I'm almost surprised when I hear people argue that our country has somehow moved past all this.
"For God's sakes, we have a Black president now. Stop playing the race card!" they'll say. They, of course, being whites. It's easy to say something doesn't exist when you or someone you love doesn't have to face it's consequences each day.
Generally when people do talk about racism they feel most comfortable keeping it confined to the words and actions of fanatics. White supremists. The Klan. Even many of our grandfathers.
You can't help but notice much of the explicitly racist things you hear tend to come out the mouths, or from the fingertips, of older people. The vast majority of us have that aunt, grandmother, or even parent who might say something about Blacks, Mexicans, or Asian-Americans. The comments that make you cringe - at least for a moment - to know you somehow share a collection of genes.
When older people say these sorts of things they are often defended with the old "Well, he's just a product of his generation. Things were different back in his day."
And it's true. Things were.
Twelve of our Presidents were enslavers of human beings. Of these, half actually kept people in bondage right there in the White House. In fact, the White House was built with slave labor (Initially George Washington - hero to many -wanted to use foreign labor to build the White House but after learning how expensive it would be turned to slaves instead).
George Washington spoke out against slavery yet held them captive at the same time. He did everything he could to ensure that the 300 people he held in bondage could not secure their freedom. When one of his slaves, Oney Judge, did escape before being "gifted" to a Washington granddaughter, GW tried repeatedly to trick her back into slavery.
Thomas Jefferson, our second president, spoke against the principles of slavery yet also spoke out against blacks, saying things such as "Comparing them by their faculties of memory, reason, and imagination, it appears to me, that in memory they are equal to the whites; in reason much inferior...and that in imagination they are dull, tasteless, and anomalous." Oh yeah, and he also held and raped slaves. So there's that, too.
Theodore Roosevelt, whose face is carved into Mount Rushmore, once said "I don't go so far as to think that the only good Indians are dead Indians, but I believe nine out of ten are, and I shouldn't like to inquire too closely into the case of the tenth."
So should we hold these men responsible for their words and actions given that they were living in a time when such thoughts were widely held? Is that enough for a free pass?
Not according to Robert Jensen who argues we should ask ourselves "Were there any people expressing alternative ideas at the time?"
In the time of Jefferson there were a number, one of which was Thomas Paine. Paine was an opponent of slavery, writing an anti-slavery article for the
Pennsylvania Journal and the Weekly Advertiser. In this, he presented a clear condemnation of slavery and the Americans who supported it. By the time Roosevelt came around there were many, many more. By the time our aunts, grandmothers, and parents were born there were entire movements working to disrupt and challenge racism.
So, yeah, I tend to think we can hold them accountable. All of them. No matter how old or young they may be.
There's a blog I recently found called
My Right Wing Dad: An Interpretive Center and Archive for Right Wing Forwards. On it, people post and critique the emails that get forwarded among a group of ultra-conservatives. There are ninety (yes, ninety!) under the "Racism" tab. The one at the top right now (comparing Michelle Obama to a chimp) is as overtly racist and disgusting as any "joke" could be. And these are from so-called "Christians."
My friend Melanie recently
posted her feelings, as a Christian, of those who represent her, her beliefs, and her God in such a hateful and inhuman manner. I have many other friends and family who feel the same way. And I can understand this. We should neither judge nor dismiss someone for their religion. Or their age. Or their upbringing.
But we should hold them accountable.
