“I have a lot of friends who are of all different nationalities and their children are bi-racial so they’ve kind of talked to me a little bit about it and what to expect and what not to expect. I think that the most important thing is and the way I want to raise my children is to not see color. That’s important to me,” —Kim Kardashian Interview in Madame Noire, March 27, 2013
A White person edits my weekly column, or at least, I think he’s White. We’ve never met in person or had a discussion about our racial backgrounds; therefore, I am basing my perceptions strictly on headshot photos I have seen on the GMP website and Twitter. I could quite easily be mistaken, and even if I am correct phenotypically, I could be assigning a racial category to someone who personally does not identify as such. Regardless, that’s my perception and I’m sticking to it! I identify as an African American male, therefore, every interaction I have with this person is by nature cross-racial.
As someone who frequently writes about racial oppression for GMP, I find myself wondering how such differences play out in the nature of our professional relationship. Questions such as: “does he think about systematic racial oppression and its daily impact on his life specifically and American society in general” and “has he explored White privilege and the history of U.S. promoted White Supremacy” circle my mind from time to time.
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Research has revealed that individuals endorsing color-blind racial attitudes had more difficulty communicating in cross-racial dyads; these individuals also inaccurately underestimate the frequency of both blatant and subtle racism in society.
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I am not suggesting our racial differences, in and of themselves, serve as a barrier to connection and collegiality. In contrast, those same differences may serve as the catalyst or conduit through which authentic relationships are formed. The two of us may find that just as our differences enhance our connection, we have numerous commonalities which also deepen the intimacy between us. One commonality which has been evident since our initial correspondence is our mutual focus on confronting gender-based oppression. Personally speaking we are apparently both fans of old school fantasy-adventure movies (“Princess Bride”) and sick to death of individuals who troll articles.
So, not only have I placed my colleague in to a racial category that he may or may not belong, I also have specific questions about him based on the categorization. Can I be any more racist?
Preconceptions and (mis)interpretations about other people based on race are pervasive in our society. Indeed, our willingness to discuss our internal dialogue regarding individuals belonging to racial groups different than ours is a critical part of confronting racial oppression.
Color-blind racial attitudes specifically promote the notion that “race should not and does not matter.” Helen Neville and Eduardo Bonilla-Silva argue that “color blind racial attitudes” constitute the major form for perpetuating modern racism. We can all agree that race “should not” matter, but the “does” not matter component is problematic for several reasons. First, whether we admit it or not most of us not only make presumptions of a person’s race based on their physical appearance, but according to research we also make it based on tone of voice as well as based on someone’s name.
Those individuals endorsing color blind racial attitudes therefore feel that race has no bearing on educational, economic or occupational attainment, and may instead believe that if racial minorities had a stronger work ethic, such disparities would not exist. Research has revealed that individuals endorsing color-blind racial attitudes had more difficulty communicating in cross-racial dyads; these individuals also inaccurately underestimate the frequency of both blatant and subtle racism in society. Therefore it is actually warranted to acknowledge the existence of racial differences and I would argue that it behooves each of us to explore our individual racial bias.
In expanding on the conceptualization of color blind racial attitudes, noted author Eduardo Bonilla-Silva described the promotion of such views as akin to living in a “pretend world” in which skin color has no meaning, allows for, and can even encourage the non-recognition of discrimination against people on the basis of the color of their skin.
As a result, colorblindness allows the dominant group to take no responsibility for racial inequity and enables them to blame minorities for their plight by circulating in public discourse their alleged deficiencies. Additionally, by failing to acknowledge such feelings you might miss out on an opportunity to have an authentic discussion about racial differences. Such conversations are critical in reducing negative racial attitudes and racial oppression.
As a clinician I do not pretend that my clients do not have a race or ethnicity. Instead I encourage discussion of their cultural backgrounds and freely invite discussions which explore any and all cultural differences we may have between us. To do otherwise may be akin to ignoring the proverbial elephants in the room.
Going back to the question I asked earlier in this article: do my preconceptions about the editor make me racist? They definitely mean that it is past time that I reached out to him to have an authentic discussion about our racial-cultural differences.
I’m not racist but …
I wouldn’t pick one up in my cab
I wouldn’t want my daughter to marry one
I wouldn’t rent my flat to one
I wouldn’t employ one
—Anita Heiss, I’m Not Racist But … : A Collection of Social Observations
Read Justin Cascio’s response: Owning Whiteness.
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I do not judge based on race, but that doesn’t mean that I believe racism doesn’t exist! I find that assumption in the article ridiculous.
When people do the right thing they are still criticised. The article made me angry and I felt insulted.
Huge generalisations and assumptions were made. Generalisations and assumptions are what cause racism, so you are guilty of the same cognitive errors you denounce.
We, as in Americans, should be careful not to project our racial beliefs onto the rest of humanity. Many civilizations have come and gone and have not had the kind of institutional racism found in the American Constitution. All of humanity doesn’t behave as we do. In fact, even in America, there have always people,like the Quakers, and The Wellington Rescuer’s of Ohio, and my personal favorite, wild-eyed and irrepressible John Brown, who opposed racism.
My current girlfriend, who is Cantonese, has a completely take on race than does most Americans I know.
“Problem is whether the characteristics are sufficiently common to make one or another reaction valid. Nobody takes women to task–hardly anybody–for acting defensively around strange men. Because some men are rapists and women are victims and so we’re not allowed to say anything about it for fear of being told about rape culture or privilege or something.” I agree. It is a problem. But, we are allowed to say something about it and we should, over and over again. Until we acknowledge the problem, we will never overcome it. “On the other hand, a shopkeeper who sees a couple of… Read more »
Archy.
Agreed. People in groups usually have the average IQ of the dumbest among them.
Randy. You’re right. Our brains are wired to deal with a member of a group according to the imputed characteristics of that group until, if, we discover the individual has different characteristics. It’s a survival trait–see evpsych. Problem is whether the characteristics are sufficiently common to make one or another reaction valid. Nobody takes women to task–hardly anybody–for acting defensively around strange men. Because some men are rapists and women are victims and so we’re not allowed to say anything about it for fear of being told about rape culture or privilege or something. On the other hand, a shopkeeper… Read more »
The male profiling is “okay”, because feminist theory says male is the oppressor class, so they say. To them it would be like white profiling. Personally I find profiling based on demographics, regardless of which, to be crap and unjustifiable, regardless of risk. You screen behavior, so screen behavior, indiscriminately. You might even learn amongst the way that some white criminals or female criminals tended to get away with it due to less screening or slap on the wrist punishment. I’m sure its the case that traffic violations committed by white people are more often ‘let go’ than those of… Read more »
I mean no such leniency for black people in the traffic example.
If I saw a bunch of kids enter my shop, I think I’d be worried since they’re kids but hopefully they’re not up to trouble. If I saw a bunch of ANY people walking in I’d be worried. Around here groups of black people don’t worry me, but groups of drunk people do no matter who they are as they are the ones I’ve had trouble with in the past. What sets me off is body language though, I can’t think of any one group that stands out but body language is what will get me nervous. A group of… Read more »
Richard, I’m not suggesting that its right or that it isn’t racist. I’m just suggesting that the way our brain works in categorizing everything we see and hear based on our experiences is working against the eradication of racism and discrimination. From my grandfather complaining about ‘those commie bastards’ to every adult male in the neighborhood talking about (insert racial epithet here) earning overtime on their tax dollars while leaning on shovels to my aunt’s rhubarb pie to my son being jumped by a gang of Italian kids because they all wanted to be Don Corleone of the school yard;… Read more »
“Those individuals endorsing color blind racial attitudes therefore feel that race has no bearing on educational, economic or occupational attainment…”
I do think we always see race, but that, as policy, we ought to act as if it didn’t exist. There’s no other way really. The privilege discourse usually has the flavor of moral entrepreneurs trying to secure their jobs and incomes, some of which are hefty. I guarantee you that every person I’ve ever heard talk about privilege has been white, and comes from a much higher class background than I do.
I really like the first paragraph. It’s a great disclaimer. It’s refreshing to see someone own up to their assumptions and recognize how these categories are themselves based on guesswork and preconceived notions. At least until the end of the paragraph, where it starts to talk about phenotype (as if races actually exist as real biological categories) and then the author simple embraces his prejudice and runs with it. Seriously, “phenotypically” sounds like a throwback to the pseudo-scientific racism of the nineteenth century, like “Asiatics” and “Nordics” and “Mongoloids.” The most that you can conclude is that, based on the… Read more »
Randy. Now we have the question of whether the attributed characteristics are attributed accurately. And, since people differ and rarely are those characteristics common to all of a group, the question morphs to whether the percentage of incidence of the characteristic in question calls for a particular reaction upon encountering one of the group. Or some of the group. We know that some women will say they don’t mean to offend non-rapists by acting defensively but they must. So they’re acting on a presumption of possible danger, even though they’re wrong most of the time. Is that justifiable? is the… Read more »
What exactly is your point? If you’re wrong most of the time then how can the reaction be justifiable? Only about 1% of black people will commit a violent crime, clearly that means you cannot apply a broad brush. With regards to the mob attacks, those are few isolated incidents so again you cannot apply that to the broader population of black people.
“Going back to the question I asked earlier in this article: do my preconceptions about the editor make me racist?” If you’d asked me that question 20 years ago, I’d have condemned you as a racist pig. Today, not so much. There was a great series of investigative exposés on the discovery channel about how the human brain works and processes information. At any one moment, there are millions of data points that the brain tries to process. In that process, the brain weeds through those data points and ignores 99% of what we see and hear to let us… Read more »
I’ve always thought the concept of “I don’t see race” and “I’m colorblind” was itself very problematic and “racist” because it assumes there is something _wrong_ with color. This is almost as good as saying “i don’t see color because color = bad so in order to not make a judgement about it I don’t see it”.
How about, I see culture. I see behavior. I don’t care about your race. Your behavior is what’s important.
And if I don’t like your behavior, be assured it’s not because of your race.
As a man who happens to be black, it is my contention that racism is an overused word that has lost its true meaning and is too many times used in place of prejudice. As human beings we are inclined to “pre-judge” anything that is different than we are. Therefore prejudice is actually a natural part of the human experience. It is impossible not to see race because as human beings we are acutely aware of anything “different” than we are. So instead of not seeing race why not acknowledge race and recognize that we have a choice not to… Read more »
I see race, but do my best to avoid making assumptions based on it. The area I grew up in has quite a lot of racism and by the time my brain turned on in highschool, I realized racist attitudes were absolutely stupid. I find it quite interesting to learn about aboriginal culture however, we use to do school camps to a learning center where we learned about the culture of the local tribe/people. Makes me sad to see people still get so bent out of shape because someone looks different.
I think these are good points here, about being able to see difference while also noting that we will tend to have unconscious responses to same/other, so that we can decide not to judge or assume we know what sameness/difference means.
I am so glad you wrote this. We’ve been having a conversation on email since you sent me your column for this week that I’m excited to have. There is so much to say about race and racism, and shame and fear that prevent us from talking about them often enough. Pretending neither exist doesn’t do anybody any favors.