“Let them call you racist. Let them call you xenophobes. Let them call you nativists. Wear it as a badge of honor. Because every day, we get stronger, and they get weaker.” Steve Bannon
It used to be that being called a racist was a terrible thing. It elicited groaning, weeping, and gnashing of teeth. People would go to great lengths to refute the claim, testifying to their standing in the community and best friends of other races. Racists had no real problem with being racist. They didn’t like people to call them one, avoiding appearances of being a racist without regard to how they felt. But things have changed.
As former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon suggests, being called a racist no longer matters. The definition is so changeable that it depends on who is making a claim and who is being named. A disturbing pattern has evolved, which renders the charge almost meaningless in some circles. Various defenses against the label have arisen, backed up by certain media, elected officials, and even the Supreme Court. Let’s take a look at what is and isn’t racist in America these days:
What is and Isn’t Racist?
Being caught on video while you have a job: (Racist); many a Dick, Tom, Becky, and now Scott Adams have learned. Nothing can save you from your racist tirade once it’s been plastered all over the Internet. Shared, liked and re-tweeted until your bosses, their bosses, and advertisers can’t take the heat. It seems that calling the police on small black children for gathering in public places or shouting at people in line at the grocery store to “go back to your country” is bad for business. If your racism affects the corporate bottom line, you’re not only racist but fired.
Being caught on video if you are the police: (Probably Not Racist) You can be caught on video; shooting an unarmed black or brown man in the back who’s running away from you while calling them an ethnic slur, and you may not be racist. You might be golden if you allege to be in fear for your life or thought you saw them reach into their waistband. The police union will be right there to claim the video, no matter how long in length, won’t tell you what happened in the moments leading up to the shooting, or the angle will be inconclusive. Those ethnic slurs were understandable and unfortunate utterances made in the heat of the moment. Now and then, an officer will be found guilty of something, but that is a rare case indeed. Maybe they didn’t pay their dues? If you are a Black Memphis police officer in a group perpetuating racist policies. It’s racist, but because it is an example of systemic racism, people will say it isn’t.
Racism, in general, is being defined out of existence. No longer does a racist result make a difference; there has to be racist intent for it to count. This is the justification that the Supreme Court has made the law of the land. They have let stand some of the most egregious racial redistricting cases by claiming the intent was merely political and not racial. If the laws don’t expressly state, the District was designed to lump most minorities together to reduce their overall voting strength, despite numbers showing it did just that. It will be deemed Constitutional.
When SCOTUS got rid of the enforcement powers of the Voting Rights Act, the very next day, several states put policies in place to suppress minority votes. The House in Congress passed a provision to reinstate the enforcement ability but never saw the light of day in the Republican-controlled Senate, and later not in a Democratic-Controlled Senate. Now the Republican-controlled House would never pass such a bill, and the filibuster would still keep the Senate from considering it.
There is one place those who are otherwise blind to racism can spot it. If you call someone a racist, it must be that you are the real racist. It’s officially racist to point the finger at someone else without being called racist yourself. If you begin a discussion about race, you must “hate white people” or be a “race-baiter.” I write about race quite a bit; therefore, I get called racist quite often. I describe an American history that doesn’t flatter the Founders, the Constitution, and the rationale behind the Monroe Doctrine and Manifest Destiny.
I write about slavery and how it was the base of the foundation on which this nation was built. I talk about slave breeding which many alleged historians don’t acknowledge. They speak of our early leaders in reverent tones; I relate that Washington’s teeth weren’t wooden but taken from enslaved people. They say the Constitution “laid the groundwork to end slavery.” It sets the stage to protect domestic slavery, which Jefferson did the very first day it was possible.
When confronted with racism in this country, there are three options.
- Support racism
- Stand idly by, saying and doing nothing
- Vigorously fighting racism
I submit that doing nothing, failing to acknowledge racism when it’s directly in front of you, and allowing it to continue unchecked, is no better than actively supporting it. I’ll go back to the example of Voter Suppression if you are a Republican elected official in any of these states (North Carolina, Texas, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, Mississippi, and others (25 states have passed new voter restriction laws in the last few years). You are engaging in voter suppression and therefore supporting racism.
Before anyone gets hyper-sensitive and starts screaming about preventing fraud and the common-sense rationale for photo I.D., I challenge you. Show me a state that passed a photo I.D. law that didn’t simultaneously pass other laws or implement new rules to limit minority votes. Whether restricting early voting, reducing or moving polling locations, purging eligible voters from the rolls, increasing poll watchers to “monitor” voters, or limiting I.D. availability. The purpose is to attempt to win elections by limiting minority (and youth) voting so that you can keep power. You might consider it simply partisanship, but to be sure; it’s racism.
Racism isn’t just going to go away by itself. We’ve seen a surge in the prominence of white nationalists and supremacists. Some have made it to the upper levels of the White House in a recent administration (Bannon, Miller, and Trump). Those surrounding them do or say nothing, thus aiding the cause. A body called Congress is supposed to check the Executive Branch, but they are either unwilling or unable. It’s hard to overlook that many in Congress are beneficiaries of voter suppression. Their seat depends on keeping turnout from specific populations low. Given that Congress won’t do its job. The burden of refusing to accept racism falls to us, the people. The Courts have a role on paper but they only check the Presidents they don’t like.
It’s up to us to put people in place who can see racism when it exists and do everything in their power to excise it. One of the schemes of suppressing voters is urging people not to vote. Telling them, “your vote doesn’t matter, so why bother?” It matters, even in states where the Electoral result is already determined. Your vote is needed for state senator, congressman, or animal control officer if that’s an elected office in your area. Every selected office matters and those being encouraged not to vote will be the most repressed.
Voting out elected officials will not eliminate the racism in some people’s hearts, and it can send a message that racism will no longer be tolerated. Racist policies and racist people have got to go, it will take time, but the message must be received. The average racist is currently being empowered (except for the unfortunate few caught on videos). People’s hearts and minds won’t be changed immediately, but actions will reflect that there’s a penalty for being racist once again, whereas it’s currently being rewarded.
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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.
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You may also like these posts on The Good Men Project:
White Fragility: Talking to White People About Racism | Escape the “Act Like a Man” Box | The Lack of Gentle Platonic Touch in Men’s Lives is a Killer | What We Talk About When We Talk About Men |
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