Sunday, June 13, 2004
Racism and its sometimes-ugly and sometimes-not head
So I've been trying to write a post about racism since we started this. Here's my first attempt, just to get some thoughts out there and maybe start some brain cells churning.
Racism in the US is a problem that is largely under wraps. There are pockets of real hatred here and there, but most racism today is bred by ignorance. Most of the 'racist' comments we hear today aren't made by racist people, just people who aren't aware of what they are saying. For example, Bill Parcells' recent comment about "jap plays"? Is that really a racist comment? Or is it more of a nationalist comment? Is there a difference?
Like everything else in the world, there is a sliding scale between racism and nationalism. Nationalism is racism to some extent, and racism is nationalism to some extent. If there nations were a little more homogeneous, would it reduce the amount of racism in the world? Could we make it so that nations were more like states within the US? Would globalization help this at all? Homogenization of the world culture has its benefits, too, I would guess.
But racism comes in many forms, and we have home-grown racism that has no nationalist roots. Racism in the US is a problem of prejudices and counter-prejudices. How can we deal with these problems?
First, let me say that I think any discussion of race at all is racist. Especially as people become more and more mixed-race and less identifiable, even describing someone as a certain race can be racist. Obviously no one is going to jump on your back if you describe some as being black, white, or asian. But the precedent has been set for everyone to see each other in terms of color. And when it has become ingrained in our minds, it is hard to remove.
I would hope that people stop seeing people in terms of race at all. Race is not something to be celebrated, culture is. Too often people get that confused, creating situations where all the black people and all the asians are sitting together at the lunch tables, even though the black group consists of native Africans as well as 'blacks' who have been here since slavery began and are probably half white; and the asians have some third generation Chinese people as well as recently immigrated Filipinos. It has nothing to do with heritage, it has only to do with skin color.
The problem is that this can't stop through one group alone. You can't pretend not to notice racial differences when another group is discriminating them. If a company is only hiring white people, the minorities can't sit back and not notice it. With racism, it doesn't take two to tango.
And even worse, what can you do when other racist groups and nations are actively trying to destroy you? It's not an easy problem, and it is obviously tempting to fight back; in some cases violence is all that is left in the options.
But I don't think counter-racism and violence as a policy is the right idea at all. In homage to Dr. King and Gandhi, I think passive resistance to such problems is the key. Violent response against racism is far from over: Malcolm X and more currently, Israel, use violence-against-violence methods, and in the end it just serves to discredit their cause and further deepen racist policies against them.
Kill 'em with kindness, I say.
Racism in the US is a problem that is largely under wraps. There are pockets of real hatred here and there, but most racism today is bred by ignorance. Most of the 'racist' comments we hear today aren't made by racist people, just people who aren't aware of what they are saying. For example, Bill Parcells' recent comment about "jap plays"? Is that really a racist comment? Or is it more of a nationalist comment? Is there a difference?
Like everything else in the world, there is a sliding scale between racism and nationalism. Nationalism is racism to some extent, and racism is nationalism to some extent. If there nations were a little more homogeneous, would it reduce the amount of racism in the world? Could we make it so that nations were more like states within the US? Would globalization help this at all? Homogenization of the world culture has its benefits, too, I would guess.
But racism comes in many forms, and we have home-grown racism that has no nationalist roots. Racism in the US is a problem of prejudices and counter-prejudices. How can we deal with these problems?
First, let me say that I think any discussion of race at all is racist. Especially as people become more and more mixed-race and less identifiable, even describing someone as a certain race can be racist. Obviously no one is going to jump on your back if you describe some as being black, white, or asian. But the precedent has been set for everyone to see each other in terms of color. And when it has become ingrained in our minds, it is hard to remove.
I would hope that people stop seeing people in terms of race at all. Race is not something to be celebrated, culture is. Too often people get that confused, creating situations where all the black people and all the asians are sitting together at the lunch tables, even though the black group consists of native Africans as well as 'blacks' who have been here since slavery began and are probably half white; and the asians have some third generation Chinese people as well as recently immigrated Filipinos. It has nothing to do with heritage, it has only to do with skin color.
The problem is that this can't stop through one group alone. You can't pretend not to notice racial differences when another group is discriminating them. If a company is only hiring white people, the minorities can't sit back and not notice it. With racism, it doesn't take two to tango.
And even worse, what can you do when other racist groups and nations are actively trying to destroy you? It's not an easy problem, and it is obviously tempting to fight back; in some cases violence is all that is left in the options.
But I don't think counter-racism and violence as a policy is the right idea at all. In homage to Dr. King and Gandhi, I think passive resistance to such problems is the key. Violent response against racism is far from over: Malcolm X and more currently, Israel, use violence-against-violence methods, and in the end it just serves to discredit their cause and further deepen racist policies against them.
Kill 'em with kindness, I say.
# posted by Stuart @ 1:38 PM 
