I think this article on playing the "race card", by Tim Wise, should be required reading for all Americans - if not, as I commented there, all humans (originally posted here, containing the reference material).
It's kind of long, especially for someone like me with a ridiculously short attention span, but he makes points that people simply need to hear.
You know, I wasn't going to shorthand it, but it's really long. I do desperately urge you to read the whole thing, but it does require a little time which you may not have right away. Basically it's a brilliant demolition of white America's attempts to write off any black American complaint of racism as "playing the race card". I was already aware in a general sense of how deeply race affects pretty much everything in America, but the statistics and situations he quotes are still pretty horrifying.
I know people do this, but I'm not sure why; perhaps it makes us uncomfortable to think we might have a hand in another person's suffering, but it's easier to dismiss or minimize their experiences rather than roll up our sleeves and work on stopping it.
When I was reading it I was reminded of a conversation I was involved in back in high school, where a (self-described) Australian-born Chinese girl asked our reasonably racially diverse (albeit all-girl) group to raise their hands if they had experienced racism directed towards them. Out of a group of about 20 or 30 girls*, every single non-Caucasian girl raised her hand.
Up until that moment, being a whitey myself and having been raised in a racially- but not politically-diverse environment, I had thought of racism as the province of history or the occasional old person. That moment stuck with me and was the beginning of my eyes being opened.
I will not apologize** for trying to open other people's eyes in the same way here on my blog, a space I consider my own. I can't force you to read the link, or to take away from it what I did, but it is my sincere hope that you do.
*I can't remember exact numbers. It was a long time ago, okay?!
**As sometimes bloggers feel they ought to when stating strong opinions. Why is that?
numer darowizny: SRTF/067/SWD .
1 month ago
19 comments:
Racism is alive and well in all countries of the world against all nationalities. Being a white Italian girl in a primarily black neighborhood I experienced some severe hatred towards me and was once told that if MY ancestors owned slaves then they(my fellow African American classmates) had the right to own me. MY ancestors never owned anything more than a couple acres of farmland as did most Italian immigrants but it doesn't stop people from accusing us because we are white.
Racism is a terrible thing that never seems to go away. It's like a cancer that just continues to grow and feed on our society as a whole and we try to treat it but it only shrinks or hides and then comes out somewhere else much worse and much bigger.
I read Tim Wise's article and was glad I did :) Here in South Africa we used to play the Denial Card, but things have changed dramatically over the past 15 - 20 years (or have they really?!) I think at one stage my country was the King (or Queen as it's Mother Africa!) of Racism. I enjoyed your blog and look forward to some more, so hurry up and write, okey! :)
I'm on my way to the beach...catch it when I come back, as it sounds very interesting...
Nikki - I'm sorry you had those horrible experiences. Racism is indeed a cancerous thing.
ladytruth - Thank you! When I was learning about Australian history it made me amazed that we had the cheek to revile S. Africa on the grounds of racism. I think it's beautiful how far your country has come.
Candy - Fair enough.
Beautiful Soda: my eyes are drooping from tiredness (it's 2:00am!) but the last 20-30 minutes I've spend with this article have been some of the most important of my whole year. Thank you so much for bringing it to our attention, and for encouraging everyone to acknowledge the hidden undercurrents of racism and prejudice that are so prevalent even in our so-called 'modern' times. I'd always thought that ignorant people who cried "race card" were relics from a shameful bygone era - now I know that bigotry like this is still prevalent, despite my naive belief that it was fading away. I'm going to share this article with people tomorrow - it's brilliant.
There's so much more I want to say to you about this one - can I drop you a line in the morning? (Well, in the proper morning?)
Thanks again, you wonderful woman. (And you're not forcing it on us - you're inviting us to expand our horizons. Very different!)
x
Good reading, I know racism is still alive in my area.
girl - I heart you so much right now! Please share it with anyone and everyone!
Do you mean you want to email me? You can email me anytime you want, don't have to ask permission!!!
SkyDad - Thanks. The great thing is, it's totally the easiest thing to fight, because at the very least all you have to do is not be racist! So it's great for a lazy ass like me.
; )
this was interesting reading.
and yes, i can see racism still all around me. it's sad to see, and i see it affect people of all cultures.
I'm gonna have to read it properly later. But I'm always amazed - I come from such a sheltered background.
Good reading. Don't be racist, please.
For me this is a not-brilliant article that redeems itself only by being entirely correct.
Racism is alive and well in England/Britain* too, as indeed is sexism and ageism and many other -isms.
I do think society is coming on: after all we don't have widespread child prostitution like we did in Victorian times.
But... it's slow progress, and most people are guilty of some kind of denial; it's just a way of making people invisible. "Oh, most homeless people choose to live on the street", "immigrants, they all claim benefits and don't work", or whatever else is your cup of tea. Charitably, it's just so you don't spend your life consumed in a spiral of guilt and worry. Less charitably... well, you've covered that.
I try to do my bit in my own life, but I don't have any suggestions as to the big picture stuff, especially as things in America sound worse than I thought.
Any ideas?
* whole other kettle of fish
SJ - No one has a monopoly on racism, but we have to be careful going down that road because so many people like to use that to excuse themselves - "Oh but some Chinese people are racist!" Yeah well the Chinese also oppressed Tibet and murdered political dissidents, does that make it okay for you to do those things?
Mo - I know, me too. I was seventeen before I heard the word Jew used as an insult (outside of period movies)
Insults - Exactly! : )
thechrlog - That's such an interesting take. and I'm not being polite, I really think that. Your charitable interpretation is quite possible; it's definitely human nature to ignore or minimize problems in the hope they'll go away. I don't know that racism is any worse in the US than it is in England or Australia for example, but it seems quite a bit more visible for some reason.
No, as I mentioned I am quite lazy so even though this is something I feel quite strongly about I tend to just fight it on the ground rather than getting organized about it. The good news is I think that's quite a good approach with racism.
Well, swap America with Australia and the South with the Northern Territory and the rest of this article could be about our own, dear country. I'm always amazed that people think that racism really only exists in the minds of the people it's directed against. I mean, look at the woeful NT invasion last election. And people talk about it as, 'it's in their own best interests.' Because they're not like you and me you know; they're....'different.' Yes, they're different - not stupid! Not incompetant! And certainly able to make judgements on their own behalf. For God's sake, improve the situation, improve the opportunities and let people of ALL races decide what they want to do with their lives. It's a big world and not everyone wants to live a 'white world.' Leave people the fuck alone to make their own way. I think I'm straying off point somewhat but it just gets me wild.
my wonderous and thought-provoking Soda,
thankyou for shouting out the article, it was interesting and eye-opening to see how bad things are. i come from a sheltered life too, but then i'm also an australian :) so i have encountered racism but not in a bad way, if that makes sense. i mean, where i come from, it's more of a joke. everyone, even the person it being about knows it's just a joke but now, after reading the article, i think that this could negatively affect people, and i don't like thinking that if there is racism in Australia,it could be seen by other countries as 'just being part of the australian way.'
But wait, the article was about America! (yes i read it, don't look at me like that! :))
unfortunately i think that until 'whites' realise that racism is real the problem won't be solved. but i also think that racism is overshadowed by political correctness and is often mistaken for racism. such as the fact that the word "black" is so ferociously frowned apon even to the point of renaming the 'black fish' and 'baa baa rainbow sheep'. i think racism is real but i think there are so many overpowering do's and dont's applying to how we speak to people that true racism is overlooked by political correctness. and i think that some of the ridiculousness of PC detracts from the issue of racism and makes it seem like people are just putting up a fuss.
wow, i don't even know where that came from! also i think the end stopped making sense and i think went off topic! lol ;) such a good topic, sorry for publishing my own article on your blog ;) i'd love to hear your feedback
As I’ve lived all my life in relatively small, semi-rural towns, I’ve not had any firsthand experience of this kind of thing, but I obviously understand what’s being described.
You should remember that racism, or more exactly xenophobia, is part of human nature. We’re tribal animals, and to have an automatic distrust of someone who is clearly an outsider (skin colour, clothing, language, behaviour) is a defence mechanism.
On top of all that, racial minorities that aren’t perceived as threats don’t have a problem (as remarked in the article about Jews in the United States not having a ‘victim mentality’ – though don’t have one, because they’re not so obviously discriminated against as blacks). In the UK, a group of young black (Afro-Caribbean) men hanging around on a city street corner are going to arouse distrust and fear, while a family running a Chinese takeaway in a small town are unlikely to experience much trouble.
In reaction to this we get racism displaying by those who are discriminated against. I’ve certainly heard from whites who’ve moved from northern states in the US to places like Louisiana and Tennessee saying that they were completely taken aback by the hostility shown to them by blacks. Again, hardly surprising.
But yes, xenophobia is obviously undesirable: those of us in majority groups tend to play it down for the reason already mentioned – who likes to be made to feel guilty about something? Hence such things as accusing blacks of ‘playing the race card.’ We’ll always see such responses wherever we’re trying to avoid accusations of unfairness. This again is part of human nature.
It would be nice to believe that we could put a stop to such behaviour, and to an extent we can – by reducing the income gap, for example, and in so doing reducing the size of the poor underclass – but we have to be realistic. Xenophobia will always be with us.
Wow, you guys are writing novels! I love it!
Tennyson - I really really like what you said. "I'm always amazed that people think that racism really only exists in the minds of the people it's directed against." - A-MEN.
Me, Amped - I've never heard anything like what you said about replacing the word "black" for being offensive, that is not the case here at least... I think all humans probably need to think twice about some things we say that may be hurtful to others even if we know we are joking.
Simon - You make an interesting point. I do think that it's possible through education and just making an effort with each other to make things better. Look how far we've come in just the last 40 years - a long time, but only half a lifetime.
I should probably clarify that I meant "worse in the US than I thought it was in the US" (you have just elected a black president after all!) not "worse in the US than in country X".
I wouldn't want you to think I am racist towards Americans now (one of two forms of racism tolerated, nay encouraged, in the UK - the other being against ginger people).
I agree with you about "grass roots" action, as it were, being key. If every time someone said "ah yes, but (insert random maligned ethnic group here) are natuarally lazy and corrupt, you can't change facts" someone chimed in with a dissenting opinion then at least there wouldn't be an atmosphere of racism for the weak-minded to soak up.
As for the idea that racism is somehow inherent in the human soul, perhaps an anachronism that conferred some evolutionary advantage in the past, then yes, maybe. But at best this is unhelpful, even if correct.
Also, just because it has been a feature of human behaviour thus far doesn't mean we can't transcend this now we are modern 21st century humans.
Go, humanity.
thechrlog (can I just call you Chris, or at least Chrlog?) - It's okay I knew what you meant. Also, you wouldn't get away with being anti-ginger in this corner of the blogosphere, there are far too many Titian-haired goddesses. But I agree with everything you said!
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