Racism as a wordbank
This is something I've been thinking about for a while. I have been trying to think of a way to articulate how to explain how statements that supposedly "aren't racist" have racism as a communal unconscious core. It's like racism acts as a word bank, and we all have this racist word bank in our unconscious which we can pull from when needed.
Let me give a couple of examples:
One that might be dated but still applicable is the Imus "nappy-headed ho" controversy. Imus could have called those women anything, he could have chosen any set of words to insult or deride those women -- "amazonian bitches," "manly bulldykes,"...whatever. But his racist wordbank provided him with the immediate combnation of racially charged words.
Barack Obama or any other black person as "articulate." Again, the word bank. I believe the thought process goes something like "what word can I use to describe this man who speaks effectively, with intelligence, and in a way that is accessible to the public?" go to word bank "Well this guy is black and the word that most fits that situtation is... "articulate" (with proper dose of surprise).
You see where this is going. I'm sure this idea isn't original, but perhaps the "word bank" image is.
Let me give a couple of examples:
One that might be dated but still applicable is the Imus "nappy-headed ho" controversy. Imus could have called those women anything, he could have chosen any set of words to insult or deride those women -- "amazonian bitches," "manly bulldykes,"...whatever. But his racist wordbank provided him with the immediate combnation of racially charged words.
Barack Obama or any other black person as "articulate." Again, the word bank. I believe the thought process goes something like "what word can I use to describe this man who speaks effectively, with intelligence, and in a way that is accessible to the public?" go to word bank "Well this guy is black and the word that most fits that situtation is... "articulate" (with proper dose of surprise).
You see where this is going. I'm sure this idea isn't original, but perhaps the "word bank" image is.