On Racism
Walking home from work, I was chatting with my good friend tellemonn about society and the world and how there are very clear things that just aren't right, such as tens of thousands dying from malaria in Africa and yet none do in the West. We were discussing how the cause of this is not entirely clear, or rather, not remotely clear. In a perfect world, we would do something about this. But we do not. Why is that? Are we all racists in the West? Are the majority not racist, but the governmental leaders are? Or is the problem in Africa? Are the governments corrupt? Are the people uneducated? If so, why?
Or what of this country? So many African-Americans are below the poverty level. (Granted, the poverty level here is rich compared to most.) Is this due to current racism? Or is it residual racism from our country's past?
tellemonn, himself an African-American, was sharing how his brother and he grew up in very similar, terrible family situations, yet he is where he is with a degree from Johns Hopkins and his brother is jobless with illegitimate children whom his parents are raising. Clearly, tellemonn's brother must take responsibility for where he is. He has no excuses. He has become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Aside from "self-fulfilling prophecies" and "self-victimization", however, certainly other forms of racism also exist.
One other common form is the us vs. them syndrome. People, once again not wanting to blame themselves, look to any other group (them) and blame them instead. Perhaps it is suspicious if they blame everyone except themselves, so they include a few others as a part of "us", which seems to justify the casting of blame on "them". (The film "Crash" captured this well, though I found it a tad too contrived.)
I recently watched an old black-and-white film with one of my favorite old actors, Gregory Peck -- "A Gentleman's Agreement". This film was about a reporter investigating anti-Semitism in America after WWII. The point of this film was that many of us who are opposed to the hate of racists are ourselves racist by our inaction. If we stand around and let others discriminate, we are failing by our inaction.
What this looks like in practice is not entirely clear. I don't tend to observe much if any discrimination among those I associate with. But returning to the Africa issue, why is it that countries like Iran are getting more press than Sudan, where over 200,000 people have been murdered in ethnic cleansing....
Or what of this country? So many African-Americans are below the poverty level. (Granted, the poverty level here is rich compared to most.) Is this due to current racism? Or is it residual racism from our country's past?
tellemonn, himself an African-American, was sharing how his brother and he grew up in very similar, terrible family situations, yet he is where he is with a degree from Johns Hopkins and his brother is jobless with illegitimate children whom his parents are raising. Clearly, tellemonn's brother must take responsibility for where he is. He has no excuses. He has become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Aside from "self-fulfilling prophecies" and "self-victimization", however, certainly other forms of racism also exist.
One other common form is the us vs. them syndrome. People, once again not wanting to blame themselves, look to any other group (them) and blame them instead. Perhaps it is suspicious if they blame everyone except themselves, so they include a few others as a part of "us", which seems to justify the casting of blame on "them". (The film "Crash" captured this well, though I found it a tad too contrived.)
I recently watched an old black-and-white film with one of my favorite old actors, Gregory Peck -- "A Gentleman's Agreement". This film was about a reporter investigating anti-Semitism in America after WWII. The point of this film was that many of us who are opposed to the hate of racists are ourselves racist by our inaction. If we stand around and let others discriminate, we are failing by our inaction.
What this looks like in practice is not entirely clear. I don't tend to observe much if any discrimination among those I associate with. But returning to the Africa issue, why is it that countries like Iran are getting more press than Sudan, where over 200,000 people have been murdered in ethnic cleansing....