IBARW: After a Year of Racism Discussions

[kate_nepveu]

I realized that I wanted to participate more in International Blog Against Racism Week this year a few months ago, when I happened to look at my introductory post from last year.

Here's what I said then about this icon:

I read the Lorde poem as saying two things. First, other people's attitudes toward and treatment of you (racism, sexism, child

Comments

[fledgist]

To learn is to grow, I think. Racism -- not to mention sexism, homophobia, mistreatment of anyone different -- is both internal and external. The internal is sometimes the harder to get rid of.

[kate_nepveu]

Sometimes, sure, but I think we may be talking about different things.

I meant the external hand to be institutionalized racism, which is the collective effect of everyone's individual beliefs. I think that changing that is going to be harder, just because the work that goes into lessening racism and other harmless forms of discrimination has to be repeated many times.

If you meant external to be the tangible/concrete/obvious/etc. manifestations of racism, I think this is true. I earnestly hope that I don't show my reflexive racist fear of strange black men, for instance, because I'm aware that it's racist and I'm ashamed of it and am trying to stop feeling it. But it's easier to be outwardly polite than to root out an ingrained subconscious belief.

[fledgist]

I see what you mean. I was thinking of things like hotels suddenly being full up. Of people who are cordial over the phone, but suddenly remember urgent appointments when you turn up in person, of being told that you are 'overqualified' for a job, of being beaten because you're the wrong colour and so on, as manifestations of external racism.

[kate_nepveu]

That's what I suspected. (And I am reminded of my own privilege in having skipped right past those examples to something more subtle.)

I agree that changing attitudes is harder than changing the most overt kinds of behavior, but getting at the more subtle kinds of behavior requires the constant acknowledgment of and struggle against attitudes (see next rock for more on this).