Most of us are racists. I certainly am. So are many, if not most black people. I am always bemused by those white people who respond to accusations of their own racism with a declaration that black people are racists, too, as if the two "wrongs" just might make a "right" in such a case. One surely must offset the other in such addled minds.
Now, the thing about racism is that it is not always intentional or malicious. Many of us are perhaps "accidental" racists. We don't intend to be racists nor malicious, but our backgrounds and personal history just make it so. Just as importantly, merely because one does not burn crosses in other people's yards nor have ancestors who owned slaves, that person is not absolved from the curse of racism. Racism is pervasive and subtle. It can corrupt our thinking without us realizing it.
I find that I have to confront my own racism almost every day, and I must admit its existence if I have any hope of overcoming its pervasive effects. Denial is not the river in Egypt. Like people in prison who deny their guilt, or people in asylums who deny their insanity, we must also so regard our denials of racism. We cannot begin to fix the problem if we deny its existence.
For example, one of the most insidious instances of racism on my part is the effort that I consciously make to avoid referencing someone's racial characteristics if it is not relevant to whatever we may be discussing. I am conscious of avoiding racial references or description specifically for black people, as opposed to just ignoring it. The FACT that I actually think about doing that is racist, in and of itself. It may not be harmful nor malicious, but it is racist. I am also leery of groups of young black males on sidewalks at night. That may be wise self-preservation, but it is also racist.
I once told a race relations group with which I was meeting that I was a "recovering bigot." That produced some amusement among those who heard it, but it is indicative of what I believe I must do every day, which is to confront my own presumptions and stereotyping and try to avoid them. One might even observe that effort is also racist. But, it is what I have to do.
Another clarifying example of "innocent" racism involved one of the founders of the above-mentioned race relations group. Now dead, he was a retired government economist, very intelligent, soundly liberal and committed as no one else I ever knew to "normalizing" relations between blacks and whites. He was also rather elderly, and as far as he was concerned, most people being much younger might well qualify as mere "boys" and "girls" to him.
Well, one day he was discussing some sort of earlier conversation he'd had with an adult black female, to whom he referred as "girl." He was innocently considering only the age differential. A black woman co-founder of the group, also now dead, attempted to gently correct his untoward use of "girl" with reference to the adult black woman. She readily understood his naive lack of malice. Again, "Bill" referred to her as a "girl," witlessly failing to "get" the point that so many blacks understandably resent being addressed as "girl" or "boy." After a second unsuccessful attempt at correction, she and I just looked at each other and laughed out loud! It was very funny! Thankfully, I got the point, even if poor "Bill" never did.
Some would resent any objection to "Bill's" malapropism, sneeringly labeling such objection as "political correctness." Perhaps so, but in my view, it was simply to bring about some insight for "Bill" and to interdict possible future impolite utterance. It costs nothing to be kind and considerate, and the accusation of "political correctness" is often used to justify willful racism. Some jerks go out of their way to be offensive, then declare they are merely unwilling to be "politically correct."
I was born and reared in the rural South, and I am definitely a product of my origins. I attended all-white schools in the South until my junior year in college. I don't feel any particular guilt or shame for any of that, but I recognize how those limitations may have deprived me of valuable experiences. I try to keep both my eyes and my mind open. Some days ARE better than others.
I am also unwilling to cut any minority person an undue amount of "slack" merely because of his or her minority status. To do so would also be racist. A black person or a Hispanic person can be a jerk, too. (Fortunately, I never suffer from such shortcomings!) To the extent any of us can just ignore the racial characteristics of others, regardless of whatever group they are in, the better off each of us is. I believe we should be free to make whatever judgments and conclusions we might so long as we can do so without reference to racial or ethnic identity.
Each of us, regardless of origin, can liberate himself or herself from the worst effects of racism if we try every day. We are likely never really "cured," but that is only in fairy tales anyway. Just doing better is worthy of our efforts.
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