It's Racism, not Racists
This post was inspired by observer2's post about the Slate article and the effects of racism on the election. Just to clarify from the start, observer and Slate are not part of the problem that I'm talking about. They discussed the issue of racism without resorting to the typical framing of the issue. I'm talking about a broader frustration I have with the debate (or lack thereof) about racism that is most common.
Racists aren't the major problem in America.
Racism in America is clouded by the term "racist". While there definitely are some flat out racist people, that isn't the major issue.
It's the subtleties of prejudice that keep race an issue in America. The more overt forms of racism left minorities disproportionately at the bottom of the economic ladder. The economic system we have tends to keep people near where they began. People on the ladder tend to look differently upon people in different positions on the ladder. The disproportionate number of minorities toward the bottom of the ladder leads to stereotypes and assumptions about people based off of skin color.
I don't think there is anything malevolent about people who have this subtle form of racism. It's a result of the conditions around us all. That is not at all to say that it should be accepted and left at that, though. The problem is that it's seen as a dichotomy; it's described as either you are racist or you are not, but in reality it's nothing like that. People aren't allowed to address the subtleties though, because it's presented within the dichotomy. If they admit they have some subtle prejudices (as we all actually do), then they are racist. If they don't, then they can be not racist.
People get upset over accusations of being racist, because most of them are not. The entire debate about race is framed in a way that ensures that nothing can be done about it. The only way to get past the prejudices is by acknowledging reality to recognize what they are and where they come from.
Race is affecting this election, but as observer2 said, bringing up the issue won't help us. It hurts us because of the failure of the way the debate is framed. If you bring up race, then because of the way the race issue is framed, people think you are calling them or others racists.
There is not much point in trying to assign blame to anyone for the debate being the way it is (but for fun, I mostly blame the main stream media for oversimplifying every issue that comes their way). My point is that the way that people frame the racism debate needs to be changed for anything to actually be done about it.
That's my little rant. I'd be interested to hear what you all think.
Racists aren't the major problem in America.
Racism in America is clouded by the term "racist". While there definitely are some flat out racist people, that isn't the major issue.
It's the subtleties of prejudice that keep race an issue in America. The more overt forms of racism left minorities disproportionately at the bottom of the economic ladder. The economic system we have tends to keep people near where they began. People on the ladder tend to look differently upon people in different positions on the ladder. The disproportionate number of minorities toward the bottom of the ladder leads to stereotypes and assumptions about people based off of skin color.
I don't think there is anything malevolent about people who have this subtle form of racism. It's a result of the conditions around us all. That is not at all to say that it should be accepted and left at that, though. The problem is that it's seen as a dichotomy; it's described as either you are racist or you are not, but in reality it's nothing like that. People aren't allowed to address the subtleties though, because it's presented within the dichotomy. If they admit they have some subtle prejudices (as we all actually do), then they are racist. If they don't, then they can be not racist.
People get upset over accusations of being racist, because most of them are not. The entire debate about race is framed in a way that ensures that nothing can be done about it. The only way to get past the prejudices is by acknowledging reality to recognize what they are and where they come from.
Race is affecting this election, but as observer2 said, bringing up the issue won't help us. It hurts us because of the failure of the way the debate is framed. If you bring up race, then because of the way the race issue is framed, people think you are calling them or others racists.
There is not much point in trying to assign blame to anyone for the debate being the way it is (but for fun, I mostly blame the main stream media for oversimplifying every issue that comes their way). My point is that the way that people frame the racism debate needs to be changed for anything to actually be done about it.
That's my little rant. I'd be interested to hear what you all think.
