Decades of evidence-based research indicate that white racism remains a significant problem in American society. Unjustly inherited white resources and continuing discriminatory practices have restricted access to better paying jobs, decent and affordable housing in great neighborhoods, excellent health care, and a political voice in Washington that matters.
White racism is a systemic phenomenon that is deeply woven in the fabric of our society and has a corrosive effect on the minds, bodies and souls of all Americans, including white people. Dealing justly with American racism means that white Americans must come to terms with the historical legacy of inequality inherited from their forbears. This means partaking in a thorough review of the United States as a nation founded (in part) on racist principles. We tend to underestimate the impact of systemic white racism, rationalizing it as an individual affair rather than a system of oppression involving 246 years of slavery and 90 years of Jim Crow for roughly 85 percent of our existence as a nation.
Since the 17th century, the political and economic elites -- mainly white men -- played a role in shaping our institution that disproportionally benefits white people to this day. Whether or not they are actually aware of their skin-privilege, over 20 generations of white Americans have inherited socioeconomic resources from their forbearers who benefitted unjustly from slavery, segregation, and other forms of racial oppression.
To the present, Americans of color have been economically impoverished and struggling because white Americans, past and present, have used extensive discriminatory motives and resistance to change to protect their group position. Just as it is impossible for any man to fully understand a woman's position in our sexist society, no white American can fully empathize with white racism and the experience of being black in America. Hence, all white Americans have some inclination (to varying degrees) to overlook the realities and affects of racism that undermines any real chance for communities of color to have some semblance of success and group uplift at the so-called "American Dream."
White people, listen. It is your responsibility to end racism. According to Mychal Denzel Smith, "From the avowed racist, to the anti-racist activists, to the 'I'm not a racist, I have two black friends' folks, to the 'I don't see color' people and everyone else between or on the margins. It has to be a concerted effort on the part of white people to actively reject racist beliefs, thoughts and actions."
Therefore, it must be a concerted effort by those same white people to actively end racism and other forms of U.S. oppression in order for our society to see positive change. And this means giving up some of your unearned and unjust privileges even though you feel entitled to them.
Follow Darron T. Smith, Ph.D. on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DrDarronSmith
So I am sincere when I ask, other than being aware of the unfairness of genetic expression and living our lives with that knowledge, how do lighter people unweave the social fabric that discriminates against darker people? I believe Dr. Smith is asking us to go beyond laws and explicit regulations, but to what?
I know I strive to treat others with respect and an open mind, because I tend to see people, not nationalities or income levels. Sometimes I DO see bone structure or hear an accent before I see the human. Sometimes a bigoted reflex planted in my childhood subconscious needs to be overruled because it conflicts with what I believe as an experienced adult.
What concrete steps can I take to loosen racism's hold on our society?
(Hence my discomfort with the label "African American". Do I define myself by the culture or country of the ancestors I believe contributed the most to my DNA? I don't believe my English predecessors rose from the primordial muck on British soil. What of invading armies and handsome travelers? Yeah, I said it. Sorry great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandma. Honestly, does anyone look at me and see ethnicity or are they seeing my pigment? I'm white and American, not Caucasian-American.
Then I realized that there are no women there either.
Thirdly, it occurred to me that Greek men in togas did not establish our government. -- Yes, I understand the Greek and Roman expansion of public (free men) knowledge.
In fact, women and people of color yielded valuable influence in this country two hundred years ago, but it was usually via whispered advice or humble suggestion. Then one who possessed penis, pale skin, education and usually money (and often not a little bravery, determination and good intention to be fair) would present these ideas as his own.
Women and people of color, more recent immigrants and economically disadvantaged people are not always given the same attention and respect as white men of equal ability and education. This fact did not end with emancipation, suffrage or Title IX. Laws have been passed to mitigate this disparity, but attitudes and beliefs cannot be legislated - only behavior to the extent it is observed and challenged.
Sure thing, just as soon as we get that time-machine working.
"To the present, Americans of color have been economically impoverished and struggling because white Americans, past and present, have used extensive discriminatory motives and resistance to change to protect their group position."
I agree with respect to past use of extensive discriminatory motives and resistance to change to protect white people's group position. But this is a big accusation to say it is still extensive today, and should not be allowed to pass without supporting evidence of _current_ extensive resistance to change to protect white people's group position with a discriminatory motive.
Example: a healthy majority of the middle class in America are white people. The middle class has been robbed blind by the wealthy in the last 35 years and statistics show they have gained little to nothing by participating in the systematic racism that contributed to it. We may think we've benefited, but mostly we've kept down potential allies to change a system that isn't benefitting any of us. Instead of benefitting, we've lost significant ground by limiting our power in that way. Maybe Malcom X said it best: "In protecting the rights of minorities, you protect your own rights." He was talking about the idea of "do-gooders" helping with civil rights. It isn't doing good for others, it's doing good for yourself.
Encouraging the community to work with others more is a great idea. Demanding it and telling them that they have a debt simply shows a lack of understanding, both of their community and the other communities that now reside in the U.S.
There is just a little too much anger in this for it to get a good message across, and it is scant in it's understanding of how the demographic it seems directed at (as well as other backgrounds, such as my own), view the dialogue itself. Dialogue without understanding is not a way to a peaceful society which is what other ethnic groups want, especially people of Asian descent like myself, who now make up the largest community in the world and now the fastest growing immigration group in the United States.