Throughout my whole senior year of high school, I was put
through diversity training. We explored ideas of identity which encompassed
sexuality, gender, and race. As part of the three-part series, we watched a
film entitled, “I’m Not Racist…Am I?” A major idea of the documentary was the
fact that all white people are inherently racist. They argued that through
white privilege, whether we realize it or not, all white people are in fact
racist. The degrees of racism vary, however. After watching the film, we split
into groups in which we grappled with the whole concept. Are all white people
truly racist?
Initially I
was faced with strong feelings of resistance. As a white female, who doesn’t
identify as a racist person by any means, I struggled with this generalization.
I had been conditioned to believe that if I didn’t hate or oppress people of
other races that this meant I lacked the prejudices that would have made me a
racist. It never occurred to me that the term racist could be applied to me.
The phrase has some of the strongest negative connotations fathomable. How
could I be placed on the same plane as some of the most horrible people in
history? The argument that all white people are racist due to white privilege
just didn’t sit right with me, even after our group discussions. I know that white
privilege is a very real thing that is inevitable, especially for white
Americans, but for me this didn’t cut it. By the end of the diversity training,
people had mixed options. Some believed this idea to be true, while others flat
out rejected it. Since then I have remained somewhere in-between the two
extremes.
Learning
about African American History and its foundations in America during class
brought me back to these discussions. The more I thought about it, the more
truth came to the situation for me. Since the beginning, black people were
oppressed by white people. Slavery in the United States was a racial
institution, in which Africans were treated like animals and property. The
document which our country is founded on has slavery written into it. Throughout
history our ancestors have consistently oppressed African Americans, whether it
was during the civil rights movement or even today with the seemingly endless
police shootings of innocent black individuals. Whether we want to admit it or
not white people have certain advantages at their fingertips that African Americans must work much harder for. Since the beginning Africans have essentially been
regarded as second- rate citizens. It is because of these factors, and more,
that racism is inherently engrained into white people. Neglecting this fact,
furthers the idea and essentially makes it worse. At the same time, however, I
believe it takes a certain degree of education to fully grasp this concept.
Overall, whether one wants to accept the unnerving fact or not, all white
people are intrinsically racist.
I can definitely relate to this post. I wasn't afforded the opportunity to go through diversity training in high school, so I had a lot of learning to do once I started college. I always thought that because I went to a public, racially diverse high school, I was well-versed in topics surrounding diversity. Though I may have been exposed to different cultures, I never thought about the way my own culture and upbringing shaped my point of view. I took an eye-opening class during my freshman year of college that introduced me to the ways my identity as a white female had been influencing my perception of society. That class, in combination with this class and a few others have been instrumental in learning how to recognize the ways in which my privilege influences my perception on a daily basis.
ReplyDeleteI can definitely relate to this post. I wasn't afforded the opportunity to go through diversity training in high school, so I had a lot of learning to do once I started college. I always thought that because I went to a public, racially diverse high school, I was well-versed in topics surrounding diversity. Though I may have been exposed to different cultures, I never thought about the way my own culture and upbringing shaped my point of view. I took an eye-opening class during my freshman year of college that introduced me to the ways my identity as a white female had been influencing my perception of society. That class, in combination with this class and a few others have been instrumental in learning how to recognize the ways in which my privilege influences my perception on a daily basis.
ReplyDeleteYour post does provide an in-depth reaction to being placed in a large group of people we call "racists". Yet, I struggle with the claim that all white people as racist. I recognize that white people have a systematic advantage over minorities, and this advantage can and has caused several white people to deem themselves “better” than other races. However, does that group and white privilege make all anyone who is white inherently racist? It is a hard generalization for me to understand since it sounds like this a statement that an abused minority would say after a lifetime of being abused by white people. I can believe this phrase to be true during slavery and other atrocious parts of American history, but now?
ReplyDeleteI do not say these things with the implication of defending racism or that white privilege does not exist, but with the mindset that this statement cannot be applicable to every white person. The notion is terrifying and quite frankly unfathomable, even for an African American like myself.