Racism has
always been and continues to be a pressing issue in the United States of
America. It is a difficult concept to define, but through discrimination and
stereotyping, the idea of racism becomes clearer. Racism comes in many shapes
and forms, from institutionalized racism to blatant and outright hatred and
discrimination against black people. It becomes hard to distinguish what is
racist and what isn’t racist. Throughout Zandria Robinson’s book This Ain’t Chicago, it became clear to
me that many African Americans struggle with this as well. In many of her
interviews, statements were made that essentially claim that many African
Americans are suspect of white people in that they just assume that whatever
they say and do has racist undertones. I am not saying that all black people
think this way, but it is disheartening to think that there are many out there
that do. While many ignorant white people do have that “token black friend” and
do unknowingly do and say racist things, they don’t represent all white people.
It saddens me to know that whatever I say and do, as a white person, it may be
viewed as racist. It also angers me as well. I don’t like to think that my peers may group
me into the category of racists along with all of these horrible people
throughout history. I don’t want to have to worry about what I say and tiptoe
around in fear that it could be perceived as racist. While this may be an
illogical fear, I feel as though I need to do so in order to not offend anyone.
However, by watching what I say I fear that that ALSO may be viewed as
racist. Its an exponential paradox that seems to have no solution. While it saddens
me and I wish it weren’t the case, I completely understand the premise behind
it.
From the
beginning of our nation, racism has been prevalent and race relations haven’t
been as strong as they should be. At this point, I find myself wondering if we
will ever truly be an inclusive and united nation. The effects of segregation
are still present today, and we can see this in not only major cities but in
suburbs as well in terms of neighborhoods and financial status. The effects are
still present in terms of institutionalized racism as well. Not to mention all the horrible treatment, harassment, and torture that African Americans have always been faced with by the hands of white people. All of this makes it obvious why black people so often perceive white people as racist. In this way it is understandable why they think this way whether they consciously want to or not. I have
grappled with this for a while and I truthfully cannot find a solution for this
paradox, but I am interested to see if anyone else has any thoughts on the
matter.
Olivia what you bring up can be viewed as a paradox because there are blacks who claim that "all whites are racist" but what I see is these blacks using this blanket statement as a coping mechanism. I truly believe that a group of individuals who are suffering from the being judged based on superficial reasons would not, then turn around and use the same mechanisms to judge others. This is why it is hard for me to believe that black people who say statements like "all whites are bad" do not believe such statements. They are instead trying to reconcile with how can large numbers of whites doing and saying racist things day in and out.
ReplyDeleteI felt the same way while reading through This Ain't Chicago, and there are absolutely people out there that are including racist undertones in their conversations. However, I also believe that many white people, especially ones that were raised in the South, might just be ignorant to how racist they are being.
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