This is a different, and I hope interesting, topic for an avowedly atheistic blog. I don’t think it really has anything to do with religion although there is a little science in it. I’m also not sure why I chose to write about it. I think perhaps I’ve said enough, for the time being, about the existence of gods, the scientific study of the supernatural, and the sheer lunacy behind most religion. So it’s onto another topic.
It struck me this morning that I’m a racist. Upon reflection, I decided that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
I was at my bank, making a deposit. When I left, as I was driving away, a well dressed black man got out of his car in the parking lot on his way into the bank, and I noted to myself that he was black. It didn’t bother me, but the recognition was still negative in some vague way. I made a very definitive and conscious mental observation of his race. I realized that if he had been white, I would not do that. Why did I do that? What made by brain react in this visceral, knee-jerk way to someone of a different race?
Thinking back, I realized I’ve done this all my life. Despite my chronological maturity, and my self-professed rationalism, I still react somewhat irrationally to the sight of a black man or woman. If I see two young black men, dressed in baggy clothes, strutting with an aggressive gait, wearing their baseball caps sideways, my brain screams “gang banger!” (Although in fairness, if I saw two white kids dressed and acting the same way, I’d react almost the same, so there must be an element of ageism also.) I’m betting there’s a certain amount of cultural preconditioning going on here, but I like to think I’ve moved beyond that. So what gives?
I realized that it’s an involuntary reaction on my part, because I know that just about every one of the non-whites I have ever met and spent the time becoming familiar with, I’ve come to like, admire, and on many occasions, become friends with. In other words, once I got behind the skin, to the person, their race became irrelevant, replaced by their humanity. I have control over my interaction and eventual feelings towards them, which makes my initial reaction seem somewhat involuntary.
So, I’m thinking this is something inherent in my makeup. Perhaps it’s in my DNA, inherited through the evolutionary process from my deep-dark ancestors (and by dark, I’m being literal – my ancestors were themselves probably as dark as the people I react to). It’s not exactly that they are black, but that they are different, radically different in appearance, from myself. It probably made sense – life or death sense – to my ancestors that whenever they saw someone that did not look like them, that was different in some way (even if they had the same skin color), the normal reaction would be alarm. Relationships tended to be tribal, with an us vs. them mentality. So anyone that didn’t fit the perception of “us” was assumed to be”them, and therefore a threat, until further investigation proved otherwise.
This actually helped perpetuate the species. If someone was naively gregarious and open to people that were different, the odds were pretty good that person would not have the chance to pass on his or her genes, at least in primitive, tribal societies. This became hardwired, to the point that anytime humans see someone that is not like them, their brain shoots out signals that say “threat”, until some reasoning process calms things down. The reasoning process we have developed is one created by experience and education. We now know that we are one big species, albeit different in outward appearances, and that we pose no real threat to each other. Yes, there are exceptions, but for the most part, the initial reaction to a different race is a holdover from our genetic, evolutionary development. We often have to force ourselves, through conditioning and reason, to overcome it, but it’s necessary to do so in this modern, non-tribal society we live in, and ultimately it is beneficial to us.
The irony here is that in recent history, evolution was used to justify racism, on the premise that blacks were inferior, while whites had the ability, indeed the duty, to oppress the “lesser races” and eventually dominate them. In one form or another this was called Social Darwinism. Fortunately, reason prevailed and Social Darwinism has been pretty much discredited, used mainly these days by religionists and anti-evolutionists to try to discredit evolution.
So, in a sense, I’m a racist. But so is everyone else, even members of racial minorities. (I’ll bet blacks have the same knee jerk response when they see a white person.) I don’t hate blacks, or other minorities, simply because of their skin color. But I still react to them as my ancestors did, and they react to me. I can’t help it, but I can do something about it. Fortunately I have the ability, through reason, to resist these genetic impulses and keep from becoming a bigoted racist.
I use my brain.
SPANISH INQUISITOR 
I’m a mixed-race type of guy so I can’t say I identify with the reactions you have, but I liked the post nonetheless.
I fully agree and applaud you for “using your brain” to overcome what you perceive to be an obsolete evolutionary instinct. I also applaud you for acknowledging Social Darwinism and not beating around the bush regarding the proffered evolutionary justifications. I also agree that the “us vs. them” mentality is tribal, archaic, and no longer conducive to healthy proliferation of the species, and I’ve stated that before here.
The only part of this post that really produced a disconnect for me was here (the part I italicized):
Hasn’t history shown that we are a real threat to each other, one significantly amplified by atomic technology? I assume you’d agree to that statement, so I must be misunderstanding the context you intended for the reader.
I should have said, to be more precise;
“…we pose no real threat to each other because of the color of our skin.”
although I would have thought, in the context of the post, that would be a given.
There are genetic and cultural inequalities that tend to coincide with race. Black people are genetically more muscular than White people are while Asians are culturally more intelligent than White people. Further research has probably been done in these areas, but the statistical results typically get rejected by the people whom wish to enforce political correctness. Political correctness has it’s place in society of course, mainly because general average statistics don’t necessarily correlate to people on the individual level.
For instance, if you took the average IQ of 1000 people and it turned out to be 100, it would not be correct to assume that all 1000 of those people have an IQ of 100….some of them might have an IQ of 140 while others of those people may have an IQ of 85, hence it would therefore be a fallacy to assume that just because Person A is in the group of 1000 people that therefore Person A has an IQ of 100.
….hence it would therefore be a “fallacy of stereotype” to assume that just because Person A is in the group of 1000 people that therefore Person A has an IQ of 100.
Actually, no; race is a social, not a genetic construct.
Are you old enough to remember Jimmy the Greek? As for the Asian thing, don’t confuse American and white, and don’t confuse education or functional intelligence with actual intelligence (although hey, aren’t tests like the SAT or IQ tests doing that?). This country’s educational system is abysmal, but we’re downright pathetic when it comes to science and math.
I think conditioning yourself to not notice the details of those around you is ultimately worse than constantly picking out where the darker folk are. It’s not the noticing, but what you do next that matters.
Btw, I think if I saw two white kids walking towards me with the whole gang-banger look, I’d probably laugh out loud. That shit kills me, like seeing some pasty white suburbanite driving with a sideways cap and full lean blasting some shit through his subwoofer which takes up the entire back seat. Hey remember this skit?
SI,
That the color of our skin does not indicate a genuine threat was obvious. I didn’t think you would take the time to write the obvious so I wondered if maybe you meant something more. Thanks for clarifying.
PhillyChief,
In accordance with the post title (racism), I read SI’s comparison as “mongoloid-caucasoid-negroid” which covers the three main races, presumably in attempt to avoid criticisms of conflation between nationality and race, and I read SI’s “culturally more intelligent” clause as an intended distinction between functional intelligence and actual intelligence. So it seems to me your cautions here – though wise in this case – are misplaced.
But I could be reading SI wrong, too.
Tee-hee! Me too. Don’t forget though, some “pasty white suburbanites” are legitimate thugs, not just bored privileged kids trying to look hard.
It was QF who made the comments.
Stereotyping an individual based on a group average value is a fallacy of inductive reasoning.
PhillyChief,
Now in that case, I’m actually going to criticize you for not adding “jackass” to the end of your statement because I fully deserved it 😉
And yes I anticipate your reaction that I always deserve it. You know what I think of that :p
Yeah, I botched the speakers for sure. Really more of curiosity than the desire to argue – with the speaker mishap clarified – did you have any objection to the statement itself?
And for what it’s worth:
Golden.
Since no one has seemed to say it yet, I think I will: everyone is racist.
So much for political correctness on this one. It’s an oft-told lie of someone’s that this or that person is not racist. And, honestly, I find it quite amusing that we hold this as a detriment.
Violent racism is obviously a detriment (note: violence can refer to more than simply the physical sort). However, other types of racism, that are less harmful to an individual, are prominent because they aid in keeping ourselves safe (whether that is true or not is a matter of debate but the mechanism is used to increase safety and comfort).
Writing Shadows,
Actually, SI said that:
That being said, I disagree that everyone is racist, unless of course you really just mean to say that everyone notices differences in skin color, in which case racist would be an inaccurate term.
everyone is racist.
I think you’re confusing racism with prejudice. We’re all prejudiced, at least on a subconscious level.
Prejudice is negative feelings towards a group simply because they are different. Racism, on the other hand, is more about maintaining power and privilege based on race or skin color.
We’re all exposed to it, from when we are small children up to the present day. I’m white, and I grew up with an Irish-American father who was a New York City police officer. He would often use derogatory terms about blacks like “nigger” and “porchmonkey”, to name a few. My two older brothers were also overtly racist. For some reason though, it repulsed me at an early age. I can’t say why, exactly. I remember when I watched Star Trek reruns as a kid, I had a big crush on Lt. Uhura. I also watched Roots when it first came out in 1977, and I believe that also had an impact on me. From an early age, in spite of my home environment (my mom was also more liberal about such things), I had a strong sense that racism was wrong.
However, one of the pernicious aspects of racism is how it effects even those of us who consciously reject it. For example, condemning another white person when hearing that person refer to blacks as “niggers” and then expressing surprise upon encountering an African-American who can do calculus. We have to be mentally on guard against unconscious assumptions of superiority that infect us as a result of the messages that bombard us over the course of our life times. It also affects blacks conversely, with unconscious assumptions of inferiority.
Unfortunately, it is not something that can just be cured with some sort of mental antiviral. However, we can strive to weaken it over time. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than nothing.
Actually, I was aiming at a third alternative. Not even sure there’s a word for it. It’s that shock of recognition you get when you see something that’s unfamiliar, that unconsciously triggers a negative reaction in you. I wouldn’t call it racism, nor would I call it prejudice. Both of those are learned, as you noted with your experience, and so it seems to me.
No, I’m looking for the split second reaction that may actually give rise to racism or prejudice, the one that subconsciously informs the brain that there is a distinct difference between me and you, and that difference is not good.
SI,
Those are the kind of distinctions I can appreciate, because you really are describing things that – although certainly related – are essentially distinct.
Would it be accurate to say that basic fear is what you’re alluding to there?
Xenophobia?
No, not exactly. I really don’t think there is a word for it. It’s not a sense of fear, which is what a “phobia” would be. I don’t fear non-whites, it’s just that there’s a instant, conscious, recognition of difference, that I don’t experience when I see another white person.
SI,
Phobias are irrational senses of fear. Not all “sense(s) of fear” equate to phobia(s).
Maybe not consciously, but perhaps maybe unconsciously or subconsciously? If not, what would be the best word to describe that split-second feeling you allude to? Maybe it’s just healthy observation like PhillyChief suggested?
When I see someone I tend to first notice their style and the way they choose to present themselves. It’s more of an absorption of input than a categorization or acknowledgement of difference. But like I said, I grew up pretty mixed and even today live in one of the more diverse places on the planet. Mind you, none of this is to challenge your thesis that the reaction is or was evolutionary and useful, because there’s certainly an argument that exposure to diversity has nurtured the nature out of me.
I’ve lived all over the world, and come from a military family which has married “outside the race” (Viet, Korean, Japanese) and my immediate family is also “mixed race”. My daughter in law is a “black” woman, my grandchildren are “mixed race”. We found out two years ago by genetic testing that my wife probably had a “black” great grandparent. Certainly there was an African component in her make up and it wasn’t all that far back.(Me? Same test, I’m a garden variety Celto-Gallo-German mutt that Appalachia teems with. Standard red neck, basicly.)
The test was because of fear of certain health problems that cropped up, and this was recommended. My wife had heard certain, well, rumors about her father’s branch of the family {and yes, he was racist} so she figured she’d get the profile done as well.
What was telling was the people who were explaining the results, both of whom were “black”. They were very nervous about the news, we thought it was related to the health issue, but it wasn’t that, we were told that when they give such news to “white” (or “white” as far as the people in question people our age THOUGHT they were) sometimes the reactions were…unpleasant.
My wife asked if that would make her an “octoroon” and they said she possibly would have been discribed as such at one time, and she turned to me and demanded why we hadn’t been to the ball held in New Orleans ever, and WHERE WAS HER PIED D’ TERRE?! She was entitled to it, she’d read the stories, and she wanted it.
The counselors (?) laughed a good bit, said we were the only people they’d ever talked to who reacted like THAT.
Institutionally, I think things have changed for the better. When I was a kid in Virginia I remember the segregated toilets and fountains in stores, the hostility directed at people of color because, well, they were “colored”, and I remember in my teenage years hearing about the Virginia couple who had been banished from the state for interracial marriage.
I met my daughter-in-law in that same room thirty years later. She is black, educated, smart as hell, exoticly beautiful, and a joy to be around. She has made my son a completed man.
My cousin Myumi remembers way back when they came from Japan. We lived in Baltimore at the time, and they flew in. My aunt Kiyoko wouldn’t get off the airplane she was so afraid. Luckily, my Aunt Ruth actually spoke Japanese and went onto the airplane and talked her off.
There were stories in German and Japanese papers and magazines about how these foriegn women who had married Americans were treated when they got here, and they weren’t pretty. Unfortunatly, many were true. Fortunately for her, she fit right in.
If you see someone who is markedly different on the outside, of course you are going to notice that difference, whether it’s a different skin color, facial features, what you will. Even square eyes, as Al Capp illustraed in L’il Abner. But it’s the outside pressures that seem to determine the suspicion.
I saw it in the military, that there was a lot of power and control to be had in keeping people apart. “You shouldn’t like them because_____ so stay away from them”.
My father’s family were good “klansmen” (klanspersons”?) back during the depression against the catholics and especially Italians. they lived on the “border” of the neighborhoods, and his mother was a midwife. She came home one day, took the robes out of the closet and threw them away. Said they’d wasted enough time and linen on foolishness. She’d delivered children, bound up hurts, closed the eyes of people who had died on both sides of the street, and they all bled the same color, rejoiced the same, and mourned the same. People were people, some good, some bad, most swinging somewhere down at the middle of that arc like a pendulum no matter what their background was.
Most people get along just fine when they find out that the next guy just wants a bit of money, a good meal, tight pussy, comfy shoes, and a decent place to shit like everyone else.
And yet there are still people who would hold the “one drop” doctrine against my wife, still, today.
We’re all prejudiced, at least on a subconscious level.(Tommykey)
This hits the nail on the head. Tall, short, fat, skinny, black, white. Just pick one. I know which one put me on the receiving end. How about everyone else?
I’m handsome, suave and virile. Everyone hates me. 8)
I dislike stupid people. Call me irrationally prejudiced, but there it is. Thank you, SI, for allowing us to be open and honest about the social groups we find unappealing.
I also hate: charity muggers, people who work in call centres, Vanessa Feltz and carol-singers.
Well Christ, if we’re going to list who we hate, I could be here all day. I thought we were supposed to list when we experienced prejudice, in which case for me it was:
1) as a child switching schools a lot since as a freakishly large individual, the kids at the new schools would just assume I was held back (ie – retarded)
2) Being a long haired, artist, rocker type for most of my 15-30 years, I caught a lot of shit from people
3) I’ve actually been told to my face that having red hair is “creepy” and “unnatural”
4) I at one time was a Poli-Sci major and had aspirations towards public office until realizing being a non-rich atheist pretty much submarines that
5) I was pulled over and searched, along with my car, because I was driving home from dropping a co-worker off where white people shouldn’t be unless they’re looking to buy drugs
6) I have experienced shit online and professionally due to the software and hardware that I choose to work with
There’s probably more, but I’m tired and am in the mood for Scotch.
I’m not racist at all. Except about red hair. I find it creepy and unnatural.
There’s only two things I hate in this world…
Speaking of Austin Powers movies, there are only three things I hate in this world…
Well, and Wim Wenders, naturally. I want the three hours of my life I spent watching ‘Until the End of the World’ back!
I’m not a fan of scatological humor, no matter who does it (wafer-thin mint?). Makes for great quotes, though…
But…eet’s wafer-thin!
it’s funny to me– and also sad– when we white adults finally come to realize that we actually participate in racism. the US is both racist and white supremacist, structurally and individually. granted, what we see is usually a more “subtle” form of racism than burning crosses on the lawn.
i can’t even begin to think it’s something inherent our genetic make-up. it’s education into white supremacy. we can’t ever stop being racist. we just have to stop thinking we’re the experts on it. read some of the literature of critical race theory, preferably not by white authors. listen, learn, and believe people of color when they say your racism is showing. it probably is.
I don’t buy that at all. It’s merely an evolutionary us vs them drive. Now race is an easy way to decide who the us and them are, but that’s not the only way to decide, nor does it need to be a deciding factor. We have a history chock full of prejudice based on nationality, religion, and of course one’s plumbing. It’s simply natural to cling to and favor your own, however you choose to define “your own”, just as it is natural to not help or actively hurt anyone not in the group.
Just because younger generations may be showing signs of shedding our historical prejudices for race, gender and sexual orientation, that doesn’t mean prejudice will disappear. It’ll just manifest in new ways.
Like the Sneetches.
Interesting name and interesting blog you have. You’re a white man, aren’t you?
Not only that, but he’s a (gasp) LAWYER!!!!eleventy!!!1!!!!
Who are you addressing?
PhillyChief,
I hit reply to your comment, but it ended up second in line. Just judging by the name you go by, if you are white, it doesn’t surprise me that you “don’t buy” my comment above.
Allie
And I’m not surprised by your misguided liberal, politically correct bullshit. Frankly, I find your overreaction to my avatar as racist. Would a minority catch shit for having a white guy avatar? I doubt it. As long as people like you maintain a double standard, then there’s going to be racism. It’s not going to be until people let go of that shit completely that we can really move past this nonsense.
I don’t know, all y’all are terribly un-pc, what with white men callously mis-identifying themselves as Hispanics and Native-Americans… you have to EARN it!
I’m a white man AND a Lawyer. Philly’s a white man who pretends he’s a red man (though parts of him are red) and is not a lawyer (though he’s envious of us.)
8)
I’m also envious of lawyers. And I’m a white woman. I used to think I was right on all things race related. I’ve since learned that white people in my country (US) are rarely if ever right when it comes to race. I’m always sad when we still think we are. That was the inspiration behind my comment. Just pointing out that there is a lot of thinking on race that doesn’t come from white people’s writings. Critical race theory and critical whiteness studies are worth some investigation, in case any of your readers might be interested.
I keep thinking people are making terms up and damn, if there isn’t a wiki entry for it:
Whiteness studies
Since the 1800s, critics of the concept of race have questioned if human races even exist and pointed out that arbitrary categories based on phenotypical characteristics are chosen, and that the idea of race is not about important differences within the human species.
(Not to toot my own horn, but that’s what I said…)
If you want to read some exciting back-and-forth on this topic, may I recommend reading Greg Laden’s blog over at scienceblogs.com?
Of course I’m aware of the scientific fact that there is no such thing as “race.” That does not wipe away the social construct, the historical and current power imbalances in the US, nor does it solve the problem if we good white people all pretend race as a social fact does not exist.
From a brief look at Greg Laden’s Blog I notice a recurring theme is an anxiety among atheists who have noticed a lack of participation and presence at meetings by atheists of color. There’s also the issue of a low level of atheism among people of color. Yet, despite all the anxiety about how this needs to change, the white commenters seem largely stymied and some are quick to admit they have not done much thinking at all in their lives about the issue of race.
I would suggest that if more white atheists were at the very least willing to read the literature of critical race theory, it would become apparent why so many white majority organizations have a problem attracting members of color. The problem is not unique to atheism. Far from it, every “misguided liberal politically correct” group I can think of has the same problem. I don’t wonder why anymore, because I’ve read enough to know why.
So yes, it’s sad and laughable when I see my fellow white adults struggling so earnestly and still so unable to make sense of what’s going wrong with their organizations. It’s laughable because it’s so easy to figure out if you just read and really listen to what people of color are saying (and not just the few you cherry-pick because they back up your opinions). It’s sad because these organizations are so apt to excuse themselves and turn around to blame XY or Z community of color for its own lack of involvement. Give me a break, people!
The literature of critical race theory also includes thoughtful responses to all of the common talking points incorporated into PhillyChief’s comment above “the race double standard,” “reverse racism is racism too,” “you’re the real racist for thinking as you do,” “your manner of thinking is all just PC BS,” etc.
I agree that we are all, at some level, prejudiced, or racist, or xenophobic. Fear of ‘other’ is, for 99.9% of living things, a good way to stay alive. We, as humans, with working (in most cases) brains (I count myself in that subset about 1/3 of the time) are able to suppress that reaction, that split second ‘oh shit, he/she/it is different/dangerous’ response, and go to the next, more intellectual, response — will this person buy me a beer? (or somesuch). Recognizing this response within myself was, in my opinion, an integral part of personal maturity.
Working as a park ranger means dealing with this response every day. Person with spiked hair, tattoos and a safety pin in the nose? Visitor. Large, extremely muscular African American with a do-rag? Visitor.
I guess what I am trying to say (and (reading what I have already written) failing) is that racism is the action taken based upon the reaction.
Racism is a matter of environment, yes. Perhaps I misuse the word because I don’t mean solely that racism is a hatred. No, I wouldn’t accuse too many people of hating another race.
It could be what SI is referring to, in fact. It’s a matter of recognition.
For instance, if I saw a group of black people together, I would find myself immediately thinking to stay at a safe distance. This is something I wouldn’t feel with, say, a group of white people (on the other hand, I might act the same way towards a group of white people because I haven’t lived in that environment). It isn’t, as SI notes, an awareness of fear, although I’m sure that plays a part. It’s a matter of differences. When we see these things we seem to instinctively think that we aren’t wanted in this particular group.
In my mind, this is a form of racism that is dominantly practice within every race. Or, again, I’m using the term in an unusual way.
Instinct! I think that’s a good word that helps explain what I’m saying. Instinct says “Something is wrong, but I can’t put my finger on it” . It’s also a word we use to describe evolved processes that we no longer can explain.
SI,
Careful though SI – that definition also makes instinct 100% irrational – unless of course you’re now conceding that feelings are evidence. Since I’m guessing not, my question would be why everyone doesn’t share this “instinct” because when I see another race I don’t think anything is “wrong” – I just look at their shoes or how they wear their hair, etc.
Who’s talking about evidence? Or for that matter, whether it’s rational. If it’s instinctual, rationality (i.e. any thought behind it) doesn’t occur until after the instinct is consciously contemplated. As I implied in my OP, at that point rational humans tend to dismiss it.
And I do think everyone shares it. That was my point. You may not even be conscious of it, because you’ve trained yourself to ignore it. I do the same. Most times I give it no thought whatsoever.
Relax SI; it was just a note of caution, not an accusation or statement that anyone said anything about anything.
If by “it” you refer to the “sense of something wrong” that you described, then I refer to what I just told you: no, I don’t feel a sense that something is “wrong” when I see another race.
SI, I think the disconnect here is that you attribute the sense of unease you felt at seeing the black man passing you by on the way to the bank to something in your DNA, but as I wrote elsewhere here on the comments, it is not attributable to your DNA at all. It has to do with the conditioning you received from society from early childhood about African-Americans being an “other” with certain negative characteristics being ascribed to them. And that conditioning has its roots some five centuries ago when Europeans began to enslave Africans on a large scale. Once that happened, Europeans and their descendants in the Americas were conditioned to view Africans and African-Americans as alternately savage, lacking in intelligence, violent, and so forth. So, in that sense, you are correct that on an unconscious level you are a racist (as I am), but it is not attributable to some survival mechanism dating back to hunter gatherer days.
You may be right. I don’t know, and my post was more a “talking out loud” comment than something dogmatic. But I still feel that the quick, subconscious, perhaps instinctual ability to differentiate between “us” and “them” is hardwired somehow, and makes evolutionary sense. It’s not just race, but relative difference. Race is one example, and it may be an example of how racism got started.
Pam Spaulding in the post linked below at Pandagon about remarks Chris Matthews made about Obama yesterday echoes my point at the end.
http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/sotu_what_chris_matthews_i_forgot_obama_was_black_for_an_hour_statement_rea/
There is a song in the play South Pacific that explains it very well, I think. It states that you “have to be carefully taught”.
Here in the US in southern culture, in the rural and even small cities black and white children played together quite freely even in the says of lynchings. But at a certain age that came to a screeching halt, there was a point beyond which it “wasn’t done”. The attitudes of the adults and culture at large were pushed in. White kids found out they were “superior”, black kids were told, “survive”.
Also in history, the reason that the endenturing of whites stopped was largely due to the fact that they made common cause with and identified with the African slaves rather than the “white” masters.
Cornwallis carried this lesson with him to India after the American revolution. He had seen the result of “fraternisation” in Ireland, and how it was prevented in the sugar plantations and America, and when he went to India, laws were set in place and social consequenses were imposed on people who crossed the color line in ways deemed inappropriate.
Power and profit were the motives in it all.
Another reason why indenturing came to an end was because indentured whites could run away and blend in with the crowd in cities. However, with Africans, because they were deemed slaves by the color of their skin, runnng away was often not a good option until later on when slavery became more of a regional phenomenon and there was an abolitionist movement that could assist them. But in say the 17th and 18th centuries, they really had nowhere to go except maybe hide out in the woods and the swamps.
It isn’t, as SI notes, an awareness of fear, although I’m sure that plays a part. It’s a matter of differences.
Yes, but that fear is a result of what you have internalized over the course of your lifetime regarding race. It’s not the same as never knowing that black people exist and then encountering a black man while hiking in the forest and being like “Wow, I’ve never seen anyone who looks like that before! I hope he doesn’t want to harm me.”
Racism, unlike prejudice, is a social construct. It had its roots in the Portuguese exploration of the West African coast, where they encountered and kidnapped Africans who were less technologically advanced. In the European consciousness, black became associated with slave, and with it assumptions of white supremacy and black inferiority. It had nothing to do with a phobia, because Europeans had to go out of their way to find Africans (leaving aside North African Berbers with whom the Spanish and Portuguese had been at war for centuries).
I would think you could go further back to antisemitism, particularly in the Middle Ages.
I’m talking specifically about White European vs. Black African.
Oh, I thought you meant European racism in general.
I was talking to a friend last night, and we came up on the subject of this blog. He reminded me of a thing that made a minor kerfuffle in this area about twenty years ago.
A doctor in Pittsburgh retired his practice and had a house built in a little mining town called Nicktown, “up the mountain” from us. Plan was, retire, practice medicine at an affordable price for folks who needed it, “do good”.
He did these things, and after a while he noticed that his car and home were being routinely vandalised, and it was not unusual for a rock or something to whizz by his head.
He did, in fact, find out who was doing it, and it was some of the children that he treated and even some adults that he knew. Other people just seemed to think “it was the thing to do” sort of situation.
Why did they do this? What had he ever done to them?
Actually nothing, in fact, most of the people who were doing it actually LIKED him, were glad he was there.
Then why?
Well, he was protestant and a Mason.
What he WASN’T was catholic, Slovak, Ukrainian, Polish, Croation, or Czech. What else could the DO?
Leaving him alone…it was not even comprehensable, let alone possible as far as the “good” burghers of the Nicktown area were concerned. I mean…REALLY??!! Leave people alone? It just isn’t DONE…
People can get up to some pretty amazing tricks for some very odd reasons, it seems.
I’ve often pondered this very thought. Thank you for this post. Your respectful and diplomatic honesty always impresses me. Great post.
I’m not a “mixed-race type guy” as cl said, but my kid is. I disagree with the thesis that everyone is racist. I grew up in the South as a hispanic kid in nearly all-white schools. In one school in backwoods Arkansas, I was fully half the minority population (there also a black kid). Perhaps we were all too young to get the whole racism thing, but I really enjoyed that time and place.
And as far as the claim that minorities are racist against whites, I would say the trend is actually quite similar to that in whites. That is to say, that I would be more nervous in a poor black or hispanic neighborhood than in a poor white neighborhood.
My first high school in New Mexico was probably 90% hispanic or native American, one black girl, and the rest white. I had never met anyone with my surname, and now it was ridiculously overrepresented. I didn’t fit in.
Fast-forward a couple of decades. My son’s first basketball team was divided nearly in thirds between white, black or hispanic, and mixed-race.