“Shifting the signifier is also not as effective as we might think. Historically, before we were “African Americans,” we were “black.” and before that, we were “negroes.” And before that, we were “niggers.” The semantics matter to a certain extent, but not enough to disrupt the logic or reality of race.”
It may help to clarify this proposal is not suggesting a universal cure to racism. There are no universal cures which is why we have to carefully choose the tools and protocols to reach as many people as possible.
There is no reality of race. There is only discrimination based on the idea of race. The systemic oppression imposed simply by skin color is real. Do you not see the irony of the references? Nigger>Negro>Black>African American. Do the terms and frequency of use coincide with any progress on defeating racism? If “shifting the signifier” is overrated why is there a different individual and social response when “nigger” is used rather than “Black” or “African American?” The interesting aspect is overlooking the key difference between African American in contrast to the other three terms. Those terms dehumanize and objectify while African American humanizes with a built in historical lesson. Why is our society obsessed with insuring it is known Caucasians cannot use “nigger?” As CRock highlights:
There is a more profound currency in abandoning “black” for African American as it highlights the national and world birth of racism as we see it today. “African American” is significant not simply for addressing the problem of objectification but also historical markers people often overlook. It is mindful of the brutal evil of slavery and how generations of families and cultures were destroyed making it nearly impossible for descendants of slaves to know their family’s origin. This is why some people argued Obama’s ability to trace his family’s history to Kenya excluded him from being “African American.” That is not a view I share because he is both African and Kenyan American just like French Americans are also European Americans.
In a more precise view, it is “bad faith” to believe we can defeat racism just as effectively whether or not acknowledging the myth of race.