Needforname,
I want to begin by apologizing if you thought I was calling you a racist. It was not my intention. For you, being a “racist” implies hating black people. A subjective emotion. I do not suggest that you hate black people. Maybe you do, maybe you don’t. I don’t know you, and don’t mean to imply that I understand your motivations or feelings.
I did say that you threw out some racist BS, and I certainly stand by that. What you seem to misunderstand is that racism isn’t just about hate. It’s also about failure to grasp the reality faced by other communities. You talk about personal responsibility, and that not all whites are economically privileged. Of course. But personal responsibility can’t be divorced from economic opportunity, and we have yet to overcome the disparate economic situation for the black community effected by this nation’s legacy practices. And while you are absolutely right that there are many economically disadvantaged whites, that doesn’t change the fact that even they are racially advantaged in a society which is anything but colorblind.
That appears to be the concept with which you struggle. I believe you that you want the world to be colorblind. I want that too. But we don’t live in that world, and it is a form of racism to fail to understand the challenges of race. Until race doesn’t matter in terms of economic opportunity, it is our duty (not because of guilt, but out of empathy) to try to understand disparate challenges. And of course, you are right that the present lack of equal opportunity doesn’t have a single cause, and that poor decision-making by communities of all colors may have contributed to the present situation. But this complexity shouldn’t interfere with our ability to empathize, nor should it affect our determination to end racial injustice. It is only because you see guilt as the underlying rationale for present action to address inequality, and you feel feel that guilt is improperly intimated. That is why I proposed earlier that you abandon guilt in favor of empathy. Discard identification of fault or blame in favor of compassion. It opens up a world of possibilities. Turn your passion into a force for positive change.
