Racism for white people
Never mind whether we think we’re racist or not, white people are a long way off even understanding racism.
Before I get started: by writing this post, I do not claim to speak for people of colour, but other white people need to ‘get it’, so I have recorded some of the things I’ve learnt. Hopefully it’ll be a good entry point for some, especially those who don’t mind challenging themselves to get uncomfortable about an issue you really should not be comfortable with.
After coverage of how Britons are supposedly getting more racist, and the debate that followed, including a valuable alternative viewpoint of the same data from The Economist, it has struck me that for all the debate, there is a fundamental problem; people have no idea what they’re talking about.
Over the last year or so I’ve spent quite a bit of time reading about, discussing, and occasionally getting called out on my own, racism. Contrary to what a lot of people think, racism is still a serious force in modern developed societies, and despite the perceived progress we’ve made, racism is still alive and well all around us. I’m not just talking about the rise of UKIP or other right wing parties in Europe, but a deep-seated racism that permeates through (particularly) Western culture.
I use the collective term ‘people of colour’, but it’s important to understand that this term does not mean people of colour are a homogenous group — far from it. No collective term can accurately reflect the ethnic diversities of a global majority of people. For the purpose of discussing issues relating to non-whiteness — without using ‘non-whites’ as the collective term which places whiteness as a default — people of colour (from what I’ve seen) is the most widely used term. There’s a good set of opinions here where you can read more on this.
A good place to get properly started is to understand that the nature of racism (in Britain and the US at least, if not the majority of the west) has changed, and is continuing to change. It is a dynamic concept that changes with the times. There has been a shift from overt racism towards ‘covert racism’, described as:
“…a form of racial discrimination that is disguised and subtle, rather than public or obvious. Concealed in the fabric of society, covert racism discriminates against individuals through often unnoticeable or seemingly passive methods. Covert, racially-biased decisions are often hidden or rationalized with an explanation that society is more willing to accept.”
With this in mind, the way I’ve made sense of racism is to think of it as having three tiers, although I admit it is far more complex than this, it’s the way my thoughts have organised themselves.
Tier 1
Overt racism. Y’know, your out-and-out racists. People who are openly racist and/or identify as white supremacists. The racism almost everyone knows, recognises and loathes. The mainstream (white) media doesn’t accept that anything beyond this tier as racism. And this is what they mean when they use the word ‘racism’ in their articles.
Tier 2
Racist humour and secret bigotry. The joke that will be said among (white) friends at the expense of people of colour with the knowledge that there will be few, if any, repercussions. This is probably more common than people would like to admit, particularly outside of the mostly liberal urban centres. Also, cheap race-based ‘satire’ (makes air quotes hand gesture), bigotry garbed in pseudo-intellectuality. White people often tend to defend this type of racism, claiming that a world without it would be ‘political correctness gone mad!’.
A recent example being the white liberal’s favourite Stephen Colbert using (what was supposed to be) satire to highlight the racism of the Washington Redskins’ name, while simultaneously throwing South-East Asians under a bus. That was wrong. The defence found all over the internet is that Colbert is extremely good at satire and that this skit wasn’t problematic. I genuinely thought it wasn’t funny because of the satire, make no mistake, the laughs were from the cheap racist jokes. But it seems there’s nothing white people hate more than being told they shouldn’t say offensive shit. #freespeech!!!!
Tier 3
A slightly more invisible — but nevertheless damaging — tier of racism. Things like cultural appropriation, cultural imperialism, erasure, derailing, exoticism, orientalism, tokenism (insert lots more stuff here that I’m not aware of). Otherwise liberal, enlightened white people will often engage in some of this stuff without realising it’s problematic.
Before I carry on…
Some further acknowledgements
It’s probably questionable that I (as a white person) am writing about ‘my interpretation’ of racism; my opinion on what racism is or isn’t by default isn’t important, I don’t get to decide. I will have interpreted it clumsily compared to people with lived experience of racism. I admit this post is — in no small part — an intellectual exercise for me and writing it has been awkward (break out your ‘white tears’ mugs!).
So why don’t I just shut up?
People of colour aren’t responsible for educating ignorant and/or well meaning white people, especially strangers online. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I thought I’d have a shot at writing down my opinions in the hope that maybe one white person will engage in some introspection and educate themselves. If that happens, I think it’ll be worth it.
Easy mode
I’m going to write a bit more about the more challenging bits for white people. So strap in my fellow crackers, it’s about to get uncomfortable (especially if you’re white, have dreadlocks, and have a penchant for shit fancy dress ideas).
The first thing to understand is the nature of privilege. As a white person, white privilege is something that you have. You may not have been aware of your privilege in this area, so bear with me if this is your first time reading about it. White privilege can be quickly understood, read the numbered list here, it will take you three minutes. Some people will think about the struggles in their lives and find it hard to accept that with things being shit at times, they have any kind of privilege. Having white privilege doesn’t trivialise your difficult or troubling life experiences. But it does mean you can’t experience the type of struggles that people of colour may experience. For example, you may not have financial privilege or male privilege (PDF), but this does not negate your white privilege.
This is a really important bit to understand and is worth spending some more time reading around. For more in addition to the previous links, check out this piece using the great analogy of it being like playing a game (i.e. life) on a particular difficulty setting.
Sidenote: it is impossible for white people to suffer racism, racism = prejudice + power. You can experience prejudice as a white person, but with racism, power dynamics from history (colonialism etc) are still very much in play today. Too often racism and prejudice are falsely inferred to be equivalent. Please don’t comment with the dictionary’s definition of racism. Remember, this is a book written by white people.
Humour
I’ve been in situations where people have made racist jokes that I don’t find acceptable and I didn’t know how to respond. I saw a tweet a little while ago (memory too poor to credit I’m afraid) that read something along the lines of “ask yourself why they felt comfortable enough to say that in your presence”. If the person is a close friend, you should be confident in calling them out on it. If it is an acquaintance, a colleague or a friend of a friend it can be more awkward. My natural tendency is to give a nervous laugh, but I’m trying to unlearn that behaviour and make the person feel uncomfortable, by not laughing and saying “I’m not into racist jokes”. If it gets awkward, great…maybe they’ll ask themselves some questions. If it means there’s some debate…that’s a good start.
Cultural Appropriation
Members or institutions of a predominant culture adopting the culture (mostly the aesthetic) of one that isn’t dominant (e.g. non-Hindu whites wearing bindis). It is rampant to the point of ubiquity in Western society and hotly debated. The fashion, film and music industries are particularly guilty here, and an unsuspecting and (forgivably) ignorant society has gobbled it up. Some good examples that you might recognise:
- White people with dreadlocks (the name itself a derogatory term)
- Artists like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Avril Lavigne appropriating Eastern cultures & reducing women of colour to props in their music videos, performances and photoshoots
- The Washington Redskins having that name (see also this video)
This is where some people might get defensive or dismissive (in which case, please check this out). It’s okay to not agree with what I’m saying, and I’m not suggesting any injunctions on people’s free speech to ensure they don’t offend anyone, but expect to be increasingly called out.
A useful mental experiment to do might be similar to the following:
You’re a [white woman] in an empty train carriage wearing [a bindi], at the next stop twenty [Hindu women] get on the train all wearing [bindis]. Do you feel comfortable that you’re also wearing [a bindi]? Do you think they feel comfortable/happy/encouraged that you’re wearing it?
For the sake of balance, it’s worth mentioning that not everyone feels this way. But many do.
It’s important to be aware that there are problematic aspects of our society that are damaging, whether it makes you uncomfortable or not. The ability to think critically and introspectively about your beliefs or opinions is a pretty good measure of a person in my book.
Education
A problem that needs to be solved in this area is the fact that when growing up, all people in their 20s/30s and 40s were hammered with the message that “WE’RE ALL THE SAME!”, leaving us ill equipped to have conversations about the differences between people without getting incredibly awkward and fearful of saying the wrong thing. So as a white adult, you have to spend a bit of time unpicking this.
I will leave it there for the moment and will write more if there seems to be an appetite for it. If you’re interested in reading more, the sidebar on the left of this site has loads of excellent resources with which you can educate yourself. Or at least check out this racism bingo card, my guess is that you will recognise some of these defences. If you take one thing from reading this, it should be that self-education is the best way forward.
