Race Discourse
White Innocencism is Racism
How lack of accountability in the White community produces new forms of racial discrimination
What is white innocencism? White innocencism claims that white people are pure. Their intentions are always good. One way white innocencism manifests itself is when we excuse white people’s bad behavior on ignorance, gullibility, lack of information, desperation, or even mental illness.
We saw that when most white voters voted for Trump, the most unapologetically racist candidate to run for president since the 1960s. Pundits blamed “economic anxiety.” Black people have more economic hardships than White people. But, somehow, Black people did not vote for Trump. But saying white people voted for Trump because they are racist is considered an attack on voters.
Compare that to how Black voters are talked about. Daily, we are told the 80% of Black voters who vote Democratic are living in the Democratic “plantation.” How racist is that? And, this racist claim is not something said in private chats. This is said out in the open, in the media, on social media, on Sunday talk shows. On CNN, a supposedly liberal channel, Republican pundits call Black voters “plantation” lovers every day. Saying we want to live in slave plantations is considered a legitimate point of view.
In fact, Black voters not wanting to “escape the Democratic plantation” is the Republican Party’s official explanation for why Black people do not vote for them. The media does not call Republicans out for this offensive racist claim.
On the other hand, if a Democratic politician were to say that the 60% of white voters who vote for Republicans just want to live in Jim Crow America, there would be an uproar. That politician would be made to apologize and would probably be forced to resign before day end.
Why? Because white people are always to be seen as innocent. If they are voting for a racist party consistently, they must have a good reason, or maybe they are being tricked by the Republican politicians.
Mainstream media is not the only place where white innocencism is always protected. Even super liberal pod-casters go out of their way to maintain white innocence. A liberal podcast called You’re Wrong About did an episode titled “Losing Relatives to Fox News” explaining why people fall for Fox’s propaganda. They blamed old age. Mike and Sarah do not seem to realize that old Black people exist too. Old Black people do not watch Fox News.
Moreover, there are more young white people watching Fox than there are old Black people doing the same (both in percentage and absolute numbers). The episode was so insulting to listen to as a Black person. I had to pause the podcast many times because I kept getting angry and I couldn’t afford to get angry while driving. Mike and Sarah deny that the reason white people, both old and young, watch Fox is because they are racist. Mike and Sarah are white.
They benefit from whiteness being seen as pure and innocent.
Finally, look at the way the Anti-Vaxx movement is being covered. Because most Anti-Vaxxers are white, there is a tone of understanding and sympathy in the way they are covered in the media. Anti-Vaxxers have been stalking and harassing school teachers and even children.
They have been creating chaos at school meetings. They have been sending violent threats to doctors. But the coverage is still different from Anti-Vaxxers. They are always covered as a legitimate movement. Imagine what the coverage would be like if a group of Black parents decided to hijack a school board meeting screaming and yelling at board members?
