The title to this post refers to Arthur Gilroy’s recommended diary at Booman Tribune which you can find here. But before you read any further, and also before you read Arthur’s diary, go read the original blog entry to which it refers: White Kossacks and Black People posted by the field negro. That’s a lot to read, but a necessary prologue to either Arthur’s piece or mine.
Done reading? Okay, well here’s my response to the field negro: You’re right. Not about everything, but about the essentials, you’ve nailed many whites, progressive or otherwise, to the proverbial wall. White people do have prejudices against black people, and do carry around stereotypes of black people in our pointy little heads. And yes, we don’t like to talk about it.
(cont.)
A while back I began a series Race, America and Me, in which I attempted to explore my own racist attitudes and beliefs and how they have changed over the years. I made it through three diaries before stopping (you can read these essays in order if you like here, here and here).
To be clear, I stopped writing the series without any conscious intent to stop. They were difficult to write, to be sure. More difficult, in fact, than anything I’ve ever attempted before, and very emotionally draining. They also didn’t garner much reaction when I did post them. And and to be honest, when you put a lot of effort into something that hard to do, you like to get your little cookie for that effort, even if it is a string of comments telling you what a dolt you must be. Mea culpa, but I suffer from that same human failing that most of us who blog know all too well.
I kept telling myself I’d get back to writing those diaries, but to date I haven’t. I was discouraged by the lack of reader response to be sure, but the real truth is that I didn’t want to continue facing and owning up to my prejudices when it comes to people whose skin is a different color than mine. Those prejudices continue to this day, even though I am in an interracial marriage with a second generation Japanese American women, even though I have had close friends of many different races, and even though my children are bi-racial and we as a family have experienced a few episodes of blatant racism because of this fact (and no, I’m not going to talk about those here, that would be a digression).
I know a lot of white people, people who live in those suburban enclaves that everyone excoriates. Most of them work hard, go to church (or not) and try to raise their kids the best they can. They deal with the usual panoply of concerns from health care to lost jobs, from worries about their children to worries about the planet. They are, by and large not that different a group from anyone else in America. But they don’t deal with race in their own lives. They don’t have to because the world white people have fashioned for themselves throughout much of this country allows them to avoid the issue of race.
A big part of that is self isolation, conscious or unconscious. Another part is self delusion. And this isolation and delusion is perpetuated by our major source of information about the world: television. Since the end of the 60’s white people have been telling each other what a great thing the Civil Rights Movement did for America, and what a great leap forward for race relations it accomplished. We, all too often hear from our leaders that we are now a color blind nation, or, at worst, one that is a lot less prejudiced and bigoted than we were before, in the bad old days of lynchings and the height of the KKK’s influence throughout the country in the years prior to World War II.
But it’s all a lie. That prejudice has simply gone underground. It’s the original American sin that dare not speak its name. And the biggest liars may very well be white progressives, because without a doubt we are the people who most cherish the thought that race relations have improved, the people who are most committed to that belief. Why? Because if it isn’t true, than our self-deception becomes evident, lies exposed for all to see. Even when — no make that especially when — we look in the mirror at the true nature of our ignorance.
Which isn’t to say that prejudice and self-delusion is only a problem for whites, or white progressives. Ignorance about other cultures, other peoples who are not like us, runs rampant throughout our society. It jumps beyond the category of race and encompasses prejudices based on class, gender, sexual orientation and even geographic region. But, outside of gender, racism is the most apparent prejudice, in large part because it is the most visible. A person can hide his or her sexual orientation. Some are skilled at hiding their class origins, or ethnic identities. We can even lose our accents, or adopt new ones, when we move from one part of the country to another. But we cannot change our skin, our eyes, or our hair. These are clear visual markers which allow others, in their ignorance or prejudice to form opinions about who and what we are before we even open our mouths.
So Mr. Field Negro, you are right. White progressives, as a group, share as many prejudices and, consciously or unconsciously, have adopted many of the same offensive stereotypes as anyone else in this society. What I hope we have is the courage to face our own ignorance, and then go out in the world and educate ourselves so that we can put those ugly beliefs aside, if not totally eradicate them, when dealing with Black People. Or Latinos. Or Asians. Or Native Americans. Or Jews. Or Arabs. Or — anyone.
To do that we must start a dialogue which doesn’t lead to animosity and accusations. We must learn to listen with a blank mind, a mind that is willing to hear uncomfortable words, angry expressions and even ignorance in return without becoming defensive or shutting ourselves away from what is often a painful revelation. So thanks for reminding me, at least, of what I still need to accomplish and what I still must do to lessen my own ignorance and residual bigotry.
Slainte, sensei.