Prejudice still alive and well
Notes from Underground
Adam Roberts
Issue date: 1/12/09 Section: Opinion
Protesters are taking to the streets and rioting in California after video surfaced showing a white law enforcement officer shooting and killing an unarmed black man. ??
So much for the column I planned on how much race relations have changed now that Barack Obama's been elected.??
It's really a mystery how racism continues to exist because apparently there are no racists. I've never met anyone in my entire life who said they were a racist. I'm white, so you'd think that they would be comfortable sharing if they were. ??
Sometimes I'll hear people say something that sounds awfully bigoted. But they always preface it with, "I'm not racist, but…"?A lot of white people complain about political correctness. But PC really makes things easy. If you use the 'n-word' and fly a Confederate flag, you're racist. If you call Morgan Freeman your favorite actor and have a black friend, then you're not. No further introspection is required.? ?
In the real world, things aren't so simple.??
A study published in Science last week demonstrated that even though people see themselves as tolerant, they actually have many unconscious prejudices. Subjects in the study told researchers that they would be upset if they heard a white person call a black person who accidentally bumped into them a "clumsy n-----." However, almost none of the subjects who actually were put into that situation reacted.
Even more disturbing was that two-thirds of the subjects wanted to be partners in a game with the white person who just used the racial epitaph instead of the black person.??
Gallup polls show that an overwhelming majority of Americans say they support interracial marriage. But I can count the number of major films that came out last year featuring a romance between a black man and a white woman on one finger (and that's if we decide to count Hancock as a man).
Or for a more local example, take a look at Fayetteville High School. Fayetteville High supposedly was integrated in 1954, but it doesn't look that way. I spent my sophomore year there, and I'm told the situation hasn't changed.? ?
So much for the column I planned on how much race relations have changed now that Barack Obama's been elected.??
It's really a mystery how racism continues to exist because apparently there are no racists. I've never met anyone in my entire life who said they were a racist. I'm white, so you'd think that they would be comfortable sharing if they were. ??
Sometimes I'll hear people say something that sounds awfully bigoted. But they always preface it with, "I'm not racist, but…"?A lot of white people complain about political correctness. But PC really makes things easy. If you use the 'n-word' and fly a Confederate flag, you're racist. If you call Morgan Freeman your favorite actor and have a black friend, then you're not. No further introspection is required.? ?
In the real world, things aren't so simple.??
A study published in Science last week demonstrated that even though people see themselves as tolerant, they actually have many unconscious prejudices. Subjects in the study told researchers that they would be upset if they heard a white person call a black person who accidentally bumped into them a "clumsy n-----." However, almost none of the subjects who actually were put into that situation reacted.
Even more disturbing was that two-thirds of the subjects wanted to be partners in a game with the white person who just used the racial epitaph instead of the black person.??
Gallup polls show that an overwhelming majority of Americans say they support interracial marriage. But I can count the number of major films that came out last year featuring a romance between a black man and a white woman on one finger (and that's if we decide to count Hancock as a man).
Or for a more local example, take a look at Fayetteville High School. Fayetteville High supposedly was integrated in 1954, but it doesn't look that way. I spent my sophomore year there, and I'm told the situation hasn't changed.? ?
Viewing Comments 1 - 8 of 8
Bama
posted 1/12/09 @ 7:53 AM CST
Why is it white people are the only ones accused of racism? Do you not think people of color are racist? Rev. Wright? José Angel Gutiérrez? This is a gross double standard and I for one am sick of it. (Continued…)
George
posted 1/12/09 @ 10:28 PM CST
White people are accused of racism because they want everyone to assimilate but assimilation has its limits. For instance, white people do not like the idea of a Black Studies program and expect blacks to integrate. (Continued…)
Jeremy
posted 1/13/09 @ 5:31 PM CST
As to the stairs, why are you sitting on the stairs?
Honestly.
At any rate, it isn't a product of current racism that black people sit in one area, the brown break-dancers in another (yes I went there too), and ol' whitey in yet another. (Continued…)
Bman
posted 1/23/09 @ 4:03 PM CST
Racism has and will always exist everywhere in the world. For every racist story you here in America though, there are many more that rise above that. (Continued…)
Dominic
posted 1/23/09 @ 5:37 PM CST
B.E.T. + N.A.A.C.P = perfectly acceptable
W.E.T.+N.A.A.C.P = utterly intolerable
hm....kind of makes you wonder.
Greg
posted 1/23/09 @ 7:32 PM CST
The reason white people are accused of racism more often is because white people benefit from the current cultural prejudice, and have not been repressed on the basis of their skin color. (Continued…)
George
posted 2/03/09 @ 2:14 PM CST
Whites have their own sororities..for example spell it Chi Omega..even a light skinned hapa (mixed asian/white) with Caucasian features will not be able to get into it. (Continued…)
Naffel
Naffel
posted 2/03/09 @ 4:29 PM CST
(originally written, January 13, 2009 2203CST)
[QUOTE]
Chris Rock said, "There's no one more racist then an old black man." I don't know that he really believed that, but he was trying to make a point. (Continued…)
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