Racism, Prejudice & “Typical” White People

Racist is a very harsh word. In my opinion, it is one of the worst things a person can be called. But I also think it is a word that is grossly overused. Of course that might simply be a matter of definitions.

I see a difference between being prejudiced and being a racist. Racism, to me, is hating people merely because of their race and/or the belief that one race is inferior to another. I know that there is another definition that requires not only racial animus but the power to disadvantage the other race. By this definition only white people can be racist because only white people have the power to discriminate against other ethnic groups. But I think my definition is much closer to the way most people use the word.

Prejudice means to pre-judge, to (in its most benign definition) have certain expectations before getting all the facts. We all have prejudices, but most of us are not racists. Of course some prejudices can be vicious. For instance assuming that an African-American is less intelligent than a white person is a prejudice, but is also racist. Meeting an African-American and assuming that he or she is a Democrat is also a prejudice, but hardly a racist one.

As I said, we all have prejudices. But ideally when we recognize a prejudice in ourselves, we do our best to prevent that prejudice from affecting how we treat other people.

The other day, Barack Obama gave a truly inspiring speech about race. He did an excellent job of describing the basis of both white and black resentment. Though I disagree with his proposed solution (an expansion of the welfare state) I still found the speech inspiring. Unfortunately, a few days later, Obama may have made a major verbal goof. During an interview on a sports talk radio show, Obama said:

The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity. She doesn't. But she is a typical white person who, uh, if she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know there's a reaction that's been bred into our experiences that don't go away and that sometimes come out in the wrong way and that's just the nature of race in our society.

Here is an example of a prejudice that I do not think rises to the level of racism. Almost any statement that talks about the “typical” member of a racial or ethnic group is going have problems. Well maybe saying the typical Orthodox Jew doesn’t eat pork would be ok. But the difference between talking about the typical member of a religious group and the typical member of a racial group is that you can reasonably know something about the beliefs of a member of a religious group, whereas imputing a belief to a person because of his or race is less justified. When I was in law school, the Black Law Students Association and the Federalist Society (a conservative/libertarian legal group) co-sponsored a visit by Justice Clarence Thomas. One thing that struck me during Justice Thomas’ address was when he talked about how he wasn’t “allowed” to have certain beliefs because of the color of his skin.

When I was teaching social studies, many of my students were black-skinned Hispanics and/or multiracial. I remember one girl with skin much darker than Barack Obama stating emphatically that she wasn’t black. The kids would some times appeal to the voice of authority (me) to tell them who was black and who wasn’t. What I told them was that at one point there were laws on the books that defined what it meant to be black, but those laws were no longer in effect. I told them that race really didn’t matter except under two conditions. It mattered if it mattered to them because of (for example) pride in their heritage or if other people are going to treat them differently because of it. Unfortunately, there are still too many people that will cause race to matter for the latter reason.

As for Obama’s comment that the “typical white person” has been “bred” to be afraid of young black men, that is another prejudice. It is assuming something that all (or most) white people are prejudiced against young blacks. That prejudice exists, but is not limited to whites. As Jesse Jackson once said:

There is nothing more painful for me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking about robbery—and then look around and see somebody white and feel relieved.

One of the arguments that is made to prove that we live in a racist society is that so many young black men are in prison, parole, or probation. Leaving aside the root causes for a moment, the reason that young black men are disproportionately imprisoned is that they commit a disproportionate amount of crime. Even Jesse Jackson tacitly admitted this in the quote above. Don’t get me wrong; while this particular prejudice if not reasonable is at the very least understandable. But it is harmful. Law abiding black men quite justifiably resent being treated as potential criminals.

The problem as I see it is not just a question of race, but an issue of social class. Race and social class are too closely correlated. African-Americans are disproportionately represented in lower social classes, and therefore prejudices develop that associate African-Americans with the qualities of lower social class. So long as this is true, race will remain an issue.

Barack Obama and I would agree that improving schools and providing quality educations to all students is a necessary step to improving this situation. We might disagree on how to improve schools (I for instance would favor vouchers allowing parents to choose between public or private schools). We would agree on the necessity of providing economic opportunities, but disagree on the best way to provide them. See for instance my discussion of the Laffer Curve.

But there is no magic bullet. Racism and prejudice are not going to disappear in the foreseeable future. But I don’t believe they are as big and obstacle as some people think they are. Whether you are a white person who beliefs affirmative action is keeping you from the job you deserve or an African-American who believes racism is doing the same thing, you have two choices. You can be angry and assume the cards or stacked against you or you can be determined and work harder to overcome these obstacles. Of course, if you have real evidence of discrimination, by all means file a complaint and/or a lawsuit. But otherwise, I encourage you to just work harder and make it difficult or impossible for them to keep you down.