Recently I had the privilege of hearing anti-racist writer
and speaker Tim Wise speak at Messiah College’s urban campus. While ostensibly
focusing on four major points, Wise covered a range of topics all pertaining to
the reality of racism in the 21st century. One point that stood out
to me was his discussion of implicit or unconscious racism.
During this era when we are remembering the 50th
anniversaries of the significant events of the Civil Rights movement,
Wise pointed out that it is easy for people to think that because people of
color are no longer being hosed and beaten, and because the Civil Rights Act
and subsequent legislation made intentional acts of racial discrimination
illegal, racism no longer exists in our society. However, as he aptly
described, racism is unfortunately alive and well in both systemic forms (such
as Michelle Alexander highlights regarding the criminal justice system in The New Jim Crow or students in the
Philadelphia School system experience every day in their grossly underfunded
public schools) and in the unconscious bias we all carry around in our heads.
Wise talked about an experiment that was conducted a few
years ago in which adults were evaluated on the level of their unconscious or
implicit bias. The participants were pre-tested for their basic views and
attitudes on racism, and the most were found to be very open-minded,
progressive thinkers when it came to issues of racial diversity and
inclusion. The participants were then placed
in front of computer screens and electrodes placed on their heads to register
brain activity. They were shown images that flashed on the screen so quickly
that their conscious minds were not able to recognize the images, but their
subconscious minds were. The researchers noted the brain activity as the images
flashed by. When an innocuous image like a tree or a flower was shown the brain
registered minimal activity, but when an image of a black or Latino male was
shown, the brain activity spiked in 90% of the white participants. In African
American participants the brain activity spiked nearly 50% of time.
Wise contended (and I would agree) that this experiment
points to the reality that anyone living in the United States for any period of
time carries within their psyche unconscious or implicit racism. Because of the
way we are socialized, the images we are exposed to in the media, the way our
history highlights some issues and ignores or excludes others, and the choices
we are presented, nearly all white people, as well as a significant percentage
of people of color, develop a deep-seated bias that influences their attitudes,
perspectives and actions in subtle but real ways that lead to propagating or supporting racist practices in our institutions and personal lives. [For someone who would like
to take a simpler version of the test mentioned above they can take the Implicit
Bias Test at this link. ]
While the term is not unique to me, for many years I have regarded
myself as a recovering racist. Several years ago I worked in an alcohol rehabilitation
program with people going through the 12 steps of Alcohol Anonymous as part of
their recovery. What I learned is that in AA people never talk about being “recovered”
from alcoholism or addiction; rather they refer to themselves as “recovering”,
that is always in the process of recovery. In the same way I seriously doubt
that as a white person I will ever get to the point where I am over being
racist, rather I will always be in the process of dealing with my implicit and
explicit racism. As such just like the recovering alcoholic, I must work every
day to be aware and address the racism that has been bred into me as a member
of this society.
Through over 30 years of dealing with my own in-bred racism,
I have learned some things about my own implicit racism and how to address it.
First, just like the recovering alcoholic, I need to admit that I have a
problem, that in fact I am racist.
Unfortunately most white people when confronted with the reality of racism
spend an inordinate amount of energy denying that in fact they have racism in
their psychological and emotional make-up. The most frequent response is to say
“I’m not racist, I’m colorblind.” While I suspect their intent is to say that
they try not to act in a racially prejudiced way, one cannot really live in
this society and not notice race. It’s much better to let go of the charade of
colorblindness and simply admit we see and experience people differently in
part because we see them as a racial other. Try as we might to do otherwise,
that racial discrimination has been built into us.
Second, as a white person, once I have admitted I am racist,
it is important to pay attention to the dynamics of racism around me. Authors
like Michelle Alexander, Cornel West, bell hooks, Tavis Smiley, Tim Wise, Joe Feagin
and others have written extensively on the ways racism operates in the
institutions and systems of our society. Peggy McIntosh in her classic article
on White Privilege has pointed out how privilege often keeps whites ignorant
and oblivious to the subtle and not-so-subtle barriers and indignities faced by
people of color every day. Once we have read those books and heard those
speakers, we need to pay attention and notice the way racism operates all
around us. For many whites paying attention to the pervasiveness of racism is
like waking up to a whole new reality.
Third we need to seek out relationships with folks,
both white and people of color, with whom we can talk about our observations
and experiences. Over the past twenty years I have been fortunate to develop
close relationships with friends and colleagues where race is a common topic of
discussion; and not in some abstract way but in very personal ways. I have
actively sought to become parts of groups and organizations where the
leadership is predominantly people of color. In one such group we were
discussing the recent movie “The Butler;” for several of the folks of color in
the room the movie had evoked memories and painful emotions that I never would
have known had I not been in the conversation. These friendships keep me aware
and force me to realize how limited my perspective can be.
Fourth, as a white person I need to ask the next question:
What has race got to do with it? This is a question people of color have to ask
all the time as they experience people and events, but which white people
rarely ask. Whites are socialized to ignore and downplay the impact of race on experiences
and events in their lives. Tim Wise told
of an experience when he was 23 years old and locked the keys in his girlfriend’s
car. For over 20 minutes he tried to break into the car until a police officer
came by. Expecting that the officer would ask for identification and an
explanation for his actions, he was surprised when the officer not only neglected
to ask those questions but then proceeded to join him in his efforts to break
into the car, even at one point suggesting they smash the window. Wise then
raised the question: How would that scenario played out if he had been a 23
year old black man? What has race got to do with it? Sometimes the answers we
come will not be clear cut, but the question must be asked.
Finally, as a white person I need to practice being an
ally to people of color. For the past two years I have been researching and
writing a book I have entitled White
Allies for Racial Justice, which hopefully will be published within the
next year. In the book I define an ally as a person who recognizes that various
forms of discrimination and who chooses to work alongside people who are targets
of that discrimination to change the attitudes, practices and institutional structures
that propagate that discrimination. As
an ally I do not act out of some sort missionary or savior complex, but rather out
of the deep recognition a world free of oppression is a world of dignity,
equality, humanity and justice, and therefore is a better world for all people
regardless of their race or social position.
As much as some would hope that we have been able to move
beyond racism, it still continues to shape our lives and distort our
perspectives in 2014. As white people we have a choice to either keep our heads
in the sand and ignore the reality of suffering and oppression around us, or we
can commit ourselves to create the kind of society that works for all people.
The journey starts within each one of us asking ourselves – are we willing to
be recovering racists? Are we willing to admit our own need to recover from our
implicit, unconscious racism? Are we willing to ask the hard questions and ally
ourselves in solidarity with brothers and sisters of color to build a
post-racist society? Only in this way can we work on our recovery from the
racism that infects our society and disables us all.
