Topics Race

Question Why is it that when a white person says a racial slur, such as "nigger" it is thought to be the most heinous crime. However, when a non-white, in particular blacks call whites "crackers" it is dismissed as nothing. Why is there such a double standard in American society? Why is reverse racism rampant more than ever? Whites have to fear of being shunned for voicing their injustices, because if they do, they will be called a racist. If a white is mistreated due to race in the work place nothing occurs. On the other hand, if it happens to a black it gets mass media coverage. The politics are backwards, the NAACP, pushes racial equality for blacks, yet they are immersed with racism towards whites; not all are but it has been displayed. If a white were to make an Organization for the advancement of their race it would be an outcry for its dismantle. Shouldn't all race Organizations be abolished since we're under the same umbrella, the Human race? I too often experienced this firsthand, being of black decent. I'm perplexed by these occurrences.

Accepted:
July 22, 2010

Comments

This is a timely issue! For about 30 years now I believe that there has been a working definition on many (but not all) campuses in the USA of defining "racism" not as a general denigration of a person or institution or event by virtue of race but as a denigration of a person or institution or event by virtue of race by a person in a position of superior social (political - economic) power. I am not saying that for more than two decades that has been the majority position, but it has been one that definitely has played a role in class discussions and, in one case I know at my college one philosopher teaching an ethics course almost did not get tenure because he did not endorse this more specific definition. Whether or not this more specific definition has an important, fruitful role to play today, ideally we need to get where race (and today the very concept of "race" is highly contested) as well as gender is not used to discriminate, oppress, etc. In many cases especially involving overt behavior I think there should be zero tolerance of racism, but racism also has an inner / interior role in people's thinking and attitudes and this is something very difficult to control through government. You write about abolishing organizations, suggesting this might even include the NAACP. Because of the residual legacy of racism, I think that the NAACP is still needed just as we still need Black History Month in order to correct the immense dominance of white history and society in general. But talk of abolishing this or that organization sounds like a forceful intervention of some kind, and (a) this is likely to be seen as just one more chapter in a kind of race war and (b) for people to shed racism as an internal set of attitudes, it is going to take a real change of heart in people themselves. You may not like religious language at all and so this will not be helpful, but I think racism is very much like what used to be called sin. On this topic, you may find the work of Jorge Garcia (Boston University) very interesting indeed.

The meaning of word is not fixed. The same word coming from different people can have different meanings. For instance, growing up as an Italian American I was always told that if a non Italian used certain terms it was time to fight - however, when used between ourselves the same words were considered terms of endearment - of affection.

This is, of course, not to suggest that members of an oppressed minority cannot be subject to the charge of being locked in racial stereotypes. Whether or not they are culpable for those attitudes is an open question. We all need to be aware of the stereotypes that we grew up with and to try our very best to overcome them -- but again that requires making a real effort at self-scrutiny.

The questioner makes a number of factual claims which seem to me to need rather a lot of support. In fact, I'm not sure that any of the factual claims the questioner makes are correct.

Who is it that dismisses racially charged remarks by blacks as "nothing"? What examples of workplace mistreatment due to whiteness does the questioner have in mind? Which of the NAACP's leaders are racially biased, and what is the evidence of that bias?

Where is the evidence that "reverse racism" is rampant? Are whites being randomly stopped by black police when driving through black neighborhoods? Are whites suddenly more likely to receive jail time for drug crimes? or to receive the death penalty for capital crimes? Have dozens of studies shown that a job applicant whose details (e.g., name) make it clear that he is white is less likely to be interviewed than one who is clearly black, even if all relevant details of the CVs are otherwise identical? Have similar studies shown the same thing about applications for apartments?

Until some support is provided for these kinds of claims, I'm not sure there's much to be discussed.