It's Not Racism ... It's Just the Way It Is

Over the last few years I watched as people I was acquainted with came out with deeply racist thoughts and at the same time proclaimed they weren't racist.  They couldn't see how what they were saying was racist, or would outright declare "I am not a racist."  In an early morning discussion, a comment someone made got through my thick skull and I finally understood their way of thinking.

They don't believe they are racist.  They believe that it's just the natural order of things.

“In the opinion of the court, the legislation and histories of the times, and the language used in the Declaration of Independence, show, that neither the class of persons who had been imported as slaves, nor their descendants, whether they had become free or not, were then acknowledged as a part of the people, nor intended to be included in the general words used in that memorable instrument...They had for more than a century before been regarded as beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations; and so far inferior, that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect; and that the negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit." - Roger B. Taney, Supreme Court Chief Justice, March 6, 1857

It's the same for sexism and xenophobia, or any other bias that elevates one human being over another.  These people don't see it as racism.  They see it that "blacks" are, by nature, a certain way.  Women, by nature, are a certain way.  Muslims, by nature, are a certain way.  Mexicans, by nature, are a certain way.  It's not any kind of -ism.

Of course, that's total and complete bullshit.

It's hard to reason with someone like that, though, to get them to see the error of their ways.  That they say "Charlie's a pretty good guy, for a black man." doesn't seem racist to them.  "For a gal with brains, she's not hard to look at either." seems perfectly acceptable.

"Well, they're okay. That's one Muslim family that isn't looking to blow us up."

"He don't take many siestas for someone that's a Mexican.  I bet he's here illegally though"

You get the picture.  Of course, when confronted with the fact that these thoughts, or some actions, are inherently racist, the people will deny that they are racist at all.  In their eyes, that's just the way things are.

There are a number of incidents I've been part of that reinforce this. One writer acquaintance who is Republican but likes to think he's open-minded lamented that during President Obama's tenure, he didn't do anything to focus on problems of the inner city since "those were his people."  Questioned as to why he was holding President Obama to that standard and not any other President, it was again repeated that "those were his people."  On other words, because the President was African-American, he was expected to "do something" about the problems in inner cities that apparently only apply to African-Americans.  No other President was expected to do anything about it.

But he's not a racist, according to him.

One lady I have known online and in person for nearly 20 years started questioning President Obama's legitimacy, embracing the birther movement among other things almost since Facebook became open to the public.  She's post some pretty hideous and racist stuff.  After a couple of exchanges where I could tell she really didn't want dialogue, she just wanted to reinforce what she wanted to believe, I unfollowed her with no fanfare.  Once Trump was elected, however, the tables turned.  Suddenly, I was publicly attacked for "posting vile and racist things."  Publicly, she said "I am going to do something I have never done - I am going to unfollow you!"  Yeah, hair flip!  I then mentioned that I had not followed her for a number of years and didn't feel the need to call her out publicly when I did so, but since we weren't following each other anyway, we didn't need to be friends anymore either.  A quick survey of some mutual acquaintances confirmed that I was right in believing she had been posting some pretty vile and racist stuff for a long time.  She didn't see anything racist in what she said.  To her it was "just the way it is."  I was upsetting the "natural order of things" by posting that people were wrong for thinking this way; that the Muslim ban was wrong, that racial profiling was wrong, that women should be treated the same in the workplace as well as have the same freedoms outside the workplace.  This was considered "vile" because it upset what she saw as the natural order of things.

Finally I can cite an incident I had when out with another friend.  We were sitting on a bench in a park, just talking, when an African-American male walked down a path in our general direction.  I didn't even notice him at first, till the friend got all defensive and fearful and pointed him out to me.  He wasn't threatening us; wasn't even looking at us.  He was in a park walking.  He walked past us without incident.  Yet said friend would stand up and say she's not racist.  She would say it's natural to be afraid because blacks are more prone to crime.


"You see us as you want to see us—in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions."


This is why we are seeing a rise in the incidents reported of Hispanic people being asked for "papers."  This is why we are seeing Muslims who are citizens of this country being detained by ICE.  People now feel free to make snap judgments about people based on sex, nationality, religion, and race rather than getting to know them.  Because to them, they are just preserving the natural order of things.


*thanks to Alex Diaz-Granados for the quote in blue