If you have an outfit made from 180
count percale white cotton sheets . . . you might be a racist. If you’ve ever attended an event where a cross
was burned and people chanted, “Death to all niggers,” . . . you might be a
racist. Right. Everyone gets that; that’s the ugly face of
racism everyone loves to hate. In
reality, racism is far more subtle and FAR more pervasive than that. Racism is a sickness so deep, so omnipresent,
and so completely enmeshed in the very fabric of American consciousness, it’s
dismissed, ignored, and negated because anyone other than a devout,
card-carrying, unapologetic Aryan Nation/Nazi/Skinhead/Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon
is given the benefit of the doubt that they aren’t racist.
People of color have been so oppressed,
Black people in particular are so downtrodden by the burden of racism, so
conditioned to swallow and choke on the incessant, daily racism that conditions
our thinking from birth, that we don’t know how to speak out against racism
other than to say, “Post racial my ass,” when we encounter something that is an
insult to our vey being. That’s the extent of our outrage; that’s all we’ve allowed
ourselves to do. We are afraid to challenge
racists, to get in their faces and silence them. We lament and whine about racism amongst
ourselves but we have been so conditioned to swallow our anger that we don’t
know how to confront racism when we encounter it. Black people have been raised to never, ever,
ever, ever challenge white people’s belief systems lest we suffer the wrath of lily-white,
blond-haired, blue-eyed God Almighty himself.
Racism has metastasized and grown unchecked for centuries and the
perpetrators feel entitled to say and do whatever they want, with impunity; the
system remains in place and people of color are not the beneficiaries.
I’m the nigger that white people hate. I’m the nigger that will not stay silent in
the face of racism.
“I’m not racist.” That phrase flows off the tongues of white
people as easily as they say, “God Bless America.” They are conditioned to say it. Every white person knows deep down that
racists are supposed to be bad, evil people so they deny any hint that they
might actually harbor any racist sentiments with their knee-jerk response of, “I
wasn’t raised racist,” and they are absolved all guilt, or so they believe. But
because there has never been a healthy conversation about race in this country,
because racism is bred into white people’s subconscious minds, they have no
clue what it encompasses or even how to recognize their own racism. Whites still control the conversations about
race. That’s the equivalent of child molesters
dictating the conversation and setting the rules about what constitutes healthy
sexuality.
Let me break it down for
you.
·
If you watch Fox News because you think it’s the
only news outlet that tells the truth . . . you might be a racist.
·
If you make a habit of going on African-American
oriented websites to tell Blacks how racist they are . . . you might be a
racist.
·
If you are tormented and tortured by the
kidnapping of little blond white girls in the news but have never once given
consideration or empathy to the plight of Black children . . . you might be a
racist.
·
If you vehemently oppose Affirmative Action
because you think that “reverse racism” is keeping whites from their fair share
of the pie . . . you might be a racist.
·
If you have made it your life’s mission to
defend the honor of George Zimmerman because you believe that Black, unarmed
teenagers are a threat to the safety of America . . . you are a racist.
·
If you think Herman Cain and Clarence Thomas
should be role models for all Blacks because you think the only Blacks who have
valid opinions are the ones that tow the conservative party line . . . there’s
no might about it.
·
If you obsessively watch interracial porn
because you think it’s especially hot to see white women having sex with Black
men because that makes them especially nasty . . . that’s pretty racist.
·
If you’ve ever said, “Let it go, slavery was in
the past,” or “My ancestors didn’t own any slaves,” or “Jews suffered the
Holocaust and they’ve managed to overcome that,” . . . you’re clueless and
racist.
·
If you are convinced that Obama was born in
Kenya and there was a conspiracy to have his birth announcement placed in a
Hawaiian newspaper so that he could one day become President and take away the
rights of whites, not only are you a racist, you’re fucking crazy.
·
If you have ever argued that whites have a right
to use the N word because Black people use it . . . let’s not pull any punches,
you’re racist.
·
If the only Black men you respect have the
initials MJ (or, realistically, fill in the blank with any Black entertainer, celebrity,
or sports figure) . . . I hate to break it to you . . . but you’re infected
with the racism bug.
·
If you have ever lamented that you want things
to go back to the good old days, you know, when white men had all the power . .
. you are very, very racist.
·
If you have ever accused a Black person of “playing
the race card” for simply discussing racism, and then had the audacity to tell
them what constitutes racism . . . yeah, you’re racist.
·
If you’re still pissed at OJ . . . let’s call a
proverbial spade a spade why don’t we.
·
If you think slavery was a blessing for Blacks to
save them from heathen Africa . . . come on now! Seriously?
·
If you feel like you have to insinuate the
phrase, “Color doesn’t matter,” or, “Can’t we all just get along,” into any
conversation about race to prove that you aren’t racist . . . oh, wait, that’s hitting
a little too close to home. All white
people say that . . . you know you aren’t racist but I hate to break it to you .
. .
·
If you’ve ever come to the defense of a white
person and said, “No, no, no, they aren’t racist because I know them personally
and they’re a nice person,” . . . that’s
an example of everyday racism that you’ve never thought about before that you
are guilty of.
·
If you get anxious and defensive every time a POC
talks about being proud of their identity . . . I hate to break it to you but
you need to look at yourself in the mirror in a new light.
·
If the only quote you know from Dr. Martin
Luther King is, “I have a dream,” and you have used it in a conversation to prove
to a Black person you aren’t racist . . . it’s not looking too good for you.
·
If you insist you aren’t racist because you have
dated, are attracted to, or have sex with Black people because you think your
sexual attraction negates the millions of messages you’ve been given that place
whites above all others . . . you don’t really understand what racism is.
·
If you tell racist jokes and then get offended
if someone calls you on it . . . what are the chances you aren’t racist?
·
If you have ever rationalized that there needs
to be a White History Month or White Entertainment Television because whites
deserve equality . . . you know good and god damn well that you are racist.
·
If you can quote every line of the movie Friday or
can rap every word in every Kanye West song because you consider yourself to be
so multi-cultural but you’ve never once explored any Black scholars or authors
who are actually about lifting Black people up . . . you’d do well to take a
look at your own white privilege.
·
If you think light skinned Blacks are more
civilized . . . you’ve been socialized to be racist.
·
If you think you’re giving a Black person a compliment
when you say, “You’re not like other Black people, you’re so articulate,” . . .
what do you think you’re really saying? You’re saying that Black people are
inherently stupid.
·
If you have one Black friend you call “your
nigga” who is your go-to person to reinforce to you that you aren’t racist . .
. are you getting the picture yet?
·
If you believe that Blacks are genetically predisposed
to violence, ignorance, and poverty . . . the sad fact of the matter is, you are
a racist, plain and simple.
·
If you’ve witnessed any one of these acts and
not spoken up, if you’ve not been outraged or offended, I would suggest you
run, don’t walk to YouTube and watch every Tim Wise video you can find because,
sadly, you might be racist.
I could go on and on sadly. There are
so many instances of racism; I’ve only touched on a few. Racism is so deeply entrenched into this
society that I haven’t even mentioned the racism that persists around people of
other races and religions. I could write
pages and pages about white people’s racism towards Latinos and Muslims and
Asians and anyone different than themselves.
(I wouldn’t dare speak for anyone else because that would be racist to
assume that I understand their angst better than they do) Do you want to know what’s NOT racist, however? People of color exposing, talking about, and
being offended by the racist practices of white people does not constitute
racism. The inmates can no longer run
the asylum. If we are ever going to heal
from this epidemic that is killing us all, white people have to let go of this
concept that they know more about racism than anyone else and they have a right
to tell people of color what’s offensive and what isn’t.
Copyright 2013 Scottie Lowe All
Rights Reserved
Scottie Lowe is the owner of a
website called AfroerotiK.
She has made
it her mission to show people of African descent in a positive, healthy erotic
light.
She is also the author of
Minority Affairs, a book that tackles
interracial erotica from a decidedly different perspective.