Have You Found Yourself Saying “I’m Not Racist” Recently?
Dr. Maya Gordon, Director of Research & Evaluation and Dr. Yvonni Markaki, Director of Research & Strategy
Often in conversations about race, a point comes where a white person grapples with the concept of racism and they immediately get defensive. The first response is always, “But I’m not racist!” followed by several qualifiers. Learning ceases and the tone shifts away from productive to protective. The truth is, many people lack a fundamental understanding of what it means to be racist in the context of the United States. When a person says “I’m not racist” what they usually mean is “I’m not a bad person” or that they don’t discriminate against people based on the color of their skin. This core belief that racism is an act of being good or bad diminishes the impact that racism truly has.
Can anyone be racist? At Diversity Talks, we define prejudice as a preconceived, unfair, and unreasonable opinion, usually formed without knowledge, that often leads to violent or hateful behaviors. We define racism as any prejudice held or discrimination committed against a racial group that is reinforced by systems of power such as, police brutality, food insecurity, and educational inequity. Based on these definitions, we can see that prejudice within itself does not equal racism. In the United States, European colonization and enslavement led to the establishment of white supremacist institutions and social norms. In this context, white people are the only ones who carry the institutional and cultural power to be racist. Another way of looking at this is, while anyone can exhibit prejudice behaviors, only white people are protected and amplified by systems of power when they engage in acts of prejudice — consciously or unconsciously. Individual actions and reactions add up to a grim national reality. It is well documented that Black people are many times more likely to be victims of police violence and 2.5 times more likely than white men to be murdered by police. Students of color have higher suspension rates than white students, and there is evidence of widespread discrimination against people of color in hiring, healthcare and many other aspects of life.
Racism is so embedded in the United States culture that it is virtually impossible for anyone to claim that they are immune to its effects. Exhibiting prejudice behaviors is an automatic consequence of living in a country that was designed to privilege whiteness and is not a personal flaw that you have to defend against. If you get called out for racist beliefs or actions, instead of defense being your first response, probe deeper. Explore why this might be happening. Examine your behaviors and language closer. Hold yourself accountable to examination and really dig into what societal messages you’ve internalized. Use Diversity Talks’ professional development workshops to facilitate conversations in your organization about prejudice, and racism. This is hard work, but it’s good work.
