Racism is such a vast and touchy subject that I really don't even know where to begin, but it's time to start somewhere. Part of me feels ashamed for having waited this long but this summer has really helped shape my view on the matter to where I feel adequate enough to articulate my position. I don't mean to sound pretentious when I say this, but this summer has allowed me to understand society. The reason why I say that is simple: I have had many an honest discussion with people both from a similar background as mine as well as from different races, sex, genders, sexual orientations, religious beliefs, political affiliations, and socioeconomic statuses. This has allowed me to not only see where my position and those like me stand on different issues, but other individuals and groups that all fit in to the make up of our society. That way I don't strictly see aspects of our culture from one point of view but from many, and that is what makes up this whole puzzle. I think it's important to note that the only way we can make progress is if we sympathize and empathize with each other, and the only way we can do so is by listening to each other as we voice our concerns. We must build relationships with those different than us and see each other for the individuals that we are, each with our own dreams, passions, struggles, and aspirations. So before I continue on to my points, I first want to implore you to begin to have these open and honest discussions with someone that varies from you. That's the big takeaway I want you to get from this letter and I'm opening off with it in the hopes that it just might stick by the time that you are done reading this.
(3)
I think the first issue and the most obvious one we face is that most don't even see racism as a real thing anymore. Sure, Facebook posts over police brutality and fatal shootings of police bring some of this to light, but even then racism is considered to be all in the past. A family friend who I am friends with on Facebook has posted both statuses of "I hate n******" and statuses of prayer for a little black boy with an illness. I know family members who will tell me behind closed doors that they don't like certain races but also have genuine friends of that race. The problem is simply a lack of exposure. It's been ingrained all their life through something as seemingly harmless as racist jokes that are taken simply to be innocent jokes told all in good fun, to something much more blatant and harmful that this is how a certain race acts. And having it so ingrained can make it become even a subconscious issue. The few they've met and had the opportunity to build relationships with of these races are then taken to be exceptions to the rule. That's because it becomes personal; they know the person. The problem is seeing them as individuals from a group as opposed to seeing the group as comprised of individuals.
Another way we think racism doesn't exist is because, as a white person (whites composing 77% of America) I don't see racism. Or when I do, it's very rare and it occurs to my friends of different races. In fact, the only way I know racism is still alive and well is because good friends whom I trust of different races will tell me of the racism they encounter. It's hardly ever experienced first hand. The old adage "ignorance is bliss" might very well ring true here.
Lastly, when we do see racially charged attacks, like the ones we've been experiencing in the media, we fear guilt by association. We don't want to see whites committing hate crimes because we don't want whites to be viewed as racists because we don't feel like we are racist and we don't want people to view us as racists too. And we especially don't want to see our police force, our very symbol of justice and preservation of peace and order as corrupt. But just as we should see races as a group comprised of individuals, so should we too see police in the same light. And some individuals are racist (again, they might not even consider themselves racist). So many times white people will double down and say that the minority in question (who doesn't have a voice since the dead don't talk) was a "thug" or a variation thereof. We look for any way out of this being a racist incident. Accepting that racism is real is a bitter pill to swallow, but until we stop covering our ears and closing our eyes to it, we can't work on it and improve it.
One thing I can definitely tell you though from understanding myself and understanding others is that we truly are products of our environment. So let's take a look at the facts concerning our environments.
Socioeconomic Status (SES) "affects overall human functioning: our physical and mental health, the neighborhoods in which we live, our daily activities, and our access to resources. Its effects can be observed across the life span. Variance in socioeconomic status, such as disparities in the distribution of wealth, income, and access to resources, mitigate social problems. Low SES and its correlates, such as lower education, poverty, and poor health, ultimately affect our society as a whole." (1)
"Research finds that declines in academic attainment are common after exposure to or experience of violence." (1)
"Research on postviolence consequences finds that exposure to violence can negatively affect the ability to sustain employment." (1)
"Arrests statistics and much research indicate that poor people are much more likely than wealthier people to commit street crime. However, some scholars attribute the greater arrests of poor people to social class bias against them. Despite this possibility, most criminologists would probably agree that social class differences in criminal offending are “unmistakable”." (2)
"Thus social class does seem to be associated with street crime, with poor individuals doing more than their fair share." (2)
"Explanations of this relationship center on the effects of poverty, which, as the next section will discuss further, is said to produce anger, frustration, and economic need and to be associated with a need for respect and with poor parenting skills and other problems that make children more likely to commit antisocial behavior when they reach adolescence and beyond. These effects combine to lead poor people to be more likely than wealthier people to commit street crime, even if it is true that most poor people do not commit street crime at all.
Where we live also makes a difference for our likelihood of committing crime. We saw earlier that big cities have a much higher homicide rate than small towns. This trend exists for violent crime and property crime more generally. Urban areas have high crime rates in part because they are poor, but poverty by itself does not completely explain the urban-rural difference in crime, since many rural areas are poor as well. When many people live close together, they come into contact with one another more often. This fact means that teenagers and young adults have more peers to influence them to commit crime, and it also means that potential criminals have more targets (people and homes) for their criminal activity. Urban areas also have many bars, convenience stores, and other businesses that can become targets for potential criminals, and bars, taverns, and other settings for drinking can obviously become settings where tempers flare and violence ensues." (2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
Let's just observe a few key factors to our environment in which we grow up in:
School System
The public school system is failing and that's no surprise to anyone. The middle and upper class pay to send their children to private schools for a proper education, a luxury lower class individuals can't afford.
Resources and Network
Less money and lower status in society means less resources and poorer network to pull from. No surprise there.
Parenting Skills/Two Parents
As provided in the sources above, lower socioeconomic status leads to higher single parent homes and poorer parenting skills and abilities. Single parent homes provide the child with fewer role models and positive adult influences to look up to.
Exposure
Also citing the sources above, more exposure at a younger age leads to violence, doing poorly in school, and higher difficulty in holding steady employment. Those that grow up in the lower class have a much higher rate of exposure at earlier ages. Exposure leads to desensitization and gang involvement as well.
Lastly, we see very clearly that most minorities are in a lower socioeconomic status. As if it weren't clear enough, let's remember that desegregation wasn't a thing until just over 50 years ago and the system wasn't fixed over night. The system still isn't fixed. All of my grandparents had a college education and steady employment by this time. Even well after desegregation, minorities would be passed up on a job they were qualified for and it would be given instead to a white person. Is it any surprise then that this leads to a lower socioeconomic status? Of course not.
Hegemony is a very real thing that exists in every culture. We accept that it existed in our nation's history but then naively assume that it just disappeared after the Civil Rights Era. Hegemony did not disappear, it just moved in to the shadows. It is much more subtle now and no longer out in the open in our country; and its weapon of choice is poverty.
On a personal level, I can tell you about my cousin and how he lost his job when the recession hit. I remember that family Christmas party when he told some of my aunts and uncles, my cousins, and me that he was going to start selling drugs. We tried talking him out of it and pleaded for him to just keep searching for a job; but you have to understand, he had two babies with his girlfriend and was searching for a job for months. He had a family to support and he was unable to do so. And that's the thing, back someone into a corner and they will do almost anything to get out. When faced with staying inside the boundaries of the system and potentially putting you and your kids on the street or breaking the rules in order to prevent that, he chose the latter. How can I fault him for his decision? Would I have done the same thing if I were in his position? I don't know. I'd like to think that the answer would be no, but until I'm actually in that circumstance I can't truly speak on what I would do. And thank God that I don't have to. My cousin ended up selling drugs, robbing a crack house, robbing a bank, and killing a guy while they were on an interstate drug run who was planning to take his life. My cousin is now serving life in prison. I was just a freshman in high school when this all went down and I didn't truly appreciate the gravity of it all at the time, but now I do. I'm not here to condone my cousin for what he did, but what I am here to do is challenge you to put yourself in his shoes for a moment. Is this some deadbeat dad who got what he deserved or was this a man doing what he saw as his only option to put food on the table and a roof over his kids' heads? All I'm saying is seriously consider all sides of an argument before you come to any sort of conclusion. My cousin, just like you and I, was a product of his environment.
On an even more personal level, let's look at my environment. I was raised by two solid parents in a middle class family that was able to afford to send me to a private school to receive the best education possible. I now attend a prestigious university that my parents are able to fully pay for, allowing me to graduate debt free. My family is well connected and I have an unusually vast network to pull from. I was also fairly well sheltered through my early years up until my adolescence, so my exposure to things at an early age was severely limited. I would love nothing more than to say that I made myself the man that I am today, but that would simply be a foolish and ignorant thing to say. Yes, it was up to me to utilize the resources and opportunities that I have been given, but the resources and opportunities were there, and that's a very rare thing for many people to be able to say.
If I'm able to be seen as an individual to most and not simply seen for the color of my skin, others should have that same right as well. Know that I am not writing this because of white guilt but rather because I feel compelled to speak out against injustice.
Citations
4. Steven E. Barkan, A Primer on Social Problems
5. Edward N. Wolff, 2010
6. U.S. News
7. Heritage.org
