We Can (And Must) Operate Without An Is-That-Racist Checklist.
This is part 3 of the Racism Is Both Individual And Systemic, And This Is Critically, Fundamentally Important series. Do catch up here and here!
Last week I suggested that we all admit to having some internalized racism because, in our culture, it’s 99.9*% impossible not to. Today, we move on to interpersonal racism, the type we think we know the best. Race Forward’s definition (again, lightly edited):
More Fun With Illustrator.
INTERPERSONAL RACISM occurs between individuals.
These are biases that occur when individuals’ private racial beliefs affect their public interactions.
That is, Interpersonal Racism is when someone Says A Racist Thing or Does A Racist Thing to another person.
Straightforward. The end.
HA! Just kidding.
Because that definition leaves an enormous question in the air: What constitutes a Racist Thing? We like to have criteria and checklists. We like to have precedent on file. A watertight definition helps us avoid mistakes and defend ourselves against accusations that make us feel Bad.
Now, this is a checklist worth having. Source
But not today, Satan, because we here at For Love and Action are smarter than that. The purpose of anti-racism is not to keep us white people from feeling bad; it is to increase love and justice for all people, especially those to whom it has been routinely denied. So any attempt to define interpersonal racism must acknowledge its complexity, thereby requiring more from us, rather than streamlining it to require less from us.
So. In lieu of an Is That Thing Racist? Checklist, I present you with a set of axioms/mantras/old-school-geometry-style-proofs. I hope that, in the aggregate, these are true and helpful. And oh hey bonus, these are good for white people vis-a-vis racism, but also true for sexism, ableism, etc.
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Racist Thing
I.
If we concede that we’ve all absorbed and internalized some racism,
and we can admit that we don’t know everything,
then we can conclude that we’ll Do or Say A Racist Thing sometimes.
On Identifying Racist Things
II.
Sometimes Racist Things are intentional.
Very often they’re not.
Intentionality doesn’t change whether they’re racist.
III.
Sometimes Racist Things are blatant (like calling President Obama the N-word).
Sometimes Racist Things are subtle (like calling President Obama “articulate”).
IV.
The fact that I don’t understand why something is racist does not preclude its being racist.
On Being Called Out
V.
When someone calls me on a racist behavior, it’s best to ask questions, not argue.
It’s best to begin by assuming they know what they’re talking about.
It’s best to welcome the opportunity to learn to love better.
VI.
Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart once famously observed
that some phenomena cannot be neatly defined.
Of pornography (one such phenomenon), he concluded:
I know it when I see it.
VII.
Regarding interpersonal racism:
I might not know it when I see (or do) it.
The more I learn, the more I will.
VIII.
BUT.
Many, many other people
—particularly members of a non-dominant group—
do know it when they see it.
Instinctively.
Viscerally.
Incontrovertibly.
IX.
Trust them.
Always, always reserve the benefit of the doubt for people in the targeted group.
Always err on the side of believing the person who says A Thing is racist.
Even if you don’t agree.
Even if you don’t understand.
X.
…AND even if a different member of the targeted group doesn't call you on it.
Because, analogy time:
Sometimes I don't feel like delivering a gentle lecture to the cat-caller
or, I don't know, the unsolicited-grabber-of-parts-of-my-body.
But silence on those occasions doesn't make cat-calling or body-parts-grabbing
unsexist or acceptable,
and it would be boorish for any man to assert otherwise.
Right?
XI.
So again I say:
In identifying A Racist Thing always, always reserve the benefit of the doubt
for people in the targeted group,
and always err on the side of believing the person who says A Thing is racist.
Even if you don’t agree.
Even if you don’t understand.
The more you learn, the more you will.
On Calling Out Others’ Racist Things (because we need to help each other out)
XII.
Calling someone “a racist” (even if you’re sure they are) is strategically useless,
just like calling your little sister “annoying,”
because what’s she supposed to do with that information, except deny it?
Instead:
Saying “Your nonstop operatic singing is annoying me, and I want you to stop” is actionable.
Sometimes it even gets results. Sometimes.
XIII.
“That thing you just said/did sounded racist; what did you mean by it?”
is actionable.
If necessary, you can follow it up:
“Oh, I didn’t say YOU are racist; I said that the thing you SAID/DID sounded racist.
What did you mean by it?”*
It feels like a meditative image is appropriate here. Peter Nguyen. Source
* Repeating, of course (NSFW/profanity, but hit me up if you'd like to discuss the mathematically nonsensical BUT TOTALLY SUBLIME "percentage of survival")
Actual Resources: