A poll that came out a few weeks ago showed that Millennials are less racially prejudiced than earlier generations. But they are also more averse to talking about race at all, and they want to make society "colorblind". Jamelle Bouie worries that ignoring racial issues will end up perpetuating white supremacy:
Seventy-three percent [of Millennials] believe that “never considering race would improve society,” and 90 percent say that “everyone should be treated the same regardless of race.”
From these results, it’s clear that—like most Americans—millennials see racism as a matter of different treatment, justified by race, that you solve by removing race from the equation. If we ignore skin color in our decisions, then there can’t be racism.
The problem is that racism isn’t reducible to “different treatment.” Since if it is, measures to ameliorate racial inequality—like the Voting Rights Act—would be as “racist” as the policies that necessitated them. No, racism is better understood as white supremacy—anything that furthers a broad hierarchy of racist inequity, where whites possess the greatest share of power, respect, and resources, and blacks the least.
And the magic of white supremacy is that its presence is obscured by the focus on race. When a black teenager is unfairly profiled by police, we say it’s “because of the color of his skin,” which—as a construction—avoids the racism at play, from the segregated neighborhood the officer patrols to the pervasive belief in black criminality that shapes our approach to crime. Likewise, it obscures the extent to which this isn’t just different treatment— it’s unequal treatment rooted in unequal conditions.
Millennials have grown up in a world where we talk about race without racism—or don’t talk about it at all—and where “skin color” is the explanation for racial inequality, as if ghettos are ghettos because they are black, and not because they were created. As such, their views on racism—where you fight bias by denying it matters to outcomes—are muddled and confused.
Which gets to the irony of this survey: A generation that hates racism but chooses colorblindness is a generation that, through its neglect, comes to perpetuate it.
I understand Bouie's concern. Anyone who has ever talked to white American racists knows that they love to conceal their bigotry behind a facade of "colorblindness". That's because they know what Bouie knows - pretending like racism is a thing of the past, when it's not, is a great way to discourage actual measures to fight it.
But even so, I think the Millennials have the right idea. I'm betting that most of the people in that survey are not white supremacists - most really believe in "colorblindness". My bet is based on the fact that most of the nonwhites in the survey also say they believe in "colorblindness". And though I agree with Bouie that trying to ignore race has its drawbacks, I think it has some big benefits that he doesn't mention in his article.
How is the situation of black Americans going to be improved? Government programs (like Affirmative Action) did a lot of good for black people in the past, but their efficacy may have topped out. I think there is still room for some government interventions - for example, I'd like to see the return of busing and forced public-school desegregation. But I don't think that's going to solve most of the problem.
The problem is that many black Americans are cut off, economically and socially, from the rest of American society - not just white society, but white/Asian/Hispanic society (as Bouie notes here). To gain economic equality, black Americans are going to need to form lots of business connections with nonblack Americans. By "business connections" I mean the kind of interpersonal networks that are essential for getting jobs, starting businesses, and learning about market conditions. You can bus black kids into white schools - and I think this should be done - but you can't force the nonblack kids to make friends with the black kids. So the networks don't form.
But the Millennials' attitude gives me reason to hope that today's kids are more likely to form cross-racial friendships than in the past. Walking around and seeing groups of teenagers, I'm always startled these days by how multiracial they are; the MTV survey just confirms my anecdotal observation. If my hypothesis about the importance of interpersonal networks is correct, then Millennials' desire for "colorblindness" will end up helping black Americans get ahead in the long run.
Another important area where black Americans are disadvantaged is in terms of neighborhoods. As Bouie notes here, black Americans are often trapped in bad neighborhoods that white Americans of equivalent income levels would tend to escape. Part of that is the legacy of racial discrimination in housing, which created black "ghettos" that persist to this day. But part is a result of racial bigotry in the here and now - there are people with racist attitudes who don't want to live around black people. How can this latter problem be ameliorated? The government is (hopefully) not going to start dictating where everyone lives, so the best - the only - solution seems to be an attitude of "colorblindness". Nonblack people need to stop moving away from black people. And hopefully Millennials will put their money where their mouth is. Anecdotally, they seem to be doing that more, but I can't find data on this.
The final big area of racism in American society is the criminal justice system - the police and courts, which tend to victimize black people. Unfortunately, this problem seems like it won't be solved by a "pro-colorblindness" attitude (at least, not for many decades). Government intervention is necessary to end racial profiling and racial discrimination in sentencing, etc. But fortunately, there is some evidence that Millennials do recognize the racism of the justice system as a real problem; they don't seem to be ignoring it.
So I'm optimistic that, on balance, a "pro-colorblindness" attitude will be good for black Americans. It's not going to solve all the problems, but let's not make the perfect the enemy of the good.
You want to see a return to "forced desegregation"? Your kids first. I went to a mostly black school. You would have gotten the shit kicked out of you there.
ReplyDeleteActually, I rode a bus that was 90% black growing up, and never once had any problems. I also went to an elementary school that was about half black for 1 year, and never had any problems there either. So those experiences probably informed my current opinion. I guess your experience was different.
DeleteI'd have no issue sending my kids to a mostly black school. But I would have a big problem with sending them to a poor (low income) school...
DeleteWhich is the same thing in nearly all cases.
DeleteAgreed.
DeleteYou'd have to outlaw private schools, or surely you'd run out of the numbers of whites needed to buffer black kids from their own dysfunction.
DeleteCalling black student behavior dysfunction is an example of white supremacism. Different styles of learning are not dysfunction.
DeleteSaying that blacks have "Different styles of learning" sounds a lot like racism to me...
DeleteYou did not ride a 90% black school bus growing up. Stop lying.
DeleteLike you, I would prefer if we had data rather than just anecdotes. My impression is that there's not complete social segregation, but whites seem substantially more likely to be friends with asians or hispanics (at least by the second generation) than blacks.
ReplyDeleteNot that I oppose forced busing but I'm more partial to treating schools the way we do all other social services: regardless of neighborhood income everyone in the city, state or federal government gets the same quality of service (or more money based on need). It would, for example, be a national outrage if certain predominately black neighborhoods in any city received extremely poor fire fighting because they only got what local property taxes could afford.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, with schools this style of funding is the norm and upper and middle class people think they are entitled to better funded public schools, let the poor be damned.
'The government is (hopefully) not going to start dictating where everyone lives, so the best - the only - solution seems to be an attitude of "colorblindness".'
ReplyDeleteThe government shouldn't decide, but can't it nudge? What if we provided refundable tax credits to people who lived in neighborhoods (as determined by public school district lines, perhaps) where their ethnic group was a smaller percentage of the population than it was statewide? That could be a big subsidy for white people living in majority-minority neighborhoods and for minority families moving into predominantly-white areas. That policy could be written in a racially-neutral way.
This is good, as far as it goes, but perhaps it doesn't go far enough. To truly get past racism, we need to get past the illusion of race.
DeleteScience has demonstrated that race is a social construct, but what sustains the illusion is the color line. If we eliminate that, we can end the illusion of race, and with that, end racism.
Instead of tax incentives to live among other "races", we should give tax incentives to marry and procreate with other "races". Especially, we need "whites" to marry out. The end of white supremacism will come with the end of whiteness, when we are all beautiful shades of coffee with varying amounts of cream.
Why shouldn't government dictate where people live? Not everyone, but some of them? Reparations to the agrieved blacks must include house redistribution, as well as more school equanimity -- things that unfortunately are intertwined in Amercia! The fact that black students underperform whites and other minorities to this day is living proof that racism is real!
DeleteMore proof that racism is real is the glass ceilings white supremacy presents to blacks in American society. America is ok with blacks flipping burgers at McDonalds but the CEO of McDonald's needs to be a white man.
DeleteGood point, Kwame!
DeleteIf race is a "social construct", why do black parents get black babies, and white parents white babies, and so on?
Delete"The end of white supremacism will come with the end of whiteness, when we are all beautiful shades of coffee with varying amounts of cream."
DeleteGood thing light-skinned blacks don't discriminate against darker ones. And that "whites" don't care what you think they need to do.
As a white Canadian y generation male who grew up around blacks and Muslims, I will ensure that my kids grow up around their own kind. I'm not going to put them what I had to go through, no way!
DeleteGood post. Just curious, how do you think we should solve the problem of the enormous wealth gap between black and white Americans, which of course stems from systemic historical racism? According to Pew, the median net worth of a black household was 7% that of a white household in 2011. Without government redistribution, wouldn't this inequality continue to persist, simply because white households' headstart means bigger and bigger returns on their wealth over time?
ReplyDeleteThe solution is a wealth tax on whites and Asiand which should be used to improve education for blacks. For too long, blacks have been trapped in failing schools. We need a Manhattan Project to improve inner city schools to educate the leaders of tomorrow.
DeleteWe also need to increase immigration, particularly from Latin America. More immigration means more innovation and a stronger economy, which will boost incomes for everyone, but especially black Americans.
You can't deny Bouie makes compelling points about the prejudices blacks face, such as being unfairly profiled because of the widespread belief in black criminality. Those prejudices constitute a burden that holds back black aspirations. By making America less white, immigration will lessen white supremacism and the burdens that come with it.
DeleteI think this is probably true! Reason for optimism.
DeleteNoah, I think you are being trolled. Not that I would put it past you to roll with the trolling :)
DeleteHow so? I think Uri makes good points.
DeleteGood points? Do you know anything about Brazil? Blacks fare far worse in Brazil than in the US. In fact, blacks fare worse everywhere in Latin America. The idea that a white-minority US would be better for blacks is daft on its face. Latin America may be less white than the US, but it's also far more racist against blacks.
Delete"Latin America [is] far more racist against blacks"
DeleteI don't think so. For starters, the fact that they don't adopt the "one drop rule" make interracial marriage more common, and classifications more fluid. If we want a more race-blind society, we have to do like they already do: miscigenate a lot, without racially seggregated guetos. America Latina racism is more a "social-economic" one than a distinctly "racial" one. Race is not a category as stark as in the United States: there are many shades of gray between black and white (or amerindian and white) there.
There are mixed race Latin Americans, but there are also pure black Latin Americans. The blacks are on the bottom of the socioeconomic totem pole everywhere in Latin America. Brazil would never elect a black president, even though it has 4x more blacks as a % of its population. In Brazil, blacks don't worry about silliness like stereotype threat, they worry about getting killed by death squads of off duty cops.
DeleteThe only country in this hemisphere without racism against blacks is Haiti, and that's because the blacks killed all the whites and mixed race Haitians 200 years ago, so every Haitian today is black. Even next door Dominican Republic, which has a color continuum, is racist against blacks (and especially Haitians).
Everybody is afraid of death squads in Brazil, not only blacks! 80% of the population say it fears torture by authorities, the largest number by far (in Mexico, "only" 64% feared the same).
DeleteYour point about blacks being in the bottom of socioeconomic status applies to every country in the world, not only those in Latin America, as you seem to acknowledge.
Your last sentence supports my point that a minority-white America would be no better for blacks. In fact, it would probably be worst. Most whites care about other races (Noah is an example of this), but most minorities are focused on their own group (as our political system encourages). When whites become a minority, they will start voting more along racial lines, the way blacks do. This already happens in states with the largest black populations, like Mississippi.
DeleteAnd Asians and Hispanics are unburdened by any historical guilt about slavery or Jim Crow. When whites become a minority in America, black political power will decline as a result.
"The solution is a wealth tax on whites and Asiand which should be used to improve education for blacks"
DeleteTaxation based on race? If that is not racism, I don't know what is.
How would you feel about a special Crime Tax on blacks, which is payed to whites and asians? It's an absurd and racist idea.
I'm surprised Steve Sailor hasn't showed up yet to spew his ignorant racist theories that blacks are somehow less intelligent than whites.
ReplyDeleteI hope Kwame Allen is not being serious about tax credits for interracial marriages. That had to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.
ReplyDeleteIt does seem extreme and ridiculous, but it would actually Work if implemented. The only way to completely erase group differences is to erase the groups themselves, by merging them. Are people comfortable with this kind of policy? It smells suspiciously of social engineering.
DeleteWhy not do the same thing with religion? We can get rid of religious conflict by encouraging Jews, Muslims and others to convert to an all-American religion like Mormonism. As a bonus, this will boost the economy as Mormons are some of the most industrious people in America.
DeleteActually the tax credits make some sense. As long as races aren't mating with each other, there will always be a barrier. Then again mating with each other will meld the races and largely do away with them eventually if done to a large enough scale. But who cares really.
ReplyDeleteWhat is outrageous is how strongly convinced the author is of his own ideology, how expert he is at tuning out opposing evidence and competing ideas, and how he feels fully righteous and justified in using tyrannical coercion and force on others. He's not interested in reasoning with people who disagree and convincing them of a better way, he's preferred mode is force, coercion, and tyranny.
ReplyDeleteHe hypothesizes that the criminal justice system is "racist", presumably based on simple correlations between ethnicity and incarceration. Of course, it can't just be the adult criminal justice system because the same ethnic patterns exist in K-12 disciplinary actions. And it can't be just the US or the west, because the same patterns are seen world wide in nations with white majority, mestizo majority, and black majority populations.
He says, "you can't force the nonblack kids to make friends with the black kids.", which is scary to think he would use tyrannical force if he could. His implication is the fault lies on non-blacks for lack of multi-ethnic friendships and ignores even leading black liberals like John McWhorter who comment on the prevalent black issue of ethnic "separatism" and going to great lengths to self-segregate.
This author is more of a racist than any of the people he intends to fight. To paraphrase Nietzsche, he has become the monster he was trying to fight.
Did you ever realize how different, being an Askinazi Jew, you are from the rest of humanity? You might have noticed this after a few decades on the planet interacting with other types of humanoids. They are fundamentally different from you You are merely projecting your own truth about yourself by denying the possibility that other groups could be different from one another. Most radical politics is just therapeutic. The good news is think of all the money you are saving and time on the couch.
ReplyDeleteHow do you think Ashkenazi Jews are different? Smarter? Bigger noses? Other...favorable physical endowments?
DeleteThey benefit from a more diverse, anarchic host society, which is why they look forward to whites becoming a minority in the US.
DeletePaul Eisen elaborates on the motivations in this post.
I don't think Jews want anarchy! I've read Kevin MacDonald's stuff, and I think he basically doesn't understand Jews very well.
DeleteNot complete anarchy, but you, Brian Caplan, Uri Gallant, etc., would be happier if America becomes more like Brazil. And as it happens, Jews do well in Brazil (even if blacks are much worse off there than here).
DeleteThat's why so many Jews are emigrating to Brazil these days!
DeleteAlso, sexy chicks.
Ashkenazi Jews are hilarious super achievers. Look at the rate of Nobel prize winners or billionaires. Jews out perform other groups by rates of x100. If Jews have X-men like capacities for over-achievement, then the corollary is that groups could be as weak at over-achievement as the Jews are stupendous. However, this is something that you would be psychologically incapable of accepting regardless of objective evidence. So, you suggest vast paranoid delusional racist conspiracies must be afoot.
DeleteRegarding McDonald, he is on to something, but he does not understand Jewish psychology. Jewish hyper-achievement (mania light. they literally have a different blood serum-- think jedi blood) comes at the expense of minor psychological disorders. For many of these Jews, radical left wing politics is a balm. Jews are not the communist conspiracy to destroy white America, but left-wing banalities and paranoid delusional fantasies (global warming) are irresistible. The "Culture of Narcissism" goes into this in detail and the Jewish radicals of the 60s. The same could be said of African Americans, that a culture of victimhood acts as a balm.
Forced busing. LOL.
ReplyDeleteHere's a small step toward actually ending the ideological lunacy of this blogger.
http://www.examiner.com/article/what-is-it-like-to-teach-black-students
I looked at your past post about Asian immigration being good (subtext: Asians good, Mexicans bad), and I really don't understand the cognitive dissonance with this article condemning racism. Also, you made another post about solar panels collapsing in value, while you think that continued CO2 from power plants poses a threat. As a concerned reader, I took this to my psychotherapist and he suggested the following:
ReplyDelete1) close off the blog to any questioning people
2) tell yourself 100 times everyday "I am right about everything and anyone who thinks otherwise is raciss."
3) only talk to similar minded people in an intellectual echo-chamber.
1. I think Mexicans are good too. But since they share a continguous land border with us, we don't need to go to as much effort to make sure they can get in.
Delete2. Which solar post?
3. Do you see yourself as a "questioning person"?