● Actively disliking people of color ● Wishing (or doing) them harm ● Considering them inferior However, racism goes beyond individual thoughts or feelings of prejudice and discrimination. It also involves the following:
taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group.” McIntosh created a list of how her White privilege benefits her in her article “White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack.” Racism is present and unavoidable in the traditions, the carefully (if indirectly) schooled blind spots, the laws, the architecture, the history texts, and the customs of our daily lives. Moreover, it will remain there unless we intentionally find it, oppose it, and root it out; it is all too easy to keep putting that effort off to another day. Staying conscious of privilege requires standing up to “White fragility.” Professor Robin DiAngelo (2006) brought the concept of White fragility into public awareness in White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism. She describes it as a manifestation of an internalized White superiority, a method of regaining and maintaining control in discussions about race (Raypole, 2022). White fragility stems, in large part, from an incomplete understanding of racism, according to DiAngelo. Plenty of well-meaning people consider racism terrible and wrong, a word to whisper in a hushed tone and avoid implying at all costs (Raypole, 2022). They might define racism as consisting of the following: Racism and Antiracism We can be led to believe that racism is only about individual mindsets and actions, yet racist policies also contribute to our polarization. While individual choices are damaging, racist ideas in policy have a widespread impact by threatening the equity of our systems and the fairness of our institutions. To create an equal society, we must commit to making unbiased choices and being antiracist in all aspects of our lives. Being antiracist is fighting against racism. Thus, the first step is learning what racism and antiracism are, what it means to be antiracist, and how to take action (Hoffower, 2020). Defining antiracism can be a difficult task, given that most individuals do not possess a firm grasp on what racism is. White discourse on racism has historically relied on the part of the dictionary definition that says one must believe a particular race is superior or inferior to be racist. Under this definition, someone is racist, for example, if, in one-to-one interactions, they intentionally mistreat someone or deny them an opportunity (a job or promotion, housing, a seat at a restaurant) based on their race. Under this definition, someone is racist if they use slanderous terms to refer to another race. In the past, Merriam-Webster defined racism as “a belief that race is a fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.” Nevertheless, because of public criticism, they revised the definition of racism to include other variables. Signifying the more significant cultural shift felt around the U.S., Merriam-Webster will now include systemic oppression in its latest definition of racism. The dictionary, which has long served as a gatekeeper of the English lexicon, made plans for the update after Kennedy Mitchum - an African American female -emailed editors frustrated about the current definition’s inadequacy. Mitchum, who hails from Florissant, Missouri, a city just north of Ferguson, wanted the dictionary to provide a more detailed definition that explains systemic oppression. She grew tired of having conversations about racial injustice to have people point to the dictionary to defend why they are not racist. In its revision of the definition of racism, Merriam- Webster will attempt to show how racism is not just about discrimination or prejudice from one person to another but also about how long-standing institutions and laws and regulations buttress notions of supremacy and inferiority between the races. Moreover, the new definition may help
● Systemic oppression ● Denial of resources ● Lack of safe spaces ● Unequal opportunities at school and work
According to DiAngelo, society is structured to prevent White people from experiencing racial discomfort, which generally results in White people not having difficult conversations about race - exactly the behavior that produces and reproduces White supremacy. DiAngelo posits that “White progressives cause the most daily damage to people of color.” DiAngelo explains that White individuals must develop their racial stamina to have difficult conversations about race and listen to people of color’s voices that used to remain silent when White supremacy is exposed (Raypole, 2022). us better see how White people benefit from racism since systemic oppression is ingrained in the fabric of American society. Merriam-Webster’s (2022) current/revised definition of racism reads as follows: “A belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. a. the systemic oppression of a racial group to the social, economic, and political advantage of another. b. a political or social system founded on racism and designed to execute its principles.” Racism is both a system of advantage (for White people) and a system of oppression (for people of color). The system was created to concentrate social and institutional power among those designated as “White” and to exclude all others from receiving these benefits. Again, because these systems are self-perpetuating, they will continue to produce differential outcomes according to race regardless of the action or inaction of individual people within the system unless and until the system itself is changed. It is problematic to define racism as interpersonal prejudice or bias based on race. When we define racism as personal rather than institutional, our conversations about what is racist often devolve into a discussion of “what is in a person’s heart” rather than the impact of their beliefs and behaviors. This limits racism only to intentional and conscious acts and erases the impact of unintentionally harmful behaviors and large-scale systemic oppression and discrimination. Systemically defining racism does not ignore individual instances of overtly hateful behavior but instead expands our understanding of what is racist to include less conscious, unconscious, and institutional manifestations. Self-Assessment Question 3 ____________ speaks to how little it takes to move White individuals out of their racial comfort zones. It describes how the reaction of White individuals is to lash back in ways that end up being punitive to whoever challenged them, but highly effective to repel the challenge.
a. Marginalization b. Intersectionality c. White fragility d. Oppression
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