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A Truth Too Simple The answer to racism is obvious. Why is it being ignored? by Michael Spencer
I don't like the N-word. My family used it when I was a kid, but I have always avoided it, and my children know that it is an offensive and degrading term. On occasions, I've been around people who still use this term regularly to refer to African-Americans, and I am offended and, frankly, feel I'm in the presence of dangerous ignorance. If one of my children used the term in anything other than an illustrative way, I would correct them, and punish them. I would want them to feel ashamed at using a term shouted by lynch mobs and Klansmen. Using such language is degrading to the speaker as well as the group being characterized. As soon as I began to move toward the voices, I saw that it was two young men rapping. One was supplying the "beat" and the other the words, which in this case were, "Hey N---, hey N---...," over and over. When they saw me, the rap immediately ended. I asked them to meet me at the end of the sidewalk, where I did my best imitation of an adult teacher at a Christian school correcting two young men who were using racist language, loudly and in public. They laughed at me, and after reluctantly listening to my correction, walked away with obvious amazement as I said something forgettable. They were, of course, two young African-American men. They found it funny that I didn't understand that they were allowed to use the N-word as a term of camaraderie. It was, somehow, different for them, in a sub-cultural, in-group, kind of way that I could never possibly understand. It goes without saying that if two white students were standing in the middle of our campus shouting the N-word over and over, not only would we be expected to discipline them, at least some of our black students would insist that we punish those students severely. There would be some threat of violence, I expect, and if the punishment wasn't serious and prompt, there would be accusations of racism in the air. When I discuss any racial issue with students in my classes, I begin with a simple exercise. I always write the following sentence on the board, and ask if anyone disagrees with it.: "No one should be treated differently from other people only because of the color of their skin." In more than a decade, no one- NO ONE- has ever disagreed. I will say that some have sat silently, opened their mouths to say something, and then gone back to thoughtful silence. One or two have said, "Ok,.....but what about....." and never finished the sentence. No one has ever said they disagreed with that sentence. The contradictory thoughts can sometimes be heard grinding against one another, but the plain logic of the statement has, so far, won out. You see, the answer to racism is simple. Kindergarten simple. Childishly simple. Just stop treating anyone differently or badly or with privileges or special or in any way at all based solely upon their skin color. Of course, that sentence is not quite as simple as the one above, and I expect there are several thoughtful people who would disagree with it. There are Americans who believe that if people have been discriminated against in the past based on skin color, they should be treated differently in the present based on skin color. This curries great favor and applause in some circles, but no one would come up with this as a truly rational answer to racism. While one group is experiencing "justice" for past discrimination, another group is being discriminated against on the basis of their skin color. In other words, this solution actually perpetuates injustice and racism. Imagine, for example, if the insane idea of financial reparations to individuals ever comes about. Individual African-Americans would receive a large check from the Federal government to make up for the stolen labor of black people in building America. Putting aside the obvious glee anyone feels at getting a check in the mail, how is the other 85% of America going to react? The next week, will there be less racism in our society? Will there be less resentment and hostility? Less blame? What will happen the first time a leader like Jackson or Sharpton begins talking about racism and injustice again? No, there is only one solution to racism, and it is simple and obvious. Martin Luther King, Jr. articulated it when he said that he dreamed of a day people would be judged on the content of their character and not the color of their skin. Unfortunately, that answer is just too simple for most people to accept. It's something that everyone could do right now. It requires nothing more from the government than a blanket policy of equality. Universities and corporations could eliminate racism with a single announcement: Skin color will no longer be acknowledged in any way in the policies of this school, business or organization. So what's the problem? The problem is the same problem these young men demonstrated in continuing to use a word their grandparents marched, fought and suffered to eliminate. In the end, the power given to the group is more alluring than the vision of a color-blind society. Let me say that again: In the end, we are more compelled by the power given to us in being part of a color-defined group than we are in being part of a color-blind society. These young men perpetuate the N-word because they want the power they have granted themselves in being part of a discriminated-against minority. They now can manifest that power by calling themselves what they would never allow anyone else to call them. African-Americans survived the horrors of slavery and discrimination by developing a counter-culture. It would be foolish to overlook the power this alternative culture gave to millions of blacks to survive dehumanization and hatred. But the compelling vision of this alternative society was equality. Justice. A color-blind society. To stand tall as a human being and not as a slave. Now, this sub-cultural consciousness has become corrupted. Hijacked by those who see the opportunities in forever remaining a victim class, the modern liberal project is highly invested in keeping discrimination alive within the worldview of African-Americans. The insanity of this is almost unbelievable. As we approach the actual possibility of a color-blind society, it is the leadership of a group that has achieved the most and that has the most to gain that is calling for the continuation of skin-color policies and skin-color discrimination. Educated, wealthy, materially blessed black Americans are still taught to say what one straight-A student said to me during a class discussion: "The White man is holding me back." This same sentence comes from young blacks whose poor choices perpetually undermine most hopes of success, but who believe that the perpetuation of skin-color thinking is somehow the answer. Even more distressing are the apologists for those perpetuate the use of racist language and stereotypical behavior among African-American youth and young adults. Here are billion-dollar entrepreneurs who know what it takes to achieve success and equality, yet they use their economic and cultural influence to keep the despicable image of the thuggish criminal, the laughable entertainer and the sexual brute alive and well in the black community. Is the celebration of an artist like 50 Cent really a gift to the black community? (Why is it that when country music portrays the loutish, inarticulate, violent, skirt-chaser, the sophisticates bemoan the lowness of it all, but when 50 Cent is all the rage, the critics marvel?) Would color-blind policy change the racism that continues to infest hearts and minds? Of course not. There will always be bigotry and discrimination. But this is another fallacy that the continuation of skin-color thinking promotes- that somehow, the way to deal with racism and discrimination is to assert the grievances of our group, and to convince society to make up the difference. They fantasize that a good march on Washington, followed by a few Federal laws and dollars, will make everything all right. Society is filled with discrimination. While it is possible to find "empowerment" in the group experience of protesting discrimination, the experience itself is intensely individual and personal. When a woman is paid less than a man for the same job, it can be analyzed as discrimination against a group, but it is one woman's work that is being discounted by one organization. And this is why, in the end, groups exerting political pressure will be of limited usefulness. While the law can say this woman must be paid equally, it will always be possible for the corporation to find a way to pay her less. She may sue, and even win, but that does not necessarily achieve the experience of justice either. For any one person, changing the prejudices of others is an elusive goal. Those who have achieved equality in the face of discrimination are usually examples of courageous individualism, not group griping. So we are left with how will one person deal with the prejudice they encounter in society? How will an individual deal with the unavoidable obstacle of prejudice against the fat, the black, the immigrant, the female, the Muslim, the old, the physically challenged and so on? Will asserting the grievances of a group achieve that goal? I am convinced that the only way to achieve the goal of color-blindness is to be committed to it personally. To be willing to suffer in whatever way is necessary to pass on that value to society and future generations. To be willing to achieve, succeed, persist and break through because of individual commitment to the opportunity at hand. Needless to say, young blacks celebrating their freedom to say the N-word shows little commitment to the elimination of skin-color as a factor in our interactions with one another. It is highly ironic that I- a white man- was more offended by the N-word than those students. What they found laughable, I would count as a genuine threat to the well-being of our campus. Who was committed to color-blind thinking? I'm ashamed to say that even though I may like to think that I am, the fact that I did not take them to the principal- which I probably would have done with white students- shows that I still haven't taken Dr. King's words entirely to heart. I believe that the struggle to succeed as an individual is far more difficult than the struggle to make society come to terms with its discrimination against groups. If an African-American young man determines to make his mark in the world of technology, he will not be greatly assisted by the efforts of the NAACP or a march on the capital. The news may cover the press conferences of groups, but who knows what goes on back in the real world? It will be his own work, his own study, achievement, diligence and talent that will finally win the day. How unfortunate that, along the way, that same young man may have to go against the grain of many other people- both white and black- who will seek to say he cannot, should not or will not achieve because of group discrimination. |
I was walking back to my car
yesterday, when I passed a group of students waiting for the bell to
signal time to change classes. I noticed two voices over the rest of
the group, and one voice was distinctly shouting the N-word, over and
over. I was at least twenty yards away, and I could hear this voice
plainly.