The problem of Black people in denial of racism
There’s a strange phenomenon that’s been going on for a while, and it has multiple layers to it. I’m half Black but look white, so I haven’t had to endure anywhere near the amount of racism that most Black people have had to deal with. Still, I see instances of racism, as well as systemic racism, happening regularly. But, there’s a portion of Black people who regularly deny that anything is racist, make excuses for the racism, or do a combination of the two.
There’s something happening on a psychological level, a status level, and I wanted to do my best to tease these things apart to try and figure out what’s going on.
Whenever a person, situation, or system is being called racist, there’s a designated group of Black folk who come out of the woodwork like racism referees to chime in and say, “NOT RACIST!”. They give a person, place, or situation their Black seal of approval as non-racist and go along their merry way.
When this happens, you’ll see white people share their tweets or video clips far and wide because a Black person has given them their blessing. They can now toss this situation into their “non-racist” tool kit and use it whenever they please.
As I see this happen when blatantly racist situations arise, I can’t help but wonder if there’s a protective form of delusion happening in the Black person’s mind. It’s sort of like the just world fallacy when we believe that bad things only happen to bad people. It eases our anxieties that something terrible can happen to us. Is it possible that these Black people deny racism every chance they get so they can rest easier believing racism doesn’t exist?
I can only imagine what it’s like moving through this world wondering if you experienced racism. Whether you were denied a job, treated poorly, pulled over by the cops, it must suck having to ask, “Was that racism?”
What’s a hell of a lot easier than doing that is to just strike down anything as racist whenever you get a chance. From here, you can retreat into your happy place believing that it’s never happened to you and never will. Meanwhile, Black people are actually dealing with this and fighting for change while these people are creating a massive obstacle.
Like, if I told you someone convinced a Black person to go to a party where there was a “happy Juneteenth sign” next to a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken and bottles of cognac, would you say that’s racist?
What if I told you that same person that took them to the party also had an anonymous Twitter account named “Ho Ho Homeboy” and pretended to be a caricature of a Black person? And they tweeted things like “What dem council folks been eatin? Lawdy. Look at dem. Days big as barns..even dat hand lady…”
Would you think that white person is just a little bit racist? Even a tiny bit? Well, we’ll come back to that in a little bit.
Something I should get out of the way is my thoughts around the current state of calling things racist amidst the culture wars. I’m sure many will believe I’m one of those woke warriors who runs around calling everything racist, and that couldn’t be further from the truth.
I recently wrote a piece about how I often get in trouble with the left for my views. One of the things that gets me in trouble is that my bar for seeing something as racist is extremely high. I typically give people the benefit of the doubt and often attribute things they do or say to ignorance or unconscious biases. There are situations where many people would call something racist, and I’ll be the first to say, “I’m not so sure that’s what we’re seeing here.”
So, if you’re here in bad faith thinking that I’m Ibram Kendi or Robin DiAngelo 2.0, you’re sorely mistaken.
This in combination with my skepticism and the burden of proof I require for just about everything, it takes quite a bit for me to call a person or system racist. By the time I label something racist, the amount of evidence is far too much to deny.
I think that due to all of these factors, it’s why I’ve noticed those in the Black community who deny that anything is racist. It’s creating a major problem, and what’s worse is that I believe that they believe they’re helping. In reality, they’re being used, and it needs to be addressed.
What is racism?
A good starting point in this conversation with anyone is to ask something extremely simple, “Do you believe racism exists?”
If you asked 1,000 people this question, I think it’s safe to say that at least 990 of them would say, “Yes.” I don’t know what’s going on with those other 10, but we’ll figure them out later. For the other 990, this is extremely important. If the majority of people believe racism exists, why do so many people never see it happening?
A book that was recommended to me 1,000 times was Racism Without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva. It took me way too long to read it, and now I think it should be required reading because the entire book is about this topic. Not only that, but it’s backed by a ton of research.
Through his research, he found that while most of us will admit racism exists, we seem to never see it. I couldn’t put the book down as it showcases transcripts from actual conversations with people on a wide range of topics as they excuse racism.
The survey conversations go a little bit like this:
Researcher: Do you believe Black people are denied jobs or promotions because of their race?
Respondent: Oh absolutely. And I think it’s awful! This should never happen, and it’s totally unfair to do this to someone based on their race. This is a terrible form of racism!
Researcher: Here’s a story of a Black man/woman who worked at a place for 5 years without a raise or promotion at your company while watching white people get hired above them and getting paid more. Are they dealing with racism?
Respondent: Welllllllll, the white person may have been more qualified. Like, they might have had more education or experience in the field, and that’s why they were able to get that job.”
Or another situation might go like this:
Researcher: Do you think Black people are discriminated against or lack the same opportunities as white people when it comes to getting into colleges?
Respondent: Absolutely! It’s terrible that they're held back in so many ways and live in underfunded communities and don’t benefit from nepotism and other factors that help white people get into these schools.
Researcher: If a Black person gets the same grades as a white person and meets all the same criteria as a white person for getting into a school, do you think they should get in to counteract some of these issues with racism?
Respondent: Wellllll, I don’t really think that’d be fair if they just got in based on their race. I know that I worked really hard to get into school, so I don’t really think it’d be fair if the college did something like that.
It is literally hundreds of pages of this stuff with interviews with dozens of different people. As I read this book, my jaw was on the floor as I read these transcripts and witnessed the mental backflips people did to deny that racism was ever happening. Or, if they agreed that racism was happening, they didn’t want to agree to any solutions because it might screw up how good they have it.
What’s worse is when you see Black people using this same type of logic to defend everything we see going on and admit is actually happening.
In his book, Bonilla-Silva writes:
“The central component of any dominant racial ideology is its frames or set paths for interpreting information. These set paths operate as cul-de-sacs because after people filter issues through them, they explain racial phenomena following a predictable route. Although by definition dominant frames must misrepresent the world (hide the fact of dominance), this does not mean that they are totally without foundation. (For instance, it is true that people of color in the United States are much better off today than at any other time in history. However, it is also true—facts hidden by color-blind racism—that because people of color still experience systematic discrimination and remain appreciably behind whites in many important areas of life, their chances of catching up with whites are very slim.)”
What we’re seeing is that people are choosing to interpret these situations however they want, which perpetuates the dominance that white people experience regularly. For Black people, this is something that must be hard to grapple with.
I’ve written about how delusional thinking can be useful. If you didn’t think you could accomplish something, you may not even try. This is why we evolved to lie to ourselves. It only makes sense that some Black people are using this delusion as a way to cope with very real situations that are going on.
It’s not limited to racism either. While people admit it exists, people deny that anyone is racist, and I first had this brought to my attention when a skeptic was talking about pseudoscience.
They were saying, “We all know pseudoscience exists, but nobody wakes up in the morning and says to themselves, ‘I’m going to go put my pseudoscience lab coat on and practice pseudoscience and my pseudoscience lab.’” These people think they’re practicing legit science.
I think the most salient example that comes to mind is Elon Musk. The guy will legit talk about “the elites”. Although Tesla stock isn’t what it used to be, he’s still the richest man in the world. Who is he referring to when he says “elites”? In his mind, he’s not one of them. And that’s pretty crazy, right?
Well, not only are there many people denying racism, but racists don’t even think they’re racists.
“I’m not racist, but…”
What got this topic stuck in my head was a particular story, and I’ve seen this group of Black deniers of racism everywhere since it happened. Remember that story I mentioned at the beginning of Juneteenth and the tweets? Well, here’s what happened.
A Black firefighter in New York is suing because his captain pressured him to go to this party. When they got to the party, there were a ton of Black racist tropes as “jokes”. There was a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken on the table with bottles of cognac and flags for Juneteenth. The party was called a “liberal smashing” pool party because I guess owning the libs is just doing some racist stuff.
Again, my bar for racism is pretty high. I personally would have done the same mental backflips I’ve been writing about to excuse this behavior. I’d chalk this up to ignorance and probably passive-aggressively let them know it’s not cool. I’d maybe even try educating the captain on why this was messed up, just in case he didn’t know because sometimes you just gotta educate some fools.
But, it wasn’t me, and there’s no way in hell I’ve experienced a fraction of the racism someone like that firefighter has experienced in his life. We have to respect the fact that he found it highly offensive and took the steps that he did because other people aren’t us. And how can you stop this stuff unless there’s some type of punishment that happens?
Well, after this story made headlines, the fire captain and his family were attacked online. They held a press conference with their lawyer where, in tears, they said they were victims of cancel culture.
As someone who’s been canceled and received harassment and threats from hundreds of thousands of strangers, I empathize.
Now, I’m sitting here trying to catch up on this story and do everything I can to give these people the benefit of the double that they just goofed. Then, as this news segment points out, right after their lawyer says, “I challenge you, the press, to look into their backgrounds and find anything that’s racist”, and it only took about two minutes.
Because moments later, the wife goes up to publicly admit that she has an anonymous Twitter account where she says, in her own words, that she has made “blatantly racist comments”. But then she goes on to say she’s not racist because she grew up around Black people.
It’s here where I felt like I took crazy pills.
So, this white woman took time out of her day to create an anonymous Twitter account for the sole purpose of making racist tweets? Now, you’re probably saying, “But Chris, making a Twitter account doesn’t take that long.” Well, as you can see, she’s old as hell. That definitely took some time, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she had to have her grandkid help her set the account up.
But after seeing this story, I just kept asking, “If this isn’t racist, then what is?”
And this is the issue that we run into with the Black people who keep giving passes to everything that’s blatantly racist. They have no definition for what racism actually is. There is nothing you can throw at them that they’ll call racist.
I want you to sit there and really ask yourself, what’s the burden of proof that’s needed for something to be racist? What does a person have to do?
When we do this, we see where the major issue is with these Black people who deny racism.
If nothing is racist, anything goes
I know someone, who I’ll leave anonymous, and they’re one of these Black people who regularly deny racism. After knowing this person all of this time, I’ve never seen them actually call something racist, but they admit racism exists. This person is a good person, and they’re one of the kindest people I know.
Kindness and compassion iare values we should all admire in a person, but there comes a point where it does far more harm than good.
I regularly see this person jumping out to defend people and situations every chance they get to say something isn’t racist while doing all of the mental gymnastics we’ve discussed. This person is regularly used by white people as their pass and “evidence” that something isn’t racist.
I point out this person’s kindness because I honestly don’t think they do it for the attention. There are definitely bad actors like Candace Owens who do this for the money and fame, but I don’t think that’s what we’re seeing here.
The problem is that when you’re entire persona in these debates is labeling things as not racist for white audiences, how will they ever know what is racist?
If I only taught my son what’s right, how would he ever know what’s wrong? That’d be terrible parenting on my part. Why? Because there’s an endless amount of wrong things that he could do. If every time he said, “Thank you,” or held a door open for someone and told him that what he did was good but kept my mouth shut if punched people in the face, I’d definitely be lacking in my parenting.
So why is this so common with these Black people who regularly tell white people what isn’t racist?
What they’re doing by not defining anything as racist is leaving the doors wide open for plausible deniability. This is especially true when they’re constantly giving excuses for these behaviors and trying to find every reason under the sun to label something as not racist.
People see this and are just loading up on everything they believe they can do because these Black people are telling them that it’s not a problem. But what would happen if these Black people, who would never in a million years deny racism exists, actually pointed to something and said, “That. That right there is racist.”?
The major issue is that these seemingly trivial acts of racism seep into so many other places that create systemic issues, and what we’re seeing is exactly what Bonilla-Silva points out in his book.
“The central component of any dominant racial ideology is its frames or set paths for interpreting information.”
We’re meant to believe that someone who creates a racist Twitter account to say racist things has never mistreated a person of color based on their race?
How do you prove it? They’ve created a burden of proof that’s impossibly high to reach. They’ve never defined racism, and there’s no way to actually prove something is racist.
Think about it for a second. Let’s say a white employer never hires a single Black person. Every single white person they hire is great at their job, went to a good college, and everything else an employer wants. Just because they never hired a Black person, how can you prove they’re being racist?
Really sit back and think about that. If you were a lawyer, how would you prove this?
Well, apparently, even if we found all of the racist things they’ve said behind closed doors, that’s still not enough. So, are they just not racist?
I have watched these Black racism deniers hand these racist people everything they need and more to defend their awful behavior.
In the recent Little Mermaid discourse, we’re seeing some wildly racist stuff happening. There’s an endless amount of people that lose their minds every time someone who isn’t a straight white male cast in a role. When you freak out every time a non-white person is hired for anything, it’s time to do some reflection.
Meanwhile, I watched the Black racism deniers say, “Well, Disney clearly did this for woke points.”
This logic is so utterly terrible, and it’s just another weapon for the racists to use. And I’ll be completely honest. I 100% think Disney panders to the left by doing these diversity things. Why? Because they're a multi-billion dollar company in our capitalist society that doesn’t care about anything aside from increasing their share price.
But the reason this is a problem is that you could use that ridiculous logic all the time. What if you said that every time a Black person got hired? What if we said that every time these Black racism deniers got hired? What if we shamed every company every single time they hired a Black person by saying they’re just doing it for the woke points?
Well, we’d end up in a situation where no Black people ever got hired. We’d end up back in the situation where you can’t prove someone’s racist. How do you prove that the company actually hired the Black person on merit?
Since meritocracy is nonsense and many people with the exact same qualifications don’t get the same opportunities, how do you prove the white person didn’t get the job over some arbitrary nonsense?
Meanwhile, you have these Black people telling white people, “Yeah. You’re right. That Black person only got hired because of their skin color.”
I really hope you’re starting to see the issue here.
When nothing is racist, people have free reign to do whatever they want while Black people continue to suffer. Yes, things in this country are a lot better for Black people compared to the past, but we’re still dealing with so many systemic issues.
I’m nowhere near done with this topic, but I think this is the foundation of so many other problems that we’re still dealing with. These Black people who deny racism are being used as tools in these smaller racism debates, and it’s preventing us from making the much larger changes that are needed to make a more equal society.
It’s an undeniable fact that Black people are mistreated in this country. Black people receive longer sentences for committing the same crimes. Black people are denied credit and loans more than white people. And there’s just so much more to dive into.
Every single time I bring up these systemic issues, there’s a Black person coming out of nowhere to try and figure out a way to justify these systemic issues by denying that racism exists.
So next time, I’ll discuss how I’ve witnessed these people change definitions just so they can ease their dissonance and live in their pretend world where racism doesn’t exist.
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