Did you know you can be open-minded and still be somewhat racist.
Many people claim that they are not racist. However, even
amongst those people, unconscious racism exists within almost everyone. Some of
these include everyday behaviours we have adapted to due to society’s
conception towards a group of people. For example:
- Clutching your bag and belongings against your body as you approach a black man walking down a street – having an assumption that all black people steal and are dangerous.
- Getting stuck on a math question and thinking “Hmm, maybe Ki-Hong can help with this… He should be good at these sort of things.” (complimenting someone through the use of stereotypes still counts as a stereotype. It’s still a no no)
- Pointing out that “All lives matter” as a response to the #BlackLivesMatter campaign. Ignoring the problematic issues that black people are facing in today’s society.
Some people won’t want to acknowledge racism. They could
feel a sense of guilt and feel uncomfortable admitting it. But the truth is
that it is real, and continues to dwell inside of us - which is why we must address it. Maybe
once we begin talking about it more, we’ll learn to become considerate of each
other :-)
I completely agree with your position, and unconscious or even invisible racism is highly prevalent within society. The mass construction of stereotypes and misrepresentations coming from the media is fired at us everyday without us knowing about it, and in some way or another this will continue to manipulate our own perceptions and how we see the world around us. It is scary as we have limited control over what the media tells us, and we as a society should learn to better understand each other's diversity instead of letting the media skewer our knowledge about one another.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely agree with this. I wrote a post about "All lives matter" actually being racist. Saying "All lives matter" takes race out the equation, and turns ones back on the inequalities that impact people of colour. Race is central to the injustices black people face, and while people may think saying "All lives matter" is inclusive of humanity's diversity, it's actually very ignorant.
ReplyDeleteI think you provide a very relevant insight to this topic, and I feel is very true (even if people don't want to admit it themselves). I can admit that I have had these thoughts, never meant maliciously, but they are somehow constructed in my mind from things we have seen or heard on a daily basis. The "Clutching your bag and belongings against your body as you approach a black man walking down a street" is an interesting idea, I find myself doing this whenever someone walks past me anyways (more often at night time), I think this is constructed through the idea of stranger danger that my mother has drilled in to me since young. The 'danger' element has stuck to people of colour through media constructed visuals, for example the NZ Police have a series of murals, and one in particular shows the Police chasing after a man of colour, this just cements the already racist and stereotypical portrayal in to our minds of this particular ethnic group.
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