willful and not-so-willful ignorance

[novapsyche]

3 in 10 Americans admit to racial bias | comments attached to article

---

I ended up going to the party (I wanted to promote my poetry, but I never ended up doing so, although I did show my chapbook to J., the host).

T., a gentleman in his 50s, took an immediate interest in me, and we got to talking about various things. However, he kept bringing up assumptions. For example, when I told him I grew up in Belleville, he asked if my father had worked in the auto factories. T. let it be known that he grew up on the south side of Chicago (I immediately thought of that clip I just talked about this week).

When we were downstairs listening to music (something contemporary was on), he went out of his way to get J. to change the music to James Brown. The three of us were talking, so at one point I asked them this question (with the caveat that I didn't mean anything bad about this, I just wanted to ask the question):

Why is it, when a black person is involved in a conversation in a majority of white people, that certain white people will mention a black person of status?

I went on to say that this was a phenomenon that may be more prevalent now since Barack Obama has won the Democratic ticket. Yet, I'd seen this behavior often for the last two years. (T. said, "Two?" and I nodded.)

Then they both said that they liked the music of the 70s, and I said I love jazz and funk music, too. It was a synthesis of sound. J. said, "Well, I could talk about the Beatles." (I didn't mention at that point that the Beatles themselves had acknowledged that they had taken the style of black music of that era and sold it back to middle-class Americans.) I brought up the fact that I'd dated someone from Iowa who sincerely felt that funk music was a joke. Where he had come from, it was something to ridicule.

T. said that he really liked Stevie Wonder. Then he said, "It's not like he's a Mozart," and then chastised himself for saying what he did.

For the rest of the night, J. kept asking me about George Washington Carver, Prince, Marcus Garvey, just for kicks. (I truly hope he doesn't keep up that joke. If he does, I will have to find out how to get him back.)

It is something I've noticed lately, though. I spoke about this with yellowmouser to some extent. Once, when we were at Tios, people were talking about tennis, and someone really had to reach to include Venus and Serena Williams. We were talking about a completely different era of tennis (Pete Sampras, Steffi Graf).

I don't know how to address those situations, where there are people who seem to want to "include" me (or other non-majority persons) in the conversation. They perhaps are well-intentioned. But really it is another way that their racism is showing.

I think the only way to address it is to use the pointed question, as I did last night.

Comments

[laureth.livejournal.com]

If I were to have a conversation with someone I know to be a sports fan, I might include references to anything sportsy I'd heard recently. (How about those Wings?) Or, if someone was wearing a hand knit sweater, I might mention that I spin yarn.

However, if I didn't know anything about a person, yet I wanted to converse with them or be friendly, there is not as much to go on. Sometimes, all there is to know (especially for the less observant) is the painfully obvious stuff.

You could always ask them about Richard Nixon, Sting, or or Aldous Huxley.

[vaxjedi]

Racism has weird expressions. I think that there is a sister to white guilt: white paranoia. Specifically the paranoia that we white people might unknowingly be racist or say some racist thing.

That comes with a feeling that every minority is looking at you like you are the enemy. "I have might have White Privilege! Oh no, that makes me a Bad Person(tm)! Get it off! Get it off!"

So it's overcompensation. "If I talk about cool black people, I can show that I'm not racist! I've got to prove that I'm not a Bad Person(tm)!"

It's really not all that dissimilar to, whenever a feminist argument comes up, a bunch of men respond with "Hey, some of us are nice guys!" There are a lot of people who just want to prove that they are not jerks. And, unfortunately, awkwardness leads them to doing racist things.

It seems to me there are two types of racism - one based in hatred and one based in ignorance. I think the latter is more common.

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

I can think of times when I have done this. It was well intentioned, but I was trying to show off my liberality.

[atdt1991.livejournal.com]

Well, that is complex. And some of it may be perception-oriented. Honestly, Barack comes up in conversations I am in almost every day, so I am not at all surprised he comes up in yours, regardless of your race.

But I realize you were just using him for an example. Depending on how they go about it (admiringly, for example), it may be like my mentioning that my grandmother is/was gay.

It is, in a sense, a 'cludgey' technique, but it is still an effective method of saying, "I believe I think well of something you identify as." Now, my grandma had a huge role in shaping me, so it isn't a contrivance that she comes up a lot. Even so, I have seen new friends who are gay visibly relax when they realize that I have family that I admire that is gay.

So perhaps the white folk are just trying to say, "I'm no racist." (Which may or may not be true in fact, I realize).

If it is the other way, challenging a black person in power, it could be passive-aggressive needling.

We have no control over our initial circumstances, including our race. As such, I think there is no doubt that you will run into people who, in a sense, want to apologize for their position, or point out that they respect yours.

I'm curious as to how conscious these things usually are (unlike T, who seemed to grill you about all of black-kind), and whether they apply to other minority states, or even to other aspects, like redheads.

[bonerici.livejournal.com]

you should just tell everyone you are a poet. That way they can make references to poems they don't know anything about instead of black people they have no clue about.

[dionysus1999.livejournal.com]

I always make it a point to bring up O.J. Simpson in any conversation with people who have murdered their spouse and gotten away with it. I want them to know I feel comfortable discussing this touchy subject. ;)