Sociologist Charles A. Gallagher recently wrote an Op-Ed for the Philadelphia Inquirer that expressed concern about the belief that racial equality has been achieved in the U.S.
With some minor caveats, what has moved to center stage in our national dialogue on race is the idea that the goals of the civil rights movement have been achieved, with Exhibit A being the election of the first black man as president of the United States. White Americans can point to President Obama as proof of this new racial egalitarianism, cementing the widespread belief that we are indeed a color-blind nation and that white privilege is a prerogative of the past.
And that’s not all.
Consider these figures from polls of white Americans: 71 percent were satisfied with the way society treats blacks (Gallup 2007); 43 percent said that racial discrimination toward blacks is not serious; 55 percent believe that racism is not widespread, but 42 percent believe racism against whites to be widespread (Gallup, 2007, 2008). A 2010 New York Times poll found that close to half, 48 percent of whites, agreed with the statement that “discrimination against whites has become as big a problem as discrimination against blacks and other minorities.”
Gallagher counters the idea that America has become a color-blind nation by explaining that every quality of life indicator (on health, employment, incarceration, longevity, etc.) varies by race, “with racial minorities being on the short end of the stick.”
Yet, with many Americans viewing color-blindness as an accepted social fact, race-conscious policies and actions may be construed as reverse racism against whites.
I have witnessed such pushback, almost exclusively from my white students, when discussing racial inequality in the university classroom. Students challenge any talk about institutional racism with the “What about Obama?” retort, which implies we are beyond race because there is a black man in the White House. This is a fair question from 18-year-old college students, many of whom were raised in almost exclusively white, middle-class suburbs. But we must realize that for many whites of all ages, “What about Obama?” is now the default answer to questions about racial equality in the United States.
Check out the full Op-Ed here.
Comments 3
jon — March 8, 2011
woooooow. look at some (most of the comments) from the link. You can't fight ignorance like that no matter how many facts you throw around.
azizi — March 10, 2011
It's next to impossible to change the minds of people who don't want their minds changed.
Even if you point to the indisputable fact that "in every quality of life indicator (on health, employment, incarceration, longevity, etc.) varies by race, “with racial minorities being on the short end of the stick”, people with closed minds will blame that on what they would describe as deficiencies or problematic values & life styles that are entirely within those entire populations. And/or those people might blame those indicators on the lack of individual initiative.
As an African American in her 60s, I've heard a lot of those explanations about why Black folks don't achieve from White folks who publicly appeared to regard me as an "exception to the rule" [the rule being how they thought Black folks were supposed to talk and act]. It seems to me that much of the problem is that many White people don't realize or don't acknowledge that personal racism is only part of how racism occurs. In addition to personal racism, there is also "systemic racism". To quote http://civilliberty.about.com/od/raceequalopportunity/g/inst_racism.htm
"The term "institutional racism" describes societal patterns that have the net effect of imposing oppressive or otherwise negative conditions against identifiable groups on the basis of race or ethnicity." end quote
It's easier for White folks to think that they are "color-blind" in a society that structured to uphold and continues to uphold their White privileges.
Vee — April 21, 2011
Keywords: "Consider these figures from polls of WHITE Americans: 71 percent were satisfied with the way society treats blacks." Because, of course, the satisfaction of white Americans with how their society treats non-white Americans is the best indicator of post-racism out there.