{"id":3089,"date":"2020-11-18T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-18T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=3089"},"modified":"2020-11-18T16:48:24","modified_gmt":"2020-11-18T22:48:24","slug":"we-are-all-in-this-together-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2020\/11\/18\/we-are-all-in-this-together-right\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWe Are All In This Together,\u201d Right?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Image: Three white-appearing healthcare workers, \u201cThank you – You are our heroes\u201d courtesy of 18371568 via pixabay CC0<\/a>.  This imagery suggests our heroes are white, even though around 25% of nurses in the U.S. are people of color. Furthermore, signage that says we \u201cthank our heroes\u201d does not match up with how frontline workers have been unsupported by leadership. Images like this mask structural inequality (pun intended) under the guise of all being “in this together.\u201d<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We have seen many things described as \u201cunprecedented\u201d as the year 2020 has steamrolled over many of us. Among them, the pandemic has given the world an unprecedented illustration of U.S. racial inequalities. For example, Black people are more likely to die from COVID-19 infections than are people in any other racial group, and this is true even after controlling for income, housing conditions, and underlying health conditions<\/a>. Yet not all Americans are able to see the racial inequalities that have been unmasked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sociologist and race scholar Eduardo Bonilla-Silva insists that the key to understanding race and racism in the United States is understanding how colorblind ideals shape Americans\u2019 thinking and public discourse. Examples of what Bonillia-Silva calls color-blind racism are phrases such as \u201cWe are all in this together\u201d or \u201cCovid is the great equalizer\u201d because they serve to draw attention away from the racial disparities that are otherwise so persistent and pronounced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Color-blind racism is named after the hypothetical White observer who says they \u201cdo not see color\u201d while they, simultaneously, fail to see existing racial inequalities. In other words, colorblind framings mask deep, structural inequalities. People may feel like they are saying unifying things with these tropes, but this sort of \u201call in this together\u201d messaging serves to hide the structural nature of racism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even more, colorblind racism tends to minimize racism itself and, when confronted with racial injustices, constructs and accepts elaborate race-based explanations for racial inequality. For example, within a color-blind racism frame, Latinx workers might be said to be paid less than White workers because they do not work as hard, are unreliable as workers, or are less qualified. And White workers are said to get more raises because they are smarter and work harder. With racial blinders on, anything that results from structural causes is explained by deficiency in the minoritized party, and coincidental superiority in the privileged party. This negates the structural origins of inequality and allows the status quo to continue.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n