Racism without Racists Chapter 3: The Style of Color Blindness

How to talk nasty about minorities without sounding racist...

1. Calling blacks "nigger" softly: racism without racial epithets

When people of color were property or regarded as secondary human beings, there was no reason to be concerned in talking about them. The Civil Rights era shattered norms about public discussions on race. Public discussions are careful, indirect, hesitant, and occasionally in coded language.

2. Using a rhetorical maze

Semantic moves used by whites include apparent denials ("I don't believe that, but..." or "I am not prejudiced, but...")

3. Projection: "They are the racist ones..."

4. Diminutives: "It makes me a little angry..."

Few whites say, "I am against affirmative action" or "I am against interracial marriage"; instead, they say something such as "I am just a little bit against affirmative action" or "I am just a bit concerned about the welfare of the children."

5. Rhetorical Incoherence: "I, I, I don't mean, you know, but..."

Racism without Racists Chapter 2: The Central Frames of Color Blind Racism

The ideology of color blind racism engages in blaming the victim in an indirect "now you see it, now you don't" style.

The central component is its frames, or set paths for interpreting information. They explain racial phenomena following a predictable route. They misrepresent the world (hide the fact of dominance) but often are founded on some truth.

Classic European liberalism is defined by individualism, universalism, egalitarianism, and meliorism (the idea that people and institutions can be improved). It was the philosophy of a nascent, aspiring ruling class in early modern capitalism: the bourgeoisie, the middle-class owners of property. The bourgeois goals were only extended to the populace in the middle 20th century, and it was never extended to the countries that European powers used for raw materials and workers.

This liberal tradition informed the racist policies of the United States: slavery, the relocation of Native Americans to reservations, the utilization of Mexicans and various Asian groups as contract laborers, and Jim Crow.

Even though disenfranchised groups used liberal rhetoric to advance social and legal reforms (e.g., Civil Rights Movement, National Organization for Women), the central elements of liberalism have been re-articulated to rationalize racially unfair situations in America today.

There are four central frames of color blind racism:
1. Abstract liberalism uses ideas associated with political liberalism (e.g., equal opportunity) and economic liberalism (e.g, individual choice) to explain racial matters.
2. Naturalization explains away racial phenomena by suggesting they are natural occurrences, such as "segregation is natural because all backgrounds gravitate toward likeness."
3. Cultural racism explains the standing of minorities in society using culturally based arguments, such as "Mexicans do not put much emphasis on education."
4. Minimization of racism suggests discrimination is no longer a central factor affecting minorities' life chances.

By framing race-related issues in the language of liberalism, whites appear reasonable opposing all practical approaches to dealing with de facto racial inequality.

Racism without Racists Chapter 1

"There is a strange kind of enigma associated with the problem of racism. No one, or almost no one, wishes to see themselves as racist; still, racism persists, real and tenacious."
—Albert Memmi, Racism


"Color blind racism" -- the rationalization of contemporary racial inequalities by whites to keep racial minorities at "the bottom of the well" (e.g., dark skinned racial minorities have about an eighth of the net worth whites have).

Contemporary racial inequality is perpetuated by new racism practices that are subtle and institutional (e.g., "smiling face discrimination.")

Whites view racism as prejudice; people of color view racism as systemic or institutionalized.

Race is a social construction but it has a social reality.

"Racial structure" is the totality of the social relations and practices that reinforce white privilege. It exists to benefit members of the dominant race.

"Racial ideology" is the framework used by actors to explain and justify (dominant race) or challenge (subordinate race) the racial status quo.

The strength of an ideology lies in its loose-jointed, flexible application -- it allows for contradictions, exceptions, and new information. Ideology is a political instrument, not an exercise in personal logic.

Caveats:
1. Whites are the dominant race but are fractured along class, gender, sexual orientation, and other forms of social cleavage. They have multiple and often contradictory interests.
2. Not every single white person defends the racial status quo but most do.

The goal of this book is to uncover the collective practices that help reinforce the contemporary racial order.