First Think, THEN Ink.

We're into the home stretch of exploring the many ways we have avoided discussing race in America with Jona Olsson's essay, Detour Spotting. The topics we have covered have been varied and challenging But today's topic is one of the biggest and most deafening.

27) Silence

We stay silent.


Reality Check and Consequence

Our silence may be a product our guilt or fear of making people of color or white people angry with us or disappointed in us. We may be silent because our guilt stops us from disagreeing with people of color. We may be afraid that speaking out could result in losing some of our privilege. We may be silenced by fear of violence. The reasons for our silence are many, but each time we are silent we miss an opportunity to interrupt racism, or to act as an ally or to interact genuinely with people of color or other white people. And no anti-racist action is taken as long as we are silent.

Silence is an enabler. Saying nothing is exactly like not saying no, which, as every opportunist understands, means yes. If you say nothing, that means you are not being critical of the words and behaviors you are witnessing. And that only serves to encourage the person acting. Silence allows everything to happen. It doesn't contradict. It doesn't criticize. It doesn't stop.

As Ms. Olsson suggests, silence may allow someone stating racist thoughts or committing racist acts to continue, or it could permit a person of color who has a concept that may not sit well with your own opinion free reign. If there is any hope of understanding, of working through this, of ever resolving racism, it will rely on communication. Silence assures that we will not be talking, which is why it could be our greatest enemy in any hope of resolving this.

Ms. Olsson adds an important footnote about this topic:

[A note about silence: Silence is a complicated matter. There are times when faced with a potential intervention situation that we may choose not to interrupt - for reasons of good sense or strategy. Anti-racists need courage, but taking foolish risks makes little sense. When the choice is between intervening in this moment, alone, or gathering allies to speak out later in a more strategic way, the latter may prove more effective. Though the fact remains: the racist incident in that moment was not interrupted.]

There is a need for safety and certainly going with one or two people to a KKK Meeting in a rural area would not be a prudent move. Still, her note here states it clearly: not talking is permissive and we need to work on what we allow against our fellow humans.

How do we break the silence?

The first thing we really need is some mutual respect. Far too often, when we attempt to discuss race in America, people are emotionally charged. This is likely due to the obvious point that we don't really discuss this issue with each other until some event happens: a shooting or a protest or a riot. Why we can't discuss race when there is no horrific element on that front is part of the problem. But if we don't have a sense of decorum and kindness for the other person in this discussion, we aren't going to get very far.

We have to be willing to listen. This isn't a case of one person talking and the other just remaining quiet. We have to share information. And the fact is, the views from these perspectives are so very different, we need to really pay attention to get an understanding about our discussion.

And we should work toward the understanding that we are all humans, that we have the same needs and many of the same wants, and that helping each other can help us achieve more success than fighting or ignoring each other. We should approach this, knowing that something here is wrong, that we can start resolving those issues and that we are capable of achieving a better world if we do.

If we can approach the conversation with a positive attitude, try to keep ego out, understand that we are telling our version of the truth and find some common ground, we can at least get things started.

Let's get things started.



Previous thinkposts in this series:

1. Day One - I'm Colorblind
2. Day Two - Bootstrap Theory
3. Day Three - Reverse Racism
4. Day Four - Blame The Victim
5. Day Five - The White Knight
6. Day Six - Lighten Up
7. Day Seven - Don't Blame Me
8. Day Eight - BWAME
9. Day Nine - We Have Overcome
10. Day Ten - The End Run
11. Day Eleven - Due Process
12. Day Twelve - By Association
13. Day Thirteen - The Penitent
14. Day Fourteen - White Wash
15. Day Fifteen - Not Here

XX. Intermission

16. Day Sixteen - Former Life
17. Day 17 - Straightening Up
18. Day 18 - The Isolationist
19. Day 19 - Blackwards
20. Day 20 - Teach Me
21. Day 21 - White on White
22. Day 22 - Smoke and Mirrors
23. Day 23 - Personal Work
24. Day 24 - Whites Only
25. Day 25 - The Accountant
26. Day 26 - Innocence

A reminder: because of the sensitive nature of the subject, comments directly to this and all previous and future essays in this series are screened. Thank you.

If you've been following the course of this series of thinkposts re: racism, then you have seen how varied, creative, challenging and difficult the excuses in why we haven't dealt with the simple problem of treating all of our citizens equally and fairly has been. Detour-Spotting, Jona Olsson's essay, which has been the template for this series, lays out all these excuses and challenges us to do better. Here's today's topic.

25) The Accountant

We keep a tally sheet. If we perform some “feat of anti-racism,” we expect reciprocity from an individual or group of color, usually with some prestige or power that can serve our interests.


Reality Check and Consequence

“I scratch your back, you scratch mine is NOT justice seeking nor ally behavior. It serves only to reduce justice work to some kind of power brokering currency.

The problems we have when dealing with race in America stem primarily from the fact that this system is already working to support white people and oppress minorities. So, to have any white person who claims to want to help balance this ledger suggesting that there has to be some sort of return favor for them as a part of their work only adds to the legacy of injustice we have seen throughout the centuries of this issue.

The point that Ms. Olsson is making here is clearly that Quid Pro Quo is a no-go, and rightly so. Things are already so far skewed to the benefit of white people that anything expected back, short of a thank you for not being racist, really is asking too much.

Now, the problem we must consider here are the thoughts and feelings of the group that feels completely overlooked throughout all of this discussion: lower and middle class white people.

So, we have black people who are, no matter what their stature, their status, their success or income, likely to experience some form of racism which may range from being an inconvenience to being something that ends their life. That's no exaggeration. People like Oprah Winfrey, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Even The Forty-Fourth President of The United States have dealt with issues of racism in a personal way. No minority person is immune and no minority person can ever be immune from suffering through racist behaviors.

But if you are poor and white in America, what do you do? You can't claim the system is working against you. And you probably don't want to think that you just aren't good enough to achieve.

The answer is clear! Blame the brown people!

This was the manipulation that wealthy white people used to separate poor white people from black people. Putting white people "in charge of" black people, first in the form of bringing runaway slaves back to their masters, then, after slavery ended, policing all black folks. This gave white people a feeling of importance, a job to do, a hierarchy in which they were always above someone. Psychologically, that is powerful. And once you have gotten that "power," it is difficult, if not impossible, to relinquish it. It becomes a trait, a defining part of who you are.

Never mind that if white people worked with black people, rather than accept the role of overlords to black people, they could have both succeeded to an even higher extent and the fear and hatred would have ebbed away to understanding and cooperation.

Here's where racism is perpetuated to the highest extent and a serious reason why we can't completely root it out. If minorities are viewed as the cause of the problem, then there is a scapegoat, there is a reason why not all white people have reached the one percent! So hate groups can be formed, minorities can be killed, any number of atrocities can be done and it's accepted because that is punishment for all of the wrong. The blame gets placed and that becomes the focus.

If we could somehow get those same people, interested in trying to destroy any minorities in our society, to understand that working with them, not against them would benefit everyone (even those in the one percent, actually), maybe we could make some progress.

But is that realistic? Is that even possible?



Previous thinkposts in this series:

1. Day One - I'm Colorblind
2. Day Two - Bootstrap Theory
3. Day Three - Reverse Racism
4. Day Four - Blame The Victim
5. Day Five - The White Knight
6. Day Six - Lighten Up
7. Day Seven - Don't Blame Me
8. Day Eight - BWAME
9. Day Nine - We Have Overcome
10. Day Ten - The End Run
11. Day Eleven - Due Process
12. Day Twelve - By Association
13. Day Thirteen - The Penitent
14. Day Fourteen - White Wash
15. Day Fifteen - Not Here

XX. Intermission

16. Day Sixteen - Former Life
17. Day 17 - Straightening Up
18. Day 18 - The Isolationist
19. Day 19 - Blackwards
20. Day 20 - Teach Me
21. Day 21 - White on White
22. Day 22 - Smoke and Mirrors
23. Day 23 - Personal Work
24. Day 24 - Whites Only

A reminder: because of the sensitive nature of the subject, comments directly to this and all previous and future essays in this series are screened. Thank you.

We have been making our way through Jona Olsson's essay, Detour-Spotting, and taking a cold, hard look at how people who want to aid in the dismantling of racism may have difficulty, or how they might even serve to reinforce these racist tendencies. This isn't just a straightforward case of simple bigotry; these are deeply rooted psychological patterns that help to inform the mindsets of our country as a whole. Another good example is today's issue:

23) I Have To Do My Personal Work

“ I have to do my personal work first.” or “Ending racism is only about changing personal attitudes.”


Reality Check and Consequence

If we assume that personal reflection and interpersonal work is the end of our job as anti-racists, we will stay out of the public, institutional arenas. We will ignore cultural racist practices that don’t include us personally. We won’t take action, until we have finished ridding ourselves of all racist conditioning. And since that complete “cure” will never happen, we will never take any institutional or cultural anti-racist action.


As we should know by now, institutional racism is, more or less, the biggest part of the problem we are facing when it comes to what minorities are dealing with currently in this area. Yes, there are still individuals who think racist thoughts and do racist actions, but the element that is both most common and most horrific is institutional racism.

Here's a clearer look at what we're talking about when we discuss institutional racism. When a white cop (or really any cop) kills an unarmed minority citizen, we could view it as that individual, the police officer, acting against another individual, the citizen. But that really isn't accurate. That's because we are seeing the same actions happening over and over in different locations with different people in different eras of history. Officers in places all over the country, throughout the decades, have reacted in the same way to citizens, many of whom behaved in the least threatening way possible.

That tells us that this isn't a problem directly connected to "individuals." This is an example of institutional racism: this is a series of cases that have been dealt with in the same way by a lot of different people who have been conditioned or you might even say trained to react in a way that is built on racist concepts.

So, yes, individuals are acting and we can lay the blame on each one, singularly. But it's very clear that their actions are from an institutional source and even if we did blame each person who committed these acts (rarely if ever), that doesn't resolve the source from which the thoughts and beliefs in how to behave and what to do when faced with a similar situation arises for the next person in that position. That means that as more and more police officers train with these concepts, the results are interchangeable. That's how even minority police officers can and do shoot first. And that's why there is no expectation that there will not be "the next police murder of an unarmed minority citizen."

That's also why today's topic is such a bogus excuse. Of course, personal work is important, and everyone should learn as much as they can about race and racism. But I would suggest that at least some of the officers who killed black citizens in the course of their work do not believe themselves to be racist. They may have never had what one would call a racist thought or done any racist action. They may even know or be friends with minority people in their social lives. But that's how this goes. Institutional racism is bigger than any individual and it's a lot more difficult to understand, more challenging to believe, less likely to be noticed and less likely to be blamed.

But the more we focus on any individual's actions, the more we ignore this more urgent and more enormous problem of how, as a society, we are allowing the standards and practices of our policies in government, in the private sector, in how the media depicts minorities to, if you will, color our collective perception of just who minority people are, what they do and how they deserve to be treated.

But it also affects how we view, what we think of and what eventually happens to those people who dole out those punishments. Do we lionize them as heroes? Or are they too victims of the system of racism?

Yes, we all should be doing personal work, but the real threat, the things that are killing in a continual and really methodical way are based on institutional racism, and until we address that, all of these "individual" cases will continue to pile up, right next to the pile of black bodies who were once living, breathing human beings.



Previous thinkposts in this series:

1. Day One - I'm Colorblind
2. Day Two - Bootstrap Theory
3. Day Three - Reverse Racism
4. Day Four - Blame The Victim
5. Day Five - The White Knight
6. Day Six - Lighten Up
7. Day Seven - Don't Blame Me
8. Day Eight - BWAME
9. Day Nine - We Have Overcome
10. Day Ten - The End Run
11. Day Eleven - Due Process
12. Day Twelve - By Association
13. Day Thirteen - The Penitent
14. Day Fourteen - White Wash
15. Day Fifteen - Not Here

XX. Intermission

16. Day Sixteen - Former Life
17. Day 17 - Straightening Up
18. Day 18 - The Isolationist
19. Day 19 - Blackwards
20. Day 20 - Teach Me
21. Day 21 - White on White
22. Day 22 - Smoke and Mirrors

A reminder: because of the sensitive nature of the subject, comments directly to this and all previous and future essays in this series are screened. Thank you.

We need to have a national conversation about race in America. If the constant barrage of issues of the deaths of minority citizens at the hands of white police officers hasn't informed you, certainly the rhetoric being spewed during this Presidential Election cycle should cause you to take some notice.

How difficult is it to understand that human beings are deserving of a modicum of respect and at least a whiff of empathy? Pretty difficult if you read through Jona Olsson's essay, Detour-Spotting, which we have meticulously been surveying these past three weeks. The continuing reasons for why we not only haven't renounced racism, but haven't even gotten to have a proper conversation about it is an issue worthy of exploration and understanding. There must be a gap between what minorities see and what white people see when they look at this issue. And that's what we're here to check.

Today's topic is yet another that relates to that oft-misinterpreted phrase, "White Privilege."

21) White On White, and Righteously So

“What is wrong with those white people? Can’t they see how racist they’re being?” or “I just can’t stand to be around white people who act so racist anymore.” And


You’re preaching to the choir

“You’re wasting your time with us, we’re not the people who need this training.”


Reality Check and Consequence

We distance ourselves from “other” white people. We see only unapologetic bigots, card-carrying white supremacists and white people outside our own circle as “real racists.” We put other white people down, trash their work or behavior, or otherwise dismiss them. We righteously consider ourselves white people who have evolved beyond our racist conditioning.

This is another level of denial. There are no “exceptional white people.” (4) We may have attended many anti-racism workshops; we may not be shouting racist epithets or actively discriminating against people of color, but we still experience privilege based on our white skin. We benefit from this system of oppression and advantage no matter what our intentions are. This distancing serves only to divide us from potential allies and limit our own learning.

In most cases, racism is, especially in these long past slavery and Jim Crow days of the 21st Century, institutional. We've already discussed this form of racism and how it manifests, meaning it's frequently not an individual who is responsible for racist acts, it's the systematic elements of racist thought and behavior that creates circumstances where either white people are favored, black people are oppressed or both.

Under this system of institutional racism, nobody has a clean record in handling these issues. White people still are treated with privilege. That isn't just or fair. And even the most supportive white anti-racists are still beneficiaries of that privilege. If a group of white people marched in a Black Lives Matter protest, it's less likely that they would be the first people arrested, tear gassed or shot with rubber bullets by police, even if they were the most disruptive part of the protest.

But that's what we mean by Institutional Racism. This is the systemic method of favor based on skin color that has characterized at least one part of our racist society for decades.

While it's great that some white people are critical of other white people for their lack of understanding and lack of empathy when it comes to dealing with these racial issues, those are the people who need to stop being critical and start helping out. Rather than just issuing a tsk tsk and shaking their heads, those who have reached a better level of understanding should be helping to inform and educate those who have not so that they can learn, change and grow as well. Being "the best anti-racist" really shouldn't be anyone's goal. It's really about ending racism entirely, and that can't happen as long as people continue to hold these racist beliefs, either purposely or subconsciously.

Truth is, it's those that aren't even aware of their racist tendencies that are the most difficult to reach and need the most support and explanation to help them through it. It takes particular care and sensitivity to reach someone like that, and there are, maybe hundreds of thousands of people like that who must be reached.

It takes time. It takes a lot of time.

That's part of the reason why this essay by Ms. Olsson is so useful and important. We have to go through and root out every excuse we have for not taking on racism, come to terms with all of that and then dismantle this system that is holding back not just minorities in this country, but pretty much everyone who isn't in the One Percent.

We all need to work on these issues and if we see someone who isn't getting it, laughing at them, cursing at them under your breath or simply staying silent will not accomplish anything. Granted, there is a time and place to share such lessons, and there is the issue of safety when it comes to stepping up to support minorities, so this is not about putting your life at risk if the situation is not safe for teaching. But ultimately, we need white allies to help inform other white people about all of these points.

Despite the common belief that this is a problem for minorities only, racism truly is everyone's issue, and we need everyone to start doing some positive things to end it, so we can send all of the energy, the time spent, the focus (as an example: the fact that I could have been writing about something, ANYTHING else in this journal for these past twenty-two days) toward things that can help improve our cities, our states, our country and our world.

We're only here for a little while. Let's use that time to make things better for others, not worse.



Previous thinkposts in this series:

1. Day One - I'm Colorblind
2. Day Two - Bootstrap Theory
3. Day Three - Reverse Racism
4. Day Four - Blame The Victim
5. Day Five - The White Knight
6. Day Six - Lighten Up
7. Day Seven - Don't Blame Me
8. Day Eight - BWAME
9. Day Nine - We Have Overcome
10. Day Ten - The End Run
11. Day Eleven - Due Process
12. Day Twelve - By Association
13. Day Thirteen - The Penitent
14. Day Fourteen - White Wash
15. Day Fifteen - Not Here

XX. Intermission

16. Day Sixteen - Former Life
17. Day 17 - Straightening Up
18. Day 18 - The Isolationist
19. Day 19 - Blackwards
20. Day 20 - Teach Me

A reminder: because of the sensitive nature of the subject, comments directly to this and all previous and future essays in this series are screened. Thank you.

Going through Detour-Spotting, Jona Olsson's well-crafted listing of issues to do with race in America, and why we have avoided accomplishing anything but the cursory elements related to it, many of these points could apply to any white person in the country. After all, these are just US citizens who are simply living life, but then could find themselves put in a position or face a circumstance that might test his or her humanity and choices when it comes to racism.

Today's topic isn't like that. It's actually one that specifically challenges those white people who are active anti-racists and who are trying very hard to help the process of dismantling these issues.

19) “Bending Over Blackwards” (3)

“Of course, I agree with you.” (Said to a person of color even when I disagree) or “I have to side with Jerome on this. (Even when Jerome, a man of color, represents opinions counter to mine.)


Reality Check and Consequence

Our white guilt shows up here as we defer to the person of color. The person of color is always right, or we never criticize or challenge her or him. We try not to notice that we notice they are Black or Native American or Latina or Asian or Middle Eastern. We don’t disagree, challenge or question a person of color the way we would a white person. And if we do disagree, we don’t do it with the same conviction or passion that we would display with a white person. Our racism plays out as a different standard for people of color than for white people.


If this is our pattern, we can never have a genuine relationship with a person of color. People of color know when we are doing this. Our sincerity, commitment and courage will be rightly questioned. We cannot grow to a deeper level of trust and intimacy with people of color we treat this way.

I can't help but notice that this series of nineteen thinkposts has generated a handful of comments collectively. I know that it's not because people aren't seeing these posts; I can look at my stats and know that my views are very high. So, it might be something else.

Relating this to the above topic, if we are going to have a discussion of race in America, it can't be a monologue. People need to be able to have an actual conversation. People should be asking questions and listening to answers. People must talk with one another about this topic. For far too long, Americans have simply sat on their hands and done nothing, ignored the situation as it is, or believed that they fully understood it when they did not and let Status Quo continue, unquestioned.

Placating the issue by simply agreeing with or not challenging any of the notions mentioned really doesn't accomplish anything. The idea is to actually learn about what is happening and why it is happening, not simply accept the dose of medicine that many white folks view any talk about racism to be.

But more, what Ms. Olsson is saying with this point is a subtle but powerful method of undercutting our efforts for equality. If you aren't willing to engage, to learn, to ask and understand the issues about and surrounding everything to do with racism, your interest will be superficial. And that will help guarantee that any progress made will also be superficial.

It's important to learn about racism, about minority people, about humanity, about how everything is interrelated and about how our American Family, like everything on this planet, relies on everything else. It's through learning, listening, understanding that we can come to a place where people aren't taking actions out of obligation, but because they know this is the right thing to do and they fully understand why. And it's so crucial to getting that understanding because these are lessons that need to be taught to every ensuing generation.

Not learning these lessons will create a feeling of confusion about why people simply blindly agree with a minority person, even if they don't believe in what's being said. It could even foster a sense of resentment, making this another sure way to create more racist thoughts and behaviors.

So, we should agree that when it comes to racism, we need to talk through the thoughts and the feelings, we need to ask about something we don't understand. We have to work together to make sure we all comprehend these issues, where they come from and how to stop them.

We need to do this for our very lives.


Previous thinkposts in this series:

1. Day One - I'm Colorblind
2. Day Two - Bootstrap Theory
3. Day Three - Reverse Racism
4. Day Four - Blame The Victim
5. Day Five - The White Knight
6. Day Six - Lighten Up
7. Day Seven - Don't Blame Me
8. Day Eight - BWAME
9. Day Nine - We Have Overcome
10. Day Ten - The End Run
11. Day Eleven - Due Process
12. Day Twelve - By Association
13. Day Thirteen - The Penitent
14. Day Fourteen - White Wash
15. Day Fifteen - Not Here

XX. Intermission

16. Day Sixteen - Former Life
17. Day 17 - Straightening Up
18. Day 18 - The Isolationist

A reminder: because of the sensitive nature of the subject, comments directly to this and all previous and future essays in this series are screened. Thank you.

If you've been with me this long, I want to say thank you for reading this series of posts. Racism is a touchy subject and even just reading about it can be difficult. But if we intend to actually end racism, and I hope, like me, you agree we should end it, this is the first baby step. Jona Olsson has given us a road map with her essay Detour-Spotting, with every point a milestone toward the eventual destination of understanding the elements that have helped us avoid the discussion we need to have about race in America.

Today's topic is one of the shortest to analyze.

17) Straightening Up or Boys Will Be Boys

The white heterosexual who says, “we can’t talk about AIDS or homophobia because we’re trying to work in coalition with a Latino group.” White organizations, in which women are unheard, disrespected or prevented from assuming leadership. “We’ll deal with any gender inequities or sexism after we solidify this coalition with the NAACP.”


Reality Check and Consequence

When white people with privilege in some other aspect of their life (gender, sexual orientation, lack of disability, class, etc.) use their focus on racism as an excuse to not challenge and therefore perpetuate other forms of oppression, the consequence is a disingenuous and unsustainable commitment to justice.

Ms. Olsson's point with this element is that we somehow think we can only solve one issue at a time. Racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia are sometimes interrelated and as such, could be worked through at once. To deny that we can move forward on all of these issues simultaneously suggests a simple-minded or lazy approach at best, or an agenda to hold back on advancing all of these causes, if we want to take a more sinister tack.

Part of the reason "mainstream" America sees gay people, minorities, transgender or even differently abled people as "odd" or "out of place" is simply because they have been pushed out of sight, or worse, ridiculed into remaining on the fringes of our society. That's really how a "mainstream" is formed: by overlooking everything that doesn't fit into how you want the world to be.

When you think about it in those terms, it's blatantly obvious how all of these issues are related: people want to ignore them.

Ignoring someone is not a passive thing. You have to choose to do it. That's why this is especially painful for people in these groups. In at least one way, ignoring can be worse than bullying, simply because you aren't being acknowledged at all. Not to encourage bullying, mind you, but simply to say that human beings are not invisible, no matter how much some people would like them to be. And, this relates to the topic all the way back to Day One on this list: Being "colorblind." It helps to remember that "ignore" is the root of the word ignorant.

We have to hark back to that much demeaned phrase: "Political Correctness." Really, it's the people who wish to maintain everything as it is who stand against treating everyone equally and with the same level of respect. Again, when it's put in those terms, being politically correct is just a simple case of being thoughtful and kind to your fellow human beings.

We have to remember, it's the atmosphere that permits people who are "politically incorrect" less criticism for what is a self interested and unkind stance. Why are we fine with accepting insults or an attitude that suggests that some people are not as good as others? It's through enabling that kind of commentary that we allow those thoughts to be acceptable, when they clearly should not be.

Not only can we work on all of these issues at the same time, we need to do that, for the sake of all of our fellow humans.

And ourselves.


Previous thinkposts in this series:

1. Day One - I'm Colorblind
2. Day Two - Bootstrap Theory
3. Day Three - Reverse Racism
4. Day Four - Blame The Victim
5. Day Five - The White Knight
6. Day Six - Lighten Up
7. Day Seven - Don't Blame Me
8. Day Eight - BWAME
9. Day Nine - We Have Overcome
10. Day Ten - The End Run
11. Day Eleven - Due Process
12. Day Twelve - By Association
13. Day Thirteen - The Penitent
14. Day Fourteen - White Wash
15. Day Fifteen - Not Here

XX. Intermission

16. Day Sixteen - Former Life

A reminder: because of the sensitive nature of the subject, comments directly to this and all previous and future essays in this series are screened. Thank you.

Having seen the Opening Ceremonies of the Rio Olympics, it's a great reminder that people from all over the world can come together in the spirit of friendship and competition and co-exist with an understanding that we truly are the same. Why we can't do this on a daily basis, not just for two weeks once every two years, is part of the reason we need to examine the issues of race and how they impact all of us.

Jona Olsson's essay, titled "Detour-Spotting" is the template for my examination of the issues that are particular to our discussion of racism and how we avoid talking about it. Today's topic relates right back to our Olympics concept:

15) Not Here In Lake Wobegon

“We don’t have a racism problem here at this (school, organization, community)” or “We didn’t have a racism problem in this town until that Mexican family moved here.”

Reality Check and Consequence

As white people we do not have to think about racism when our school, organization or community is all white. Racism does not usually become apparent TO US until there are people of color in our frame of reference.

This is kind of a no-brainer. Without any minority people in the community, in the state, in the country, everything is "fine."

This is reflected in a popular sentiment suggested by some of the legislators at that time: once the Emancipation Proclamation passed into law, many wanted to send former slaves back to Africa, this even though America was the only country most of these people knew, being born in and growing up here. Of course, some did take the offer, and the country of Liberia was formed as a home in Africa for former US slaves and their descendants. Point being, once black people no longer served the purpose desired, the first thought, for at least some government officials, was to send them somewhere else. Out of sight, out of mind.

This doesn't speak to the obvious point that these people performed all of the labor to create this country and should have the right to enjoy the fruits of that labor, but are being sent somewhere else as a "reward."

That relates to the old wheeze "why don't you go back where you came from?" a comment that still gets used even today by racists that don't want to see someone other than themselves in their line of vision.

The unspoken issue that this particular topic touches upon is one that cuts to the heart of the matter: it reflects in all of the elements we have seen on newscasts and in social media regarding racism. It is simply that there is a desire by some to simply wish minorities out of the picture. All of the points in Ms. Olsson's essay we are talking about would be moot if there were only white people here.

Again, this is an element that speaks to the thought that any minorities are not as human as white people and that they can and should be shuttled or shifted away whenever possible, for the convenience of white folks. The "white flight" of the 1960s and 1970s out of cities and into suburban areas was a variation on this theme. If they won't leave, we will.

Even though Jim Crow had outlawed segregation in 1964, there was no desire to have black people living side by side with whites even after the laws changed.

And, as we all know, it's through living with someone that we can come to know and understand them. So, really, this was an opportunity to get to the truth of everyone's humanity, lost. Because of that choice, we still are dealing with a lot of the thoughts that we are so different and so afraid of each other that we still aren't able to face these issues.

I should take a pause here and point out something obvious. Part of the reason racism is still so rampant is that we are still viewing this as a black v. white issue. It really isn't that, as there are many white people who are aware that we are all humans and that we need to start acting that way. But, even within the description - black people and white people, the minority and the majority, part of the element that creates this challenge is that we are separating these two camps when what we're trying to achieve is that understanding that there really is just one race: the human race.

I have frequently stated that most every issue we have, when it comes to human interaction, is a communication issue. Certainly, racism can be boiled down to that as well. And let's face it. If you are ready to send away someone without knowing any substantive element of who they are, aren't you the problem?


Previous thinkposts in this series:

1. Day One - I'm Colorblind
2. Day Two - Bootstrap Theory
3. Day Three - Reverse Racism
4. Day Four - Blame The Victim
5. Day Five - The White Knight
6. Day Six - Lighten Up
7. Day Seven - Don't Blame Me
8. Day Eight - BWAME
9. Day Nine - We Have Overcome
10. Day Ten - The End Run
11. Day Eleven - Due Process
12. Day Twelve - By Association
13. Day Thirteen - The Penitent
14. Day Fourteen - White Wash

A reminder: because of the sensitive nature of the subject, comments directly to this and all previous and future essays in this series are screened. Thank you.

When we discuss the elements of race in America, if we ever do such a thing, there is always an issue with overdoing it. There is a fatigue level that gets reached and once it is crossed, it's next to impossible to continue. So, we have to leave it off and try to start again at a later time.

That's part of the reason why I wanted to give Jona Olsson's essay, "Detour-Spotting," this kind of day by day treatment. Granted, Ms. Olsson manages to stay very concise in her efforts to discuss the problems we face, but it's still a whole lot of material for white people to try to absorb when many of them didn't know or understand that any of this existed before they attempted to look! In that way, we have to take it slow, take some breaks, and try not to let any of this get personal on our journey of discovery and understanding. Making the discussion personal, as we have already covered, will derail the conversation and prevent us from even examining racism in any helpful way, let alone improve or prevent any of it.

Today's topic is appropriate to that thought...

13) The Penitent

“I am so sorry for the way whites have treated your people.” or “I am sorry for the terrible things that white man just said to you.”



Reality Check and Consequence

While there is probably no harm in the “sorry,” if it is not attached to some action taken against racism, it is most often just another expression of white guilt. Being an ally to people of color is not limited to our apology for other white people’s behavior, it must include anti-racist action.

We know there are different kinds of apologies. There are the kind of apologies where a person is truly feeling sorry for what happened and wants to make that be known. But there are also apologies where a person is just sorry they were caught, or are apologizing for convenience sake and is really only sorry about needing to apologize, not about the action taken that caused that need.

It's also difficult because the person apologizing may not believe they themselves have done anything wrong. In that sense, the apology is really merely for show, or to say something placating, or to divert the thought that the apologist thinks the same way as the abuser.

The problem we run into with an apology, when discussing this as part of our conversation about race, is that it's simply a way for white people to assuage their personal feelings over black abuse, a flesh colored band-aid for a broken leg. Additionally, under normal circumstances, when an apology is offered, it is anticipated that the action that required an apology won't readily happen again. That isn't how it goes. Because from every hate filled word said, to every bullet from the gun of a police officer, we know that there will be yet another case of verbal abuse to yet another family mourning a son or daughter, sometimes only days after the previous case. Then, at that time, another apology is offered.

When behaviors do not change, saying sorry is about as hollow a remark as you can make.

But the apology is only meant to make the white person saying it feel better about themselves, so they don't have to think about the system of privilege and oppression that allows them to make such a meaningless comment to someone who has been abused by said system.

The way to make these apologies have meaning is to work towards never having to make them, again. That means becoming an advocate for black people. It means coming to terms with the issues Ms. Olsson has listed here. It means stopping your own racist or unintentional racist behaviors and working with family, friends and neighbors to help them stop their behaviors too.

But, you know, that's an awful lot of work to do, and it's not even an effort that is viewed as something directly benefiting the people being asked to do that work. So, maybe we'll put that off till another day. This is why dealing with the issue of race in America is so difficult. Sacrifice is considered sacrilege and there is a palpable sense that white people are being asked to sacrifice part of what they have come to understand is standard in their lives in order to "be fair." If you view it from that perspective, even supportive white people who want racism to stop might give pause. This goes back to the "Bootstrap Theory" where it's expected that you should work to achieve, not be given anything.

Of course, that ignores the fact that the architecture of white power and privilege was built with black bodies during the slave trade and perpetuated with the concept that white people are the default and anyone else is lower than that. Now that all of that has been established, now white people are ready to "play fair," which, when you view it in those terms, isn't fair at all.

It's the gaps like this - arguing against Affirmative Action, stating that All Lives Matter, suggesting that there is sadness and sorrow over the circumstances that many minorities have to face in this country but then not being willing to lift one finger to help stop those circumstances, that we have these completely different world views and, sure enough, another day has gone by with no changes to prevent or even slow down the process.

Is there any hope of going beyond the perpetual apologies and making the changes needed to stop racism?


Previous thinkposts in this series:

1. Day One - I'm Colorblind
2. Day Two - Bootstrap Theory
3. Day Three - Reverse Racism
4. Day Four - Blame The Victim
5. Day Five - The White Knight
6. Day Six - Lighten Up
7. Day Seven - Don't Blame Me
8. Day Eight - BWAME
9. Day Nine - We Have Overcome
10. Day Ten - The End Run
11. Day Eleven - Due Process
12. Day Twelve - By Association

A reminder: because of the sensitive nature of the subject, comments directly to this and all previous and future essays in this series are screened. Thank you.

My exploration of Jona Olsson's essay, about our ways of avoiding a discussion of race in America, demonstrates some very important psychological issues that help define the circumstances we're trying to examine.

Let's admit this. Everyone is living life, dealing with the problems on their own plates, probably feeling a bit like they aren't getting what they truly deserve and likely dealing with their circumstances as best they can, with a minimum of complaint or reaction. Hunker down and get'er done.

When it comes to the topic of racism, white people really don't know anything about it. I mean, they have *some* idea - they know it's about inequality and about slavery and about how black people aren't winning enough Oscars. But they also know that white people aren't allowed to win the Miss Black America pageant, so maybe everything is a little bit unfair for everyone?

Think about this. No white person has ever actually had a racist act committed against them in the USA. And, of course, there will be a number of white people who will immediately refute that statement because they suffered an attack from a black person or persons in school or at work or at the ball game or at a bar. The attack was, we're generally told, unprovoked and focused on the fact that they, the attacked person, is white, and it was harmful and hurtful, and that kind of racism proves that this really is a two way street of hate.

And so, we are perpetually dealing with one of the most common problems of racism: not knowing the definition of racism.

Perhaps we can get a bit closer to understanding what that word means with today's topic:

11) Due Process

“Lady Justice is [color] blind.” White parents who tell their children, “The police are here to protect you. If they ever stop you, just be polite and tell the truth.” Then when a Black teen is beaten or killed by police, those same parents say, “He must have been doing something wrong, to provoke that kind of police response.”


Reality Check and Consequence

Many white people believe that the police, courts, the legal system and social services work without bias; that due process, fair trials, juries, judges, police officers and case workers have everyone’s best interest at heart, including people of color. Or at least, no less than they do for white people. This belief clouds reality. We tend to look at isolated incidents rather than the patterns of institutionalized oppression.

The legacy of institutionalized racism has left its indelible mark on the U. S. legal system. Even when individual police officers, judges or juries strive to be fair and unbiased, the system itself has been corrupted by centuries of racism. “Innocent until proven guilty” may be turned to “guilty until proven innocent” for too many people of color who enter the legal system.

Herein lies one of the clearest pieces of evidence of the "institutionalized" elements of racism that exist in our country. What are we talking about when we use the phrase "institutionalized racism?" It's the way institutions like the government, federal, state and local police forces, college and school systems, even retail sales outlets, restaurants and other places of business treat people of different skin color, differently.

The problem, as Ms. Olsson states, is that the assumption on the part of white people that police always behave exactly the same way with every citizen that crosses their path and that any time there is a deviation from that normalcy, it was created, caused or forced to happen by whatever the minority person must have done during their interaction.

Even when we have videotape proof of what happened, a "believe your own eyes" moment, when a white officer has done something that violates a minority person's Constitutional rights, there is still a strong sense coming from the white community that the police were justified in their behavior and the minority citizen did, in fact, get what was deserved for their actions.

And just as the assumption of minority citizens' actions tilts the scales of justice toward "guilty until proven innocent," so does every police officer have the advantage of a system that will do everything to prevent them from even standing trial, much less getting convicted for breach of protocol. But that's how institutionalized racism works: the agency has to be right and the minority person is clearly wrong.

Here's something important to consider. Police officers aren't drafted into the job. They voluntarily sign up to join the force. As they do, they, we presume, are aware of the benefits and dangers of the job. Then, when they pass their physical, strength and psychological tests, they go to Police Academy, where they are trained in how to deal with all of the situations one might expect to occur on their beat.

As they are trained and tested on their training before they can wear a badge and be officers of the law, they have a higher responsibility to act within those laws. After all, they have received training that the general public has not. They are permitted to carry a firearm so we presume their training has helped them know and understand the appropriate time to use it and when it is not correct to use it. Yet, time and again, we hear officers stating that they "emptied their revolvers" because "they felt threatened."

We understand that shooting first and finding out the facts later is not proper protocol. Yet, in cases where the victim is an unarmed black person, that is never questioned, those elements are taken at face value and the police, who have a very tough job to do, are permitted this judgment call because, well, it was a judgment call.

You see how difficult this is to explain to the family of the person killed?

The trouble with racism lies in that earlier point I made: no white person has ever actually experienced it. Yes white people have dealt with "bias attacks" and have been the victims of prejudice. But no white person has been oppressed specifically because of what color skin they have. This is a problem because there is no context, on the part of white people, to have experienced what many minorities go through on a weekly, daily, or even hourly basis.

It's because of this lack of context that white people imagine that they personally have no privilege, that they believe black people are overstepping their bounds when they protest, that they cannot fathom why, after Barack Obama had been elected President of the United States, we are still talking about racism.

In a system that criminalizes young black boys before they even get the chance to grow up (commonly referred to as the "School to Prison Pipeline"), a system which bends over backwards to find any excuse to justify a cop's devastating actions, even if it's clear the officer did the wrong thing and knew it before they acted, in a system that places more value on a white person's livelihood than on a black person's life, we have a problem.

But it returns to that point that if you have never been a victim of racism, you have no concept of what that feels like, of how that impacts you psychologically, emotionally, physically. You simply don't know how that changes your perception of the world, how it limits what you can and cannot do, how it forces you to reduce your options and squelch your dreams. If you are a white person you can't be nearly as understanding about this, as it is something you have never experienced and you will never experience. This is a language that folks who are not minority citizens don't speak, naturally.

And, when it comes to translation, it's difficult to find the words that could help make racism understandable for white people. Even metaphors fall short when we talk about a brilliant young job applicant who dreamed of working for a company, who showed up for an interview and was left sitting in the waiting room for hours, only to be told that the person who was supposed to discuss the position, somehow wasn't there.

A white person might state, that wasn't "racism," that was bad timing, or an unfortunate circumstance, or a coincidence. But a white person, never having experienced racism empirically, doesn't realize that when you have had a lifetime of situations similar to that, you learn to recognize it for what it actually is. That's another element of white privilege in action: the fact that white people do not fully comprehend what racism is and that they do not believe that black people experience it because white people have no template for it.

It's within that gap between hearing black people complain about racism and knowing that white people have never experienced racism that we have the Mount Everest of issues when grasping the attempt to simply have a conversation about it. How do we get over that?

Well, we need Sherpas: people who can help guide us along, pointing out the pitfalls and potential hazards we face and can warn us away from actions that might slow our climb, possibly create serious problems or potentially cause an avalanche which could kill other people also on our path or us. That's the gauntlet that Ms. Olsson, and the previously mentioned Tim Wise and Jane Elliott have chosen to take up. But, sherpas aren't going to help us if we pay them no heed. And our ascent of this mountain has been going on for a very long while.

To continue the metaphor, the end of slavery was like our arrival at the base of the mountain. The passage of the Civil Rights Act, effectively bringing an end to segregation and finally stopping Jim Crow Laws was like reaching the first base camp, but white people presumed we had made it to the top and that the climb had ended. And that different perception persists through every step we have taken up this mountain. White people assume we have finished the job when we still have so very far to go to reach the summit.

I want to take a separate moment to talk about Jane Elliott, because she does an exercise that can potentially give white people a hint at what racism is and how it feels. Ms. Elliott's "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes" Experiment was first created shortly after Martin Luther King's assassination, as a way of helping her grade school students understand the underpinning of why King was an important figure, why he was killed, the concept of bias and racism, why it is wrong and how it has an impact for people on both sides, not just those we perceive as the victims of it.

The workshop runs just a few hours of time but it is a way of letting people that have no experience in being discriminated against, based solely on how they look, the blessing of having that happen for them. Through that event, white people have the opportunity to acquire some sense of what minorities in this country experience on a regular basis. Many, through this glimpse into a life experience they never had before, begin to understand the impact of racism and maybe even acquire some empathy for those that have lived underneath it all of their lives.

Due Process, just to bring it back to today's discussion, cannot happen if we always believe that a police officer can never do wrong and that a minority citizen always must have done something to deserve their fate. We are human beings. We make mistakes. We have been conditioned to believe certain things as fact. That changes how we view a situation and the people in it. It's within those biases we are viewing these issues. And if we can't even understand how those perceptions distort how we see these circumstances, our ascent to the mountaintop will be just that much more delayed.


Previous thinkposts in this series:

1. Day One - I'm Colorblind
2. Day Two - Bootstrap Theory
3. Day Three - Reverse Racism
4. Day Four - Blame The Victim
5. Day Five - The White Knight
6. Day Six - Lighten Up
7. Day Seven - Don't Blame Me
8. Day Eight - BWAME
9. Day Nine - We Have Overcome
10. Day Ten - The End Run

A reminder: because of the sensitive nature of the subject, comments directly to this and all previous and future essays in this series are screened. Thank you.

Jona Olsson's important essay on "Detour-Spotting" and the methods that America is using, purposely or subconsciously, to either divert any discussion of racism to some other topic or to avoid the concept completely, is a challenge, is a concern, is a difficult view on all of these points.

My need to review Ms. Olsson's essay began with my post - Killing Police Officers following the Dallas massacre of five local law enforcement agents on July 8, 2016 which opened a bit of a discussion about the issues of race in America.

As I always note on thinkposts, they are thoughts. And other thoughts are welcome. And the discussion that needs to happen has to start somewhere. These are not "lectures" where nothing gets questioned. We need to talk through any confusion or any differences in how we see the circumstances in order to come to some kind of understanding, and clearly, understanding is a major missing piece in this very difficult puzzle. Point being, I don't mean to assume anything. But I hope that if you aren't responding, it's not from some hesitation to speak directly to any of these issues, or to me.

One proviso: all comments left on this series of essays are screened.

It's time for today's topic:

9) We Have Overcome

“We dealt with racism in the 60’s with all the marches, sit-ins and speeches by Dr. King. Laws have been changed. Segregation and lynching are ended. We have some details to work out but real racism is pretty much a thing of the past.”


Reality Check and Consequence

The absence of legalized, enforced segregation does not equal the end of racism. This denial of contemporary racism, based on inaccurate assessment of both history and current society, romanticizes the past and diminishes today’s reality.

We just have to look at the volcanic rise of racist hate groups during the campaign and since the election of President Barack Obama, to know racism is alive and well in the United States.

As always, perspective is a part of the problem when we discuss anything to do with racism, and that will always come back to "White Privilege" and the assumption on the part of white people that "White Privilege" simply does not exist.

I feel like if we can get past the concept of "White Privilege," we might actually be able to begin talking about racism. Unfortunately, it's a really difficult point to make, primarily because the people who need to see it are the ones who are sitting in a blind spot about it.

Tim Wise is another anti-racist activist I have previously referenced. It's funny to discuss Tim because more than a few black people have stated that he is using racism as a method of simply making himself a good payday, as his speaking fees on the topic of race are pretty great: it's been said he earns $10,000 per appearance - making those critics believe that he is yet another white person who is simply profiting from racism.

I can totally understand that viewpoint, even as I don't agree with it. Of course, I wrote an essay equating racism as an addiction, and it does parallel those issues. I bring that thinkpost up again now because within that essay, I briefly touch on the point that:

when it comes to addiction, an addict will not listen to the people who are being abused as a reason/motivation to stop.

which is why Tim Wise is so needed in this discussion. We have seen how the #BlackLivesMatter group has been diminished, equated with white hate groups as if it was the black response version of the Ku Klux Klan, and generally either criminalized, harshly criticized or ignored at large by many white people. We can say the same, or worse, about how the white majority viewed the Black Panther Party throughout the 1960s.

Sometimes it takes a person of the same race to point out the problems of racism to those that don't understand. So, to me, people like Wise, Jane Elliott who created her now famous "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes" experiment for her grade school class shortly after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and has been teaching it yearly, worldwide, ever since, and Ms. Olsson are important, useful and needed in the struggle to put an end to racism.

To come back to today's point, of course racism still exists. There are still people who not only believe that black people are "inferior" to white people, they take action: they ridicule, they abuse, they may even torture and kill.

This is why the outcry over white police officers who kill unarmed black citizens is so important. It's not just about those singular events where

Freddie Gray

Michael Brown

Tamir Rice

Eric Garner

and literally hundreds of others who have been killed at the hands of the people sworn to protect the public.

No. It's much more than that.

See, with every acquittal that happens in cases like these, two messages are sent. The first message goes out to police officers and says: if you do something like this in the course of your patrol, you will be protected.

A message like that means that police never have to think twice before using deadly force. They know that they will be exonerated at the end of whatever semblance of a court case is created, which also means they are more likely to just go ahead and kill rather than use some logic and common sense and obey the proper protocols they have been taught when dealing with suspects. And, at least in the case of Darren Wilson, the cop that shot and killed Michael Brown, he made a tremendous profit from it, getting money raised for his trial to the amount of nearly half a million dollars.

The second message goes to everyone and it basically says that black people are not equal in the eyes of the law to white people.

That is a message that pervades everyone's thoughts and minds and instills feelings of fear and self-loathing within the black community, but also creates a lack of concern and a sense of justification over any action against black people by white observers. Hatred is perpetuated, justice is ignored and Status Quo rules the day.

All of this goes to help bolster the causes of racism and creates an atmosphere where some desperate people begin to think that a logical choice would be to start killing random police officers. You can see how more innocent people are dying specifically because of racist attitudes.

The only way to "overcome" is to finally have this long delayed discussion about race in America. In this discussion I do focus more on black people as the targets of hate, not only because of my personal history, but because it is the longest and most hateful element of racism throughout this country's history. Some could argue that Native Americans received bad treatment as well, and indeed we can certainly point out many instances where that was the case. But the issues of slavery and Jim Crow, which took up about four-hundred years of our collective American experience, cannot be ignored.

Again, we aren't talking about slavery or Jim Crow Laws for that matter, to lay blame on currently living white people. But we have to talk about them to put them in context with racist thoughts and actions of today, as they are the groundwork that set the stage for everything that has followed.

We are still hoping to overcome.


Previous thinkposts in this series:

1. Day One - I'm Colorblind
2. Day Two - Bootstrap Theory
3. Day Three - Reverse Racism
4. Day Four - Blame The Victim
5. Day Five - The White Knight
6. Day Six - Lighten Up
7. Day Seven - Don't Blame Me
8. Day Eight - BWAME

A reminder: because of the sensitive nature of the subject, comments directly to this and all previous and future essays in this series are screened. Thank you.