(Name-mce) ListServ We are all NOT racist, unconsciously
Paul or Lisa
plw2351 at zianet.com
Mon Nov 27 23:57:41 EST 2006
As I stated earlier, there are varying degrees of racism. In no way am I
equating my 91-year-old grandmother's racism, stemming from a White
middle-class Christian background, to your grandmother's internalized
racism. My grandmother has led a privileged life, albeit a shallow one.
Perhaps we can both agree that our grandmothers lost out because they did
not know each other.
In solidarity,
Lisa M. Weinbaum
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rita Kohli" <rkohli at ucla.edu>
To: <name-mce at nameorg.org>
Sent: Monday, November 27, 2006 9:37 AM
Subject: (Name-mce) ListServ We are all NOT racist, unconsciously
>I think it is a great idea to have a workshop on addressing structural
> racism at the next conference.
>
> I also think its great that Richard's is pushing folks to reflect on
> themselves, but honestly, I do not feel that I learned (or can learn)
> about myself from his actions. What was affirmed for me is that white
> supremacy is lurking (a word someone used) and supressed in many people.
>
> As a Person of Color, and as a very reflective Person of Color on
> racism, and internalized racism, I am very aware of racism all the
> time. I also believe that for those who are not as focused on racism,
> it still should not take a white man yelling epithets on tv for "us" to
> remember racism. I see, feel and hear racism everyday- whether subtle
> or overt, whether conscious or unconscious, whether structurally
> embedded or within an individual. Racism is part of our world, our
> history. And to be the target of racism, whether structural or
> individual, can have a deep and lasting affect on People of Color, on
> our identity and the way we see our place in the world.
>
> I think as one reflects, or writes an LA times article, or speaks on
> racism, it is important not confuse words like "us" and "we" for the
> experiences of whites and People of Color. I don't mean to be
> disrespectful, but I do not waiver in my thought that the racism that
> may unfortunately lurk in your 91 year old grandmother, to me, is very
> different than the INTERNALIZED racism that my grandmother feels for
> her own community when compared to Europeans who colonized our country.
>
> I appreciate that Richard's has prompted reflection on white privelege
> and white supremacy. But I stand firm that, no matter how much he
> regrets, apologizes or is coming to terms with his racism (which I
> still doubt), he is NO hero!
>
> Whether white or a Person of Color, to quote a friend and scholar Dr.
> Picower, "we must always keep an unblinking eye on white supremacy."
> As we begin to plan the next conference, I am willing to
> participate/help in the development of race/racism conscious sessions.
> I am still a young and developing scholar, and a recent member of the
> org, so if any veteran NAME member wants to recruit or guide me in how
> to help plan, I am very open.
>
> Thanks, Rita
>
>
>>
>> Today's Topics:
>>
>> 1. Re: We're all racists, unconsciously (Paul or Lisa)
>> 2. ListServ We're all racists, unconsciously (Ssbernabei at aol.com)
>> 3. Re: We're all racists, unconsciously (rfriedman at brookes.ac.uk)
>>
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 1
>> Date: Sun, 26 Nov 2006 08:45:38 -0700
>> From: "Paul or Lisa" <plw2351 at zianet.com>
>> Subject: Re: (Name-mce) ListServ We're all racists, unconsciously
>> To: "NAME-MCE - National Association for Multicultural Education
>> EmailDiscussion Group" <name-mce at nameorg.org>
>> Message-ID: <002501c71171$ec0dc310$1f581fd8 at yourdaa2649010>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
>> reply-type=original
>>
>> I absolutely agree, Rita, that Richards should not be forgiven because it
>> appeared he gave a heartfelt apology on television (he is, after all, an
>> actor). His comments are inexcusable. However, I think it is important
>> that
>> we self-reflect and examine our own biases. There are, after all,
>> varying
>> degrees of prejudice. My 91-year-old grandmother living in rural
>> small-town
>> Ohio, who has never worked outside the home, for example, is afraid of
>> African Americans. Her fear stems from her limited life experiences but
>> it
>> is racist nonetheless. Yet, she would never use the n-word publicly or
>> privately. Clearly, her racism is not as severe as Mr. Richards, yet it
>> is
>> still there lurking.
>>
>> I think the point is to take a good hard look in the mirror and
>> acknowledge
>> our own prejudices. Then work to eliminate them.
>>
>> Lisa Weinbaum
>> Las Cruces Public Schools
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Rita Kohli" <rkohli at ucla.edu>
>> To: <KispokoT at aol.com>; <name-mce at nameorg.org>
>> Sent: Saturday, November 25, 2006 11:19 AM
>> Subject: Re: (Name-mce) ListServ We're all racists, unconsciously
>>
>>
>>> I am not sure if whoever posted this article had an opinion about what
>>> it is saying, but I really have a problem with it that I don't feel can
>>> go unaddressed.
>>>
>>> I do not agree that we are all racists unconsciously, I also feel
>>> strongly that I should not just accept Richards apology because he had
>>> some kind of "courage" that we do not have to share our innermost
>>> feelings of hatred.
>>>
>>> What Richards said and did was an exhibition of white power. He didn't
>>> like what was being done to him by an African American heckler, and he
>>> had the words and power to subjugate him, in a way that could never be
>>> done to a white man.
>>>
>>> The test mentioned in the article, that proves that we are all
>>> "racist," may show that whites as well as People of Color associate
>>> white with good and Black with bad on an unconscious level, but we must
>>> acknowledge the historical reasons for why People of Color may
>>> demonstrate this. Colonization, slavery, post-colonial dominance,
>>> education, media are all ways in which People of Color, globally, have
>>> been and continue to be taught to believe in a racial heirarchy where
>>> whites are deemed superior. We have been forced to believe that we are
>>> inferior, and often carry a deep self-hate, whether consciously or not.
>>> From Carter G. Woodson, to Fanon or Malcolm X, Black activists have
>>> been naming racism to allow African people to heal from a self-hate
>>> that was taught to them by their white oppressor.
>>>
>>> I, as a South Asian woman, refuse to believe that the colonization and
>>> enslavement of my people had little impact on the way that we view
>>> whiteness, light skin, Europe. And I also refuse to believe that the
>>> elements of internalized racism that I, or my community hold about
>>> ourselves or others, is the same as the deep-rooted hatred for African
>>> Americans that Richards has "unconsciously" in his heart.
>>>
>>> The interpretation of this test in this article seems to excuse racism
>>> because we all allegedly have it. There is no excuse for what was
>>> done, and in my opinion no way to forgive or not judge a man by what he
>>> said when he was drunk or angry. I have been angry or upset many times
>>> in my life, and I know for a fact that nothing like that has ever come
>>> out of my mouth.
>>>
>>> There is nothing that Richards could EVER say to get me to believe he
>>> is a decent human being. We cannot confuse white supremacy with the
>>> internalization of racism imposed on non-white people in this world, we
>>> must not confuse hate with self-hate, and I feel it is fundamental that
>>> we begin to recognize these differences.
>>>
>>> Rita Kohli
>>> Race and Ethnic Studies in Education, UCLA
>>>
>>> _http://www.latimes.http://wwhttp://www.latimhttp://wwhttp://www.latihttp://_
>>> (http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-shermer24nov24,0,48454)
>>> 06.story?coll=06.story?coll=<W06
>>>
>>> We're all racists, unconsciously
>>> Kramer just blurted out what unfortunately comes naturally to all of
>>> us.
>>>
>>> By Michael Shermer
>>>
>>> MICHAEL SHERMER is the publisher of Skeptic magazine and a monthly
>>> columnist for Scientific American. His latest book is "Why Darwin
>>> Matters."
>>>
>>> November 24, 2006
>>>
>>> AFTER A PAROXYSM of racial viciousness at the Laugh Factory last week,
>>> Michael Richards, the 57-year-old comedian who played Kramer on
>>> "Seinfeld,"
>>> explained to David Letterman and his "Late Night" audience Monday: "I'm
>>> not
>>> a racist. That's what's so insane about this."
>>>
>>> Richards' shattered demeanor and heartfelt repentance leaves us with
>>> what
>>> I
>>> shall call Kramer's Conundrum: How can someone who spews racial
>>> epithets
>>> genuinely believe he is not a racist? The answer is to be found in the
>>> difference between our conscious and unconscious attitudes and our
>>> public
>>> and private thoughts.
>>>
>>> Consciously and publicly, Richards is probably not a racist. But
>>> unconsciously and privately, he is. So am I. So are you.
>>>
>>> Consciously and publicly, most of us are colorblind. And most of us,
>>> most
>>> of the time, believe and act on that cultural requisite. You'd have to
>>> be
>>> insane to publicly utter racist remarks in today's society ? or
>>> temporarily
>>> insane, which both science and the law recognize as sometimes being
>>> triggered by anger.
>>>
>>> And alcohol ? recall Mel Gibson's drunken eruption about Jews, or the
>>> college frat boys slurring alcohol-induced insanities about blacks and
>>> slavery in Sacha Baron Cohen's film "Borat."
>>>
>>> The insidiousness of racism is because of the fact that it arises out
>>> of
>>> the deep recesses of our unconscious. We may be unaware of it, yet it
>>> lurks
>>> there.
>>>
>>> How do we know this? One indication is the Implicit Association Test,
>>> developed by Harvard scientists, which asks subjects to pair words and
>>> concepts. The more closely associated the words and concepts are, the
>>> quicker the response to them will be in the key-pressing sorting task
>>> (try
>>> it yourself at _https://implicit.https://implhttps://i_
>>> (https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/) ).
>>>
>>> The race test firsts asks you to sort black and white faces into one of
>>> two
>>> categories: European American or African American. Easy. Next you are
>>> asked
>>> to sort a list of words (joy, terrible, love, agony, peace, horrible,
>>> wonderful, nasty, pleasure) into one of two categories: Good or Bad. No
>>> problem.
>>>
>>> The next task is a little more complicated. The words and black and
>>> white
>>> faces appear on the screen one at a time, and you sort them into one of
>>> these categories: African American/Good or European American/Bad. Again
>>> you
>>> match the words with the concepts of good or bad, and faces with
>>> national
>>> origin. So the word "joy" would go into the first category and a white
>>> face
>>> would go into the second category. This sorting goes noticeably slower,
>>> but
>>> you might expect that because the combined categories are more
>>> cognitively
>>> complex.
>>>
>>> Unfortunately, the final sorting task puts the lie to that
>>> rationalization.
>>> This time you sort the words and faces into the categories European
>>> American/Good or African American/Bad. Tellingly (and
>>> distressingly)Americ
>>> sorting process goes much faster than the previous one. I was much
>>> quicker
>>> to associate words like "joy," "love" and "pleasure" with European
>>> American/Good than I did with African American/Good.
>>>
>>> I consider myself about as socially liberal as you can get, and yet on
>>> a
>>> scale that includes "slight," "moderate" and "strong," the program
>>> concluded: "Your data suggest a strong automatic preference for
>>> European
>>> American compared to African American." What? "The interpretation is
>>> described as 'automatic preference for European American' if you
>>> responded
>>> faster when European American faces and Good words were classified with
>>> the
>>> same key than when African American faces and Good words were
>>> classified
>>> with the same key."
>>>
>>> But I'm not a racist. How can this be? It turns out that this
>>> subconscious
>>> association of good with European Americans is true for everyone, even
>>> African Americans, no matter how colorblind we all claim to be.
>>>
>>> We are by nature sorters. Evolutionists theorize that we evolved in
>>> small
>>> bands of hunter-gatherers when there was a selection for within-group
>>> amity
>>> and between-group enmity. With our fellow in-group members, we are
>>> cooperative and altruistic. Unfortunately, the downside to this
>>> pro-social
>>> bonding is that we are also quite tribal and xenophobic to out-group
>>> members.
>>>
>>> This natural tendency to sort people into Within-Group/This nat
>>> Between-Group/Between-Group/<WBR>Bad is shaped by culture, so that all
>>> A
>>> even those whose ancestry is African) implicitly inculcate the cultural
>>> association, which includes additional prejudices.
>>>
>>> The Harvard test, in fact, also demonstrates that we prefer young to
>>> old,
>>> thin to fat, straight to gay and such associations as family-females
>>> and
>>> career-males, liberal arts-females and science-males. Such associations
>>> bubble just below the surface, inhibited by cultural restraints but
>>> susceptible to eruption under extreme inebriation or duress.
>>>
>>> Richards' sin was his deed; his thoughts are the sin of all humanity.
>>> Only
>>> when all people are considered to be members of one global in-group (in
>>> principle if not in practice) can we begin to attenuate these out-group
>>> associations. But it won't be easy. Vigilance is the watchword of both
>>> freedom and dignity.
>>>
>>> We should accept Richards' apology for losing his temper and acting out
>>> those hateful thoughts. Perhaps we also ought to thank him for having
>>> the
>>> courage to confess in public what far too many of us still harbor in
>>> private, often in our unconscious minds. As the Russian novelist Fyodor
>>> Dostoyevsky wrote: "Every man has reminiscences which he would not tell
>>> to
>>> everyone but only his friends. He has other matters in his mind which
>>> he
>>> would not reveal even to his friends, but only to himself, and that in
>>> secret. But there are other things which a man is afraid to tell even
>>> to
>>> himself, and every decent man has a number of such things stored away
>>> in
>>> his mind."
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> This is a mailing of the National Association for Multicultural
>>> Education -
>>> (NAME) Listserv list - www.nameorg.org. The materials included reflect
>>> diverse perspectives of NAME Listserv participants and do not
>>> necessarily
>>> reflect a position of the National Association for Multicultural
>>> Education. If you would like to subscribe (or unsubscribe)to this
>>> listserv
>>> go to http://mail.nameorg.org/mailman/listinfo/name-mce_nameorg.org. You
>>> can read all past postings in the archives at
>>> http://mail.nameorg.org/pipermail/name-mce_nameorg.org/
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Name-mce mailing list
>>> Name-mce at nameorg.org
>>> http://mail.nameorg.org/mailman/listinfo/name-mce_nameorg.org
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 2
>> Date: Sun, 26 Nov 2006 11:09:17 EST
>> From: Ssbernabei at aol.com
>> Subject: (Name-mce) ListServ ListServ We're all racists, unconsciously
>> To: name-mce at nameorg.org
>> Message-ID: <be2.677698b.329b162d at aol.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"
>>
>> It is amazing that a race constructed country can still maintain
>> confusion and thereby white supremacy after hundreds of years and
>> hundreds and
>> hundreds of textbooks written by hundreds of experts on the subject.
>> It is sad
>> that the debate continues the confusion and pain we share around the
>> issue of
>> race and racism.
>>
>> Until we share a common definition...a common understanding of our
>> collective history grounded in facts and not left to individual
>> opinion, we will
>> continue to hurt and confuse. Historian John Hope Franklin was named
>> winner of
>> 2006 John W. Kluge Prize for the Study of Humanity the equivalent of
>> the Nobel
>> prize in History. This great announcement received little attention in
>> the
>> news.
>>
>> He is 91 years old and ends his career as a United States Historian
>> saddened by the reality that Americans still do not understand their
>> history and
>> are still not taught the truth. He refuses to be referred to as a Black
>> historian insisting that he wrote and taught American history not
>> Black history.
>>
>>
>> Racism is structural yet we continue to focus on the individual. Our
>> discussions will do nothing to change the structural arrangements
>> that keep us
>> divided and at the same time maintain the status quo that is killing
>> people of
>> color everyday as we debate the acts of individuals. "Racism cannot
>> be taught
>> away.. nor talked away. Undoing is a verb and requires organized
>> action."
>> (www.pisab.org)
>>
>> I recommend that all Name members take advantage of the Undoing
>> Racism
>> Workshop offered by The People's Institute for Survival and Beyond (led
>> by
>> people of color) and join the movement to undo structural racism.
>> The People's
>> Institute have been offering workshops on Undoing Racism for over 25
>> years and
>> maintain a focus on racism, not diversity, tolerance or
>> multiculturalism...of
>> course the workshop includes history and culture and it all makes more
>> sense
>> once we have clarity on racism.
>>
>> Perhaps The People's Institute could present at the next annual
>> conference. It may be time to consider the contribution NAME
>> members could make to
>> the movement to undo structural racism if we work together with a common
>> framework and common strategy.
>>
>> peace,
>>
>> Sandy Bernabei
>> www.antiracistalliance.com
>> a movement to undo structural racism
>> -------------
>>
>> November 24,? 2006
>>
>> AFTER A PAROXYSM of racial viciousness at the Laugh Factory last? week,
>> Michael Richards, the 57-year-old comedian who played Kramer on?
>> "Seinfeld,"
>> explained to David Letterman and his "Late Night" audience? Monday: "I'm
>> not
>> a racist. That's what's so insane about? this."
>>
>> Richards' shattered demeanor and heartfelt repentance leaves us? with
>> what I
>> shall call Kramer's Conundrum: How can someone who spews racial? epithets
>> genuinely believe he is not a racist? The answer is to be found in? the
>> difference between our conscious and unconscious attitudes and our?
>> public
>> and private thoughts.
>>
>> Consciously and publicly, Richards is? probably not a racist. But
>> unconsciously and privately, he is. So am I. So? are you.
>>
>> Consciously and publicly, most of us are colorblind. And most of? us,
>> most
>> of the time, believe and act on that cultural requisite. You'd have? to
>> be
>> insane to publicly utter racist remarks in today's society ? or?
>> temporarily
>> insane, which both science and the law recognize as sometimes? being
>> triggered by anger.
>>
>> And alcohol ? recall Mel Gibson's drunken? eruption about Jews, or the
>> college frat boys slurring alcohol-induced? insanities about blacks and
>> slavery in Sacha Baron Cohen's film? "Borat."
>>
>> The insidiousness of racism is because of the fact that it? arises out of
>> the deep recesses of our unconscious. We may be unaware of it,? yet it
>> lurks
>> there.
>>
>> How do we know this? One indication is the? Implicit Association Test,
>> developed by Harvard scientists, which asks? subjects to pair words and
>> concepts. The more closely associated the words? and concepts are, the
>> quicker the response to them will be in the? key-pressing sorting task
>> (try
>> it yourself at _https://implicit.https://implhttps://i_
>> (https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/)?? ).
>>
>> The race test firsts asks you to sort black and white faces into one? of
>> two
>> categories: European American or African American. Easy. Next you are?
>> asked
>> to sort a list of words (joy, terrible, love, agony, peace,? horrible,
>> wonderful, nasty, pleasure) into one of two categories: Good or? Bad. No
>> problem.
>>
>> The next task is a little more complicated. The words? and black and
>> white
>> faces appear on the screen one at a time, and you sort? them into one of
>> these categories: African American/Good or European? American/Bad. Again
>> you
>> match the words with the concepts of good or bad, and? faces with
>> national
>> origin. So the word "joy" would go into the first? category and a white
>> face
>> would go into the second category. This sorting? goes noticeably slower,
>> but
>> you might expect that because the combined? categories are more
>> cognitively
>> complex.
>>
>> Unfortunately, the final? sorting task puts the lie to that
>> rationalization.
>> This time you sort the? words and faces into the categories European
>> American/Good or African? American/Bad. Tellingly (and
>> distressingly)Americ
>> sorting process goes? much faster than the previous one. I was much
>> quicker
>> to associate words like? "joy," "love" and "pleasure" with European
>> American/Good than I did with? African American/Good.
>>
>> I consider myself about as socially liberal as you? can get, and yet on a
>> scale that includes "slight," "moderate" and "strong,"? the program
>> concluded: "Your data suggest a strong automatic preference for? European
>> American compared to African American." What? "The interpretation? is
>> described as 'automatic preference for European American' if you?
>> responded
>> faster when European American faces and Good words were classified? with
>> the
>> same key than when African American faces and Good words were? classified
>> with the same key."
>>
>> But I'm not a racist. How can this be?? It turns out that this
>> subconscious
>> association of good with European? Americans is true for everyone, even
>> African Americans, no matter how? colorblind we all claim to be.
>>
>> We are by nature sorters. Evolutionists? theorize that we evolved in
>> small
>> bands of hunter-gatherers when there was a? selection for within-group
>> amity
>> and between-group enmity. With our fellow? in-group members, we are
>> cooperative and altruistic. Unfortunately, the? downside to this
>> pro-social
>> bonding is that we are also quite tribal and? xenophobic to out-group
>> members.
>>
>> This natural tendency to sort people? into Within-Group/This nat
>> Between-Group/Between-Group/<WBR>Bad is shaped by culture,? so that all A
>> even those whose ancestry is African)? implicitly inculcate the cultural
>> association, which includes additional? prejudices.
>>
>> The Harvard test, in fact, also demonstrates that we prefer? young to
>> old,
>> thin to fat, straight to gay and such associations as? family-females and
>> career-males, liberal arts-females and science-males. Such? associations
>> bubble just below the surface, inhibited by cultural restraints? but
>> susceptible to eruption under extreme inebriation or? duress.
>>
>> Richards' sin was his deed; his thoughts are the sin of all? humanity.
>> Only
>> when all people are considered to be members of one global? in-group (in
>> principle if not in practice) can we begin to attenuate these? out-group
>> associations. But it won't be easy. Vigilance is the watchword of? both
>> freedom and dignity.
>>
>> We should accept Richards' apology for? losing his temper and acting out
>> those hateful thoughts. Perhaps we also? ought to thank him for having
>> the
>> courage to confess in public what far too? many of us still harbor in
>> private, often in our unconscious minds. As the? Russian novelist Fyodor
>> Dostoyevsky wrote: "Every man has reminiscences which? he would not tell
>> to
>> everyone but only his friends. He has other matters in? his mind which he
>> would not reveal even to his friends, but only to himself,? and that in
>> secret. But there are other things which a man is afraid to tell? even to
>> himself, and every decent man has a number of such things stored away? in
>> his mind."
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> This is a mailing of the National Association for Multicultural
>> Education -
>> (NAME) Listserv list - www.nameorg.org. The materials included reflect
>> diverse perspectives of NAME Listserv participants and do not
>> necessarily reflect a
>> position of the National Association for Multicultural Education. If
>> you would
>> like to subscribe (or unsubscribe)to this listserv go to
>> http://mail.nameorg.org/mailman/listinfo/name-mce_nameorg.org. You
>> can read all past postings in
>> the archives at http://mail.nameorg.org/pipermail/name-mce_nameorg.org/
>>
>>
>>
>> Name-mce mailing list
>> Name-mce at nameorg.org
>> http://mail.nameorg.org/mailman/listinfo/name-mce_nameorg.org
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 3
>> Date: Sun, 26 Nov 2006 23:43:11 -0000 (GMT)
>> From: rfriedman at brookes.ac.uk
>> Subject: Re: (Name-mce) ListServ We're all racists, unconsciously
>> To: "NAME-MCE - National Association for Multicultural Education Email
>> Discussion Group" <name-mce at nameorg.org>
>> Message-ID:
>> <2954.86.145.1.172.1164584591.squirrel at webmail.brookes.ac.uk>
>> Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1
>>
>> hello i have been following the news on this story-i am not sure if we
>> are
>> in position to forgive Richards-is that our job? and is that the angle
>> that we need to adopt...i am not convinced--however i think that as was
>> suggested on one newssite-that we need to turn this incident around and
>> learn from it for ourselves and our communities...the men in the audience
>> could have insulted Richards in a way that many white men cannot
>> understand and they could have called him one of the names that are used
>> for Jews-there are plenty of things that could have happened...but didn't
>> the 'n' word is a word that makes me 'uncomfortable'[and this is not a
>> significantly strong enough word] whether i am hearing men women or
>> children that are black, white or any other colour saying it, however to
>> pretend that i do not know that word or that it exists would be a
>> lie...that word is heard in popular songs of today, i have heard people
>> that are black and people that are white using that word...i do not use
>> that word...but i know that it exists...
>> a favorite quote of mine is 'justice, justice you should pursue' and an
>> interpretation of this quote that makes it appeal to me is the one that
>> attempts to explain why justice is written twice...why? because it is a
>> reminder that we should pursue justice with justice...and from where i
>> sit
>> it seems that Richards is attempting to do this in the face of his own
>> behavior...and i would like to suggest that instead of staring and finger
>> pointing, we take this opportunity to look more closely inside of
>> ourselves and confront our own beliefs---we never know what tomorrow will
>> bring--Richards is working to understanding himself and to mend the
>> damage...i would like to think that if i were to cause pain and
>> humiliation to others that i would be strong enough to face my
>> self...let's pull together instead of apart..we can be stronger that
>> way--Rachel
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> I absolutely agree, Rita, that Richards should not be forgiven because
>>> it
>>> appeared he gave a heartfelt apology on television (he is, after all, an
>>> actor). His comments are inexcusable. However, I think it is important
>>> that
>>> we self-reflect and examine our own biases. There are, after all,
>>> varying
>>> degrees of prejudice. My 91-year-old grandmother living in rural
>>> small-town
>>> Ohio, who has never worked outside the home, for example, is afraid of
>>> African Americans. Her fear stems from her limited life experiences but
>>> it
>>> is racist nonetheless. Yet, she would never use the n-word publicly or
>>> privately. Clearly, her racism is not as severe as Mr. Richards, yet it
>>> is
>>> still there lurking.
>>>
>>> I think the point is to take a good hard look in the mirror and
>>> acknowledge
>>> our own prejudices. Then work to eliminate them.
>>>
>>> Lisa Weinbaum
>>> Las Cruces Public Schools
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Rita Kohli" <rkohli at ucla.edu>
>>> To: <KispokoT at aol.com>; <name-mce at nameorg.org>
>>> Sent: Saturday, November 25, 2006 11:19 AM
>>> Subject: Re: (Name-mce) ListServ We're all racists, unconsciously
>>>
>>>
>>>> I am not sure if whoever posted this article had an opinion about what
>>>> it is saying, but I really have a problem with it that I don't feel can
>>>> go unaddressed.
>>>>
>>>> I do not agree that we are all racists unconsciously, I also feel
>>>> strongly that I should not just accept Richards apology because he had
>>>> some kind of "courage" that we do not have to share our innermost
>>>> feelings of hatred.
>>>>
>>>> What Richards said and did was an exhibition of white power. He didn't
>>>> like what was being done to him by an African American heckler, and he
>>>> had the words and power to subjugate him, in a way that could never be
>>>> done to a white man.
>>>>
>>>> The test mentioned in the article, that proves that we are all
>>>> "racist," may show that whites as well as People of Color associate
>>>> white with good and Black with bad on an unconscious level, but we must
>>>> acknowledge the historical reasons for why People of Color may
>>>> demonstrate this. Colonization, slavery, post-colonial dominance,
>>>> education, media are all ways in which People of Color, globally, have
>>>> been and continue to be taught to believe in a racial heirarchy where
>>>> whites are deemed superior. We have been forced to believe that we are
>>>> inferior, and often carry a deep self-hate, whether consciously or not.
>>>> From Carter G. Woodson, to Fanon or Malcolm X, Black activists have
>>>> been naming racism to allow African people to heal from a self-hate
>>>> that was taught to them by their white oppressor.
>>>>
>>>> I, as a South Asian woman, refuse to believe that the colonization and
>>>> enslavement of my people had little impact on the way that we view
>>>> whiteness, light skin, Europe. And I also refuse to believe that the
>>>> elements of internalized racism that I, or my community hold about
>>>> ourselves or others, is the same as the deep-rooted hatred for African
>>>> Americans that Richards has "unconsciously" in his heart.
>>>>
>>>> The interpretation of this test in this article seems to excuse racism
>>>> because we all allegedly have it. There is no excuse for what was
>>>> done, and in my opinion no way to forgive or not judge a man by what he
>>>> said when he was drunk or angry. I have been angry or upset many times
>>>> in my life, and I know for a fact that nothing like that has ever come
>>>> out of my mouth.
>>>>
>>>> There is nothing that Richards could EVER say to get me to believe he
>>>> is a decent human being. We cannot confuse white supremacy with the
>>>> internalization of racism imposed on non-white people in this world, we
>>>> must not confuse hate with self-hate, and I feel it is fundamental that
>>>> we begin to recognize these differences.
>>>>
>>>> Rita Kohli
>>>> Race and Ethnic Studies in Education, UCLA
>>>>
>>>> _http://www.latimes.http://wwhttp://www.latimhttp://wwhttp://www.latihttp://_
>>>> (http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-shermer24nov24,0,48454)
>>>> 06.story?coll=06.story?coll=<W06
>>>>
>>>> We're all racists, unconsciously
>>>> Kramer just blurted out what unfortunately comes naturally to all of
>>>> us.
>>>>
>>>> By Michael Shermer
>>>>
>>>> MICHAEL SHERMER is the publisher of Skeptic magazine and a monthly
>>>> columnist for Scientific American. His latest book is "Why Darwin
>>>> Matters."
>>>>
>>>> November 24, 2006
>>>>
>>>> AFTER A PAROXYSM of racial viciousness at the Laugh Factory last week,
>>>> Michael Richards, the 57-year-old comedian who played Kramer on
>>>> "Seinfeld,"
>>>> explained to David Letterman and his "Late Night" audience Monday:
>>>> "I'm
>>>> not
>>>> a racist. That's what's so insane about this."
>>>>
>>>> Richards' shattered demeanor and heartfelt repentance leaves us with
>>>> what
>>>> I
>>>> shall call Kramer's Conundrum: How can someone who spews racial
>>>> epithets
>>>> genuinely believe he is not a racist? The answer is to be found in the
>>>> difference between our conscious and unconscious attitudes and our
>>>> public
>>>> and private thoughts.
>>>>
>>>> Consciously and publicly, Richards is probably not a racist. But
>>>> unconsciously and privately, he is. So am I. So are you.
>>>>
>>>> Consciously and publicly, most of us are colorblind. And most of us,
>>>> most
>>>> of the time, believe and act on that cultural requisite. You'd have to
>>>> be
>>>> insane to publicly utter racist remarks in today's society ? or
>>>> temporarily
>>>> insane, which both science and the law recognize as sometimes being
>>>> triggered by anger.
>>>>
>>>> And alcohol ? recall Mel Gibson's drunken eruption about Jews, or the
>>>> college frat boys slurring alcohol-induced insanities about blacks and
>>>> slavery in Sacha Baron Cohen's film "Borat."
>>>>
>>>> The insidiousness of racism is because of the fact that it arises out
>>>> of
>>>> the deep recesses of our unconscious. We may be unaware of it, yet it
>>>> lurks
>>>> there.
>>>>
>>>> How do we know this? One indication is the Implicit Association Test,
>>>> developed by Harvard scientists, which asks subjects to pair words and
>>>> concepts. The more closely associated the words and concepts are, the
>>>> quicker the response to them will be in the key-pressing sorting task
>>>> (try
>>>> it yourself at _https://implicit.https://implhttps://i_
>>>> (https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/) ).
>>>>
>>>> The race test firsts asks you to sort black and white faces into one
>>>> of
>>>> two
>>>> categories: European American or African American. Easy. Next you are
>>>> asked
>>>> to sort a list of words (joy, terrible, love, agony, peace, horrible,
>>>> wonderful, nasty, pleasure) into one of two categories: Good or Bad.
>>>> No
>>>> problem.
>>>>
>>>> The next task is a little more complicated. The words and black and
>>>> white
>>>> faces appear on the screen one at a time, and you sort them into one
>>>> of
>>>> these categories: African American/Good or European American/Bad.
>>>> Again
>>>> you
>>>> match the words with the concepts of good or bad, and faces with
>>>> national
>>>> origin. So the word "joy" would go into the first category and a white
>>>> face
>>>> would go into the second category. This sorting goes noticeably
>>>> slower,
>>>> but
>>>> you might expect that because the combined categories are more
>>>> cognitively
>>>> complex.
>>>>
>>>> Unfortunately, the final sorting task puts the lie to that
>>>> rationalization.
>>>> This time you sort the words and faces into the categories European
>>>> American/Good or African American/Bad. Tellingly (and
>>>> distressingly)Americ
>>>> sorting process goes much faster than the previous one. I was much
>>>> quicker
>>>> to associate words like "joy," "love" and "pleasure" with European
>>>> American/Good than I did with African American/Good.
>>>>
>>>> I consider myself about as socially liberal as you can get, and yet on
>>>> a
>>>> scale that includes "slight," "moderate" and "strong," the program
>>>> concluded: "Your data suggest a strong automatic preference for
>>>> European
>>>> American compared to African American." What? "The interpretation is
>>>> described as 'automatic preference for European American' if you
>>>> responded
>>>> faster when European American faces and Good words were classified
>>>> with
>>>> the
>>>> same key than when African American faces and Good words were
>>>> classified
>>>> with the same key."
>>>>
>>>> But I'm not a racist. How can this be? It turns out that this
>>>> subconscious
>>>> association of good with European Americans is true for everyone, even
>>>> African Americans, no matter how colorblind we all claim to be.
>>>>
>>>> We are by nature sorters. Evolutionists theorize that we evolved in
>>>> small
>>>> bands of hunter-gatherers when there was a selection for within-group
>>>> amity
>>>> and between-group enmity. With our fellow in-group members, we are
>>>> cooperative and altruistic. Unfortunately, the downside to this
>>>> pro-social
>>>> bonding is that we are also quite tribal and xenophobic to out-group
>>>> members.
>>>>
>>>> This natural tendency to sort people into Within-Group/This nat
>>>> Between-Group/Between-Group/<WBR>Bad is shaped by culture, so that all
>>>> A
>>>> even those whose ancestry is African) implicitly inculcate the
>>>> cultural
>>>> association, which includes additional prejudices.
>>>>
>>>> The Harvard test, in fact, also demonstrates that we prefer young to
>>>> old,
>>>> thin to fat, straight to gay and such associations as family-females
>>>> and
>>>> career-males, liberal arts-females and science-males. Such
>>>> associations
>>>> bubble just below the surface, inhibited by cultural restraints but
>>>> susceptible to eruption under extreme inebriation or duress.
>>>>
>>>> Richards' sin was his deed; his thoughts are the sin of all humanity.
>>>> Only
>>>> when all people are considered to be members of one global in-group
>>>> (in
>>>> principle if not in practice) can we begin to attenuate these
>>>> out-group
>>>> associations. But it won't be easy. Vigilance is the watchword of both
>>>> freedom and dignity.
>>>>
>>>> We should accept Richards' apology for losing his temper and acting
>>>> out
>>>> those hateful thoughts. Perhaps we also ought to thank him for having
>>>> the
>>>> courage to confess in public what far too many of us still harbor in
>>>> private, often in our unconscious minds. As the Russian novelist
>>>> Fyodor
>>>> Dostoyevsky wrote: "Every man has reminiscences which he would not
>>>> tell
>>>> to
>>>> everyone but only his friends. He has other matters in his mind which
>>>> he
>>>> would not reveal even to his friends, but only to himself, and that in
>>>> secret. But there are other things which a man is afraid to tell even
>>>> to
>>>> himself, and every decent man has a number of such things stored away
>>>> in
>>>> his mind."
>>>>
>>>>
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