In matters of humanity, there's often no easy solution for situations affected by social complexity. How dialogue and listening revealed a simple, but powerful insight into the distinction between prejudice and racism, leading this author to examine personal assumptions.
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Shifting My Stance on Racism – How Listening to Racism is Changing the Way I Think
By Ken Homer
Part One – Wherein the Author Learns the Difference Between Prejudice and Racism
By Ken Homer
Part One – Wherein the Author Learns the Difference Between Prejudice and Racism
A few months ago, I published a blog post on this site entitled, How to Frame a Conversation about Race in America. In that post I made the assertion that everyone is racist, at least unconsciously so. In the intervening months, my colleagues and I have hosted some dialogues we’ve entitled Listening to Racism. As a result of those dialogues I’ve learned a few things that are changing the way I think about racism.
Until recently I thought that everyone was racist, at least unconsciously so. I thought that such a position afforded a way to level the playing field in conversations about race. After all, if we start with the idea that we are all racists, then nobody is in a privileged position, which has a certain utility for dialogues on race.
However, I heard a distinction between prejudice and racism that struck me as very powerful, and it led me to examine my assumptions.
The distinction is this: prejudice is personal and racism is social.
Until recently I thought that everyone was racist, at least unconsciously so. I thought that such a position afforded a way to level the playing field in conversations about race. After all, if we start with the idea that we are all racists, then nobody is in a privileged position, which has a certain utility for dialogues on race.
However, I heard a distinction between prejudice and racism that struck me as very powerful, and it led me to examine my assumptions.
The distinction is this: prejudice is personal and racism is social.
Prejudice is Personal
Prejudice is personal. Using a special machine that flashes images to the visual field of volunteers at 1/1000 of a second, researchers have uncovered some fascinating things about how our minds work. Now, 1/1000 of a second is far too quickly for our conscious minds to grasp what was shown to us. Yet, when asked if they felt attracted to, repelled by, or neutral about the image they’d been exposed to, the responses participants gave revealed just how quickly we form judgments and opinions. Even though the images went by so fast that no one in the study really knew what they had seen, some people were drawn to images that others were repelled by or felt neutral toward.
The lesson for me here, is that we all form unconscious biases, prejudices and preferences about people and events whether we intend to or not. Prejudice is a personal bias, it's instinctual, unconscious and automatic. People around us may, or may not, share our prejudice.
Prejudice is an inescapable part of the human condition, and every one of us is subject to its effects. Individuals can, with significant effort, overcome their prejudices. It’s demanding and difficult work and those who undertake that work usually reap the rewards of a fuller, richer, more satisfying life.
The lesson for me here, is that we all form unconscious biases, prejudices and preferences about people and events whether we intend to or not. Prejudice is a personal bias, it's instinctual, unconscious and automatic. People around us may, or may not, share our prejudice.
Prejudice is an inescapable part of the human condition, and every one of us is subject to its effects. Individuals can, with significant effort, overcome their prejudices. It’s demanding and difficult work and those who undertake that work usually reap the rewards of a fuller, richer, more satisfying life.
Racism Is Social
Racism is social. Racism leverages individual prejudices through the creation of a socially constructed web of agreements, practices, and narratives that give one group the power to oppress another group by denying them their rights, their dignity, and their humanity. Racism in the USA empowers white people to oppress people of color – especially black people.
Racism is enshrined in our laws, honored in our traditions, taught both at school and at home, and tends to live in our bodies as mostly unexamined, knee-jerk reactions, to people and events that trigger our fears and take advantage of our ignorance. Witness the vitriolic and sometime violent reactions that some white people have at the mere suggestion that racism is a problem, let alone that they are contributing to it.
Racism is not an inescapable part of the human condition - it is a socially-inflicted wound that comes from denying the humanity of people who we view as “other.”
Racism is enshrined in our laws, honored in our traditions, taught both at school and at home, and tends to live in our bodies as mostly unexamined, knee-jerk reactions, to people and events that trigger our fears and take advantage of our ignorance. Witness the vitriolic and sometime violent reactions that some white people have at the mere suggestion that racism is a problem, let alone that they are contributing to it.
Racism is not an inescapable part of the human condition - it is a socially-inflicted wound that comes from denying the humanity of people who we view as “other.”
Like overcoming individual prejudice, racism, too, can be overcome, but unlike prejudice, the work of overcoming racism cannot be done in isolation. The work of dismantling racism requires us to work collectively.
Another way to put this is that prejudice comes from within us, while racism is constructed between us. The work of redesigning the social systems that keep racism intact is demanding and difficult. Sadly, it can also be dangerous. It can seem so huge and overwhelming as to feel impossible. But do it we must if our country is to survive and flourish.
Eliminating racism is part of the developmental work that responsible citizens engage in on their way to creating healthier societies and cultures.
When I understood more fully the difference between racism and prejudice I had to rethink my assertion about everyone being racist. I now see that I was using the terms prejudice and racism interchangeably, when in fact, they are substantively different.
It was a mistake on my part to do that, and if I offended any readers with that phrasing in my earlier blog post, I ask your forgiveness and forbearance. I still have a long way go in educating myself about racism.
It was a mistake on my part to do that, and if I offended any readers with that phrasing in my earlier blog post, I ask your forgiveness and forbearance. I still have a long way go in educating myself about racism.
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