Racism as one of many comparable problems

 

Some of my (few) readers tell me they appreciate my thinking outside the box. And today's post is outside the box.

My thesis is that while racism against Blacks in the US is real and serious, it would be best not to place it in the top tier of problems we should be dealing with.

First consider that the effort we ought to put into any problem is not dependent just on how much it influences our lives -- how much better life would be if we solved it. It also depends on our chances of solving it, of seeing a path from here to there.

We took the comparatively easy step (a large piece of this in the 1950s and 1960s) of removing legal discrimination based on race. Governments can't explicitly bar black people from anything. Recent trends in voter suppression are worrisome but not explicitly racist. We can and should target specific things like police treating black suspects worse, where political conditions allow.

But a great deal of what remains is a matter of changing hearts and minds. This is hard work. Consciousness of Black oppression has awakened a parallel and opposite movement -- race consciousness on the part of Whites, who believe that they are the ones being discriminated against. I have trouble seeing a way around this disparity of views based on appealing to people's sense of compassion and fairness. Personally, I think this white race consciousness is factually and morally wrong, but that's not what matters for judging the chances of progress. To solve a problem, you need to see an end-to-end solution. More and more liberal whites sharing a deepened commitment to ending racism seems like one step, but as long as the next step is blocked, it's not productive towards solving that problem.

So how do you combat racism? How do you combat discrimination against any one group once you have eliminated legalized discrimination? I'm on shaky ground here, but I'd suggest the remedy that has worked best is to be quiet, work hard, and be patient. That's how people of Irish, Italian, Jewish, and Chinese heritage have gone from being despised minorities to being accepted groups within American society. Are readers aware of other, more active measures that were behind those achievements?

The initial situation of Blacks is worse; I can easily see that. This may arouse the indignation of a somewhat broader slice of the White population, but still a definite minority and not enough to lead to fundamental change. No matter how much justice may support a plaintive cry of, "It's not fair!" it does not lead to positive change unless it can get the support of a political majority.

Should the consequence of this unfairness be to tar America as evil? In practical terms, this is a spectacularly effective way to lose support.

I would suggest that discrimination has always been with us. Short people have it worse than tall people, through no fault of their own. Ugly people have it worse than attractive people. Dumb people have it worse than smart people. People with any of a variety of disabilities have it worse than those who are not disabled. None of these things is fair. But we live with them. The unfairness does not lead us to judge our society as fundamentally wrong. Blacks have it worse than Whites, and that is fundamentally unfair. Why should that unfairness lead to tagging our society as evil in a way that the others do not?

I can foresee a variety of attacks on my position. I have White Privilege, what I say perpetuates my privilege, so there is no need to even listen to the content of what I say. That entire framework is flawed and should be rejected, but that's a topic for another day. But you don't need a privilege framework to see me as someone who is not suffering saying it is OK for other people to suffer. True, but any argument should be judged on its own merits, not the qualities of the person making it. Consider that while those on the lucky side of the other unfairnesses (height, beauty, etc.) may not explicitly say that it is OK that the less fortunate endure unfairness, their silence and inaction have the same effect.

To summarize, I am trying to make two points: One is that the way to make progress on discrimination against a group is not to argue for it loudly. The other is that we can be reasonably content living in a society with discrimination of various kinds -- we always have and always will.

The usual call and response of a political rally is roughly... "What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!" I saw a cartoon many years ago that captured my position on this sort of issue: "What do we want? Incremental improvement! When do we want it? In a reasonable time frame!"