Black People Should Have A Little Gratitude
If you were to ask me what the number one problem with modern racial discourse is, I’d say it’s the failure of a significant number of people to consider how human nature works.
The failure to recognise that if you call people racist simply because of the colour of their skin, or describe those who are trying to help as “colonisers”, or dismiss the discrimination that people face because you haven’t personally experienced it, you’re likely to spend more time bickering than communicating.
In my article, Who Cares If America Is A Racist Country?, I came across a number of people who fell on one side or other of this problem. Some who were determined to defend the proposition that America is fundamentally racist. And others, like M, who would say anything to refute it:
M:
America has one of the most diverse populations in the world. China is far more homogeneous and a far more racist country than the US.
In fact, the reason why there are racist incidents in the first place is because there are so many different races living in one place.
The countries of the western world are literally the least racist countries on the planet. Those who have never travelled anywhere (often Americans) have no idea of the levels of racism in other countries.
Again, when you bear in mind how human beings operate, the biggest problem with the question “Is America a racist country?” is that it only stands to make people defensive.
For example, M’s argument seems to be that racism is worse in countries with a diverse population and that it’s simultaneously worse in countries with a homogenous population. I don’t think he’s contradicting himself like this because he’s dumb, I think he’s doing it because his priority is defending America from the accusation.
Steve QJ:
Those who have never travelled anywhere (often Americans) have no idea of the levels of racism in other countries.
Not that I'm arguing that America is racist, but I think you're confusing two different things here.
Homogeneous countries often (but not always) have a kind of cultural xenophobia. I've experienced that in China as you say, but found the complete opposite in countries like Vietnam and even South Korea.
But the racism at issue in America was legally enforced and as far as I know (with the exception of South Africa), unique in the modern world (Mugabe had a go at enforcing openly racist laws in Zimbabwe but not on nearly the same scale).
That's the difference between a racist country and a country that has racist people in it.
Of course, Jim Crow laws were struck down almost 60 years ago in the US, but 60 years isn't really that long. Many people alive today lived during segregation.
So I mean sure, there's a case to be made that this fairly recent history makes America a racist country, just as people might argue that South Africa is a racist country. I'm not taking a position one way or the other. Because the point is, who cares about this purely semantic debate when there are concrete issues to solve?
M:
What’s going on? Why aren’t you dismissing my arguments, calling me names and blocking me? That’s what I’m used to.
Anyway, so I suppose you make a good point. There is a difference. But still, China is clearly racist towards black people. They’re even sending an entire ethnic group, the Uighurs, to concentration camps. Yet according to the activists, America is extremely racist.
I mean, really? Make a single racist joke in America and you’ll lose your job. Racism has absolutely zero tolerance in American institutions. To me, it seems like America is one of the most systemically ANTI-RACIST countries on the planet. Perhaps it’s not that simple, but Jesus, people should have a little gratitude for just how far America has come in solving its racism problem.
America has unquestionably made huge progress on civil rights, but the idea that black people should be grateful for that progress is, to put it kindly, a pretty colossal error.
It’s like suggesting that slaves should have been grateful to no longer be treated as property or that women should be grateful that they're allowed to vote. Having your humanity recognised isn't kindness, it's the bare minimum any of us should expect.
I’m not saying that name-calling is the best way to handle a blind spot like this, but let's just say I'm not particularly surprised that it happens.
Steve QJ:
What’s going on? Why aren’t you dismissing my arguments, calling me names and blocking me? That’s what I’m used to.
Who knows! Maybe all black people don't think the same way? Or maybe you should spend less time arguing with "activists" online. The internet isn't a great place to get to know the most rational people in any group.😅
But yes, as I said, I'm not arguing that there aren't plenty of racist Chinese people. And China's record on human rights is despicable. Anybody directly comparing China and America isn't a serious person. But again, if you think that "America is one of the most systematically anti-racist countries on the planet", I suggest that that's because you're not the target of any racism.
And gratitude doesn't seem like quite the right emotion for finally being treated as a full human being. Just FYI, it's probably blind spots like that that have people calling you names.
M:
I agree, I should get off the internet more often. Haha.
Yes I don’t believe that, but I certainly believe that all things considered it’s in the top 50 least racist countries in the world.
Thanks again.
M is the kind of person who would swear blind that he’s not racist. And by many measures, he’s probably not. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has black friends, he's willing to engage thoughtfully on the topic of race, he seems to (mostly) believe that racism is wrong.
But he also doesn’t see the problem with suggesting that black people should be “grateful” for the (still incomplete) recognition of their humanity, he assumes that black people are all going to behave a certain way based on interactions which (if our conversation is anything to go by) he didn’t handle himself particularly adeptly in, he talks about racism without thinking about how it affects people who don’t look like him.
Racism is a human issue. And that means that mistakes are going to be made. Feelings will be hurt and words will be poorly chosen. Intentions will be misunderstood and sometimes we'll overreact.
All of us are capable of this, and all of us are guilty of it. And while it can make these conversations frustrating, it's a reminder that even at our most irritating, there's more that unites us than divides us. It’s not exactly the smoothest of common ground, but it is common ground.
Hi, new reader here. Just wanted to say I really like your articles- they've definitely made me re-examine my own views on race, especially as a young Black person in America. I always kind of struggled engaging in discussion about social issues; although I do care about them and want to make positive changes on the world, I just feel like I'm lacking in a lot of ways and still have a lot to learn. I would define my own views as left-leaning and I probably fit a lot of the "woke/sjw" stereotypes, so seeing your criticisms on a lot of the popular mindsets on race has changed my thinking on the way I view myself and others. Although I try to avoid falling into echo chambers and just regurgitating whatever the most current views are in leftist spaces, I tend to get wrapped up in just discussing the same ideas and feeling like I was "educated" and never really had a lot of productive conversation or took real action. So yeah, just wanted to say that I find your work interesting and I hope to read more of it.
This is a bit of an aside but years ago while I was working in Brazil I went to a night club/restaurant and commented to my associate that in America this food would be called soul food. He relied, "Slave food. In Brazil we have a parallel history to America and had far more slaves." I didn't really get a chance to clearly observe the racial/racism situation. The people that I worked with were white people.
When comparing racism in America to other countries it might be informative to investigate it in Brazil there where trans-Atlantic slave trade was much larger but similar to America. It could shed light on influence of trans-Atlantic slave trade vs. the origins of the white people in those countries.
I worked in Saudi Arabia for several years. There were black people there as a result of trans-Saharan slavery. The Arabs that I worked with freely pointed out that a black Saudi in the shop was a descendent of slavery. As an outsider I couldn't see the magnitude of that issue. Most of their strife was Sunni-Shia (religious). Again, it is a place where slaves were taken from Africa but the slave holders were Arab, rather than of European origin..