Robert Reich on the Netroots Nation event

[JDPriestly]

43. It's hard for Black people to understand what is obvious to white progressives: that

economic issues are intrinsically tied to racism.

Yes. Rich people like Donald Trump can be racists. (His remarks about Mexicans. Whew!)

And yes. Black people, even if rich, suffer from racism even when they shop in expensive stores or eat in expensive restaurants. Racism appears to be unaware of economics.

But it isn't. Most racists view anyone with dark skin as "poor," "lazy" and suspicious and getting more than he or she deserves. Please. That is not my opinion. But as a white person, that is what racists think and that is what they generally feel free to express to me as a white person that they might not openly express to a Black person. Consider the Republican code talk about welfare recipients (although most are really white). The image that underlies racism is an economic one, inaccurate and wrong, yes, but economic. From another viewpoint, I would say that economics is the excuse for racism.

(Similarly, the excuse for irrational anti-Jewish feelings is also stated as an economic one: "They're rich and they take what isn't theirs." Again not what I think or say but what I have heard not just in America but also and most importantly in Europe. Whether the economic stereotypes are really the reason or whether it is code for "They have a different culture," I am unsure, but when you are white, haters let you know how they justify their hate, and that is what I have heard. No one ever says that Jews are wrong because of their religious beliefs or that Blacks are less for any reason other than that they are "lazy and poor." And "you know." Not to me anyway. This is again basically and economic view that Jewish lives are not in economic terms worth what Jewish people are falsely believed to have. It is based of course on the completely false view that Jewish people are rich. And the stereotype of Black people is that they are poor. Neither of these stereotypes is accurate, but they are common among racists.)

Making college free or at least easily affordable for all might not instantly change a racist into a progressive. Having good early child-care available at little or no cost for every child in America would not turn off racism right away either. Raising the minimum wage and making sure every person in America has good health care won't either. More jobs, less incarceration, more rehabilitation, more school and community integration won't work like magic charms either. More ability of Black people to live where they want and not in unofficially segregated housing. That would help so much. A law that said that low income housing had to be integrated into all neighborhoods. That would help. None of these policies would completely get rid of racism.

(Racism in our police forces can be ended by requiring that police departments make public and report to special independent commissions that investigate racism and the use of excessive force in law enforcement and that the FBI investigate independently every accusation of racism or excessive force by any police officer in the country. That is an expensive proposition, but it needs to be done at least until our law enforcement gets racism and the use of excessive force under control. Just the threat of investigations would probably stop a lot of the racism and excessive force.)

But all of these things can remove from the thoughts and discussion about race the edge of the economic preconceptions that feed and foster racism and that cause the frustration that moves white people to act out on their racist feelings.

I have asked many DUers to suggest ways other than economic change that we can move the hearts and minds of racists and change our fundamentally racist society into something that accepts individuals for who they are and how they live, but I haven't really gotten any.

My father who was a minister in both the North and South (moved around by his church back in the day) and struggled with this issue. Why are people racists? What is so dark and evil in their hearts and souls?

Back then, his question was, how can white people in the South who at that time were raised by Black women who loved them as much as their birth mothers harbor so much contempt and hate for people just based on skin color? How do you change those deep-seated and irrational attitudes?

It's a mystery. There is no rhyme nor reason for it.

Other than the view that in order to justify the slavery practiced by their ancestors and the exploitation of Black people in their own society, they had to create the myth that Black people were worth less than they were. That is the only one I have been able to figure out. And that view is based on the economic valuation of one human being as worth less, intrinsically worth less than another. I don't hold that view, but it is the only one that I can figure out upon which racists base their racism. If anyone has any other explanation, I would like to know it.

So racism is basically economics. The racist views people who have different skin colors or cultures than their own as worth less in terms not just of money but in terms of human value. That is essentially an economic formulation. That is essentially placing a value on one life versus another based on the color of the skin. And I think that may be what underlies racism. Please do respond to me if you think I am wrong. Because I am exploring this theory and would appreciate feedback.

So, I ask you. Could it be that the fundamental rationalization of racists is there idea that their white life is somehow economically of higher value than those of Black people?

Until someone can tell me a better way to end racism than through economics, I'm going to go with economic equality. It certainly won't solve the problem by itself, but what tools do we have? What else can we do?

We've been trying to change hearts and minds since the 1960s and way before, and we have not made sufficient progress although we have made some.

Economic issues DO play a role in racism. That's my view as a white person. White people who want to feel superior, who have such a low opinion of themselves that they use race to make themselves feel superior, are the problem. I think that economic solutions will not change the whole equation, but certainly will change one element of the equation.

Anyway, I promised myself I would not get into any more discussions about race on DU because they always end up badly. But I'm here again. I do want to say that I am posting this as a means of dialogue and discussion and I apologize deeply if anything I have said offends any person of good character. If it offends racists, so be it. But I do not post it in order to tell other people what they should think or to make others feel bad. I post it to develop and ongoing dialogue that is very important and that should not end in our giving up on trying to communicate with each other.

If you disagree with me, please view my post as a sort of question to you. If my theory is wrong, then how do you explain racism?