-ism [View all]

[H2O Man]

Malcolm X used to ask his audience: what does a white racist call a black man with a PhD? The answer, of course, was a harsh term that conveyed racist hatred. For sometimes the Truth is stark, and can make open and honest discussions uncomfortable.

Half a century later, I find myself thinking of Malcolm when I read some of the OP/threads on DU:GD that attempt to discuss “racism” in a meaningful way. In the early and middle phases of his ministry in the Nation of Islam, Malcolm identified whites as “devils,” believing that white skin prevented them from having the capacity to love all of humanity. In his final years, of course, Malcolm identified the system that whites were raised in as the cause of racism.

“Systems,” as anyone who has had the sad misfortune of reading my nonsense on DU over the years knows, fascinate me. While my employment career was in the field of psychology -- the study of the individual -- I have a great interest in sociology -- or, the study of groups (“systems”). The tree versus the forest, so to speak.

“Racism,” by definition, is the attribution of a set of characteristics to all -- or almost all -- members of a race of people. It includes the belief that members of a given race have abilities or weaknesses, specific to their race, which make them intrinsically superior or inferior to other races. Related terms include such words as bigotry and nativism. Racism leads directly to stereotyping of groups and individuals, and pre-judging what qualities they have, or lack.

In the United States, racism has historically been defined in the context of white people’s opinions of, and interactions with, African Americans and Native Americans. White people, who have generally held the reins of economic and social power, frequently viewed non-white peoples as less than fully human. Thus, for example, in much of the 1800s, blacks were viewed by whites as “domestic animals,” who were exploited for labor, yet prevented by law from participation in white culture. Indians, on the other hand, were considered “wild animals; their lands, rather than their labor, was to be exploited, and the force of law used to introduce them to the “superior” white culture.

In the late 1800s and early-to-mid 1900s, the fields of psychology and sociology were highly influenced by what we could politely, yet accurately, call Euro-American chauvinism. Thus, certain disorders among white women were studied, in an attempt to determine why they were unhappy with being “kept in their proper place” …..with little if any regard to the social pathologies that sought to restrict their humanity. Likewise, educated white men attempted to answer such questions as: What do blacks really want? And what is wrong with those Indians? Quite often, such theories were based upon blacks and Indians in the clinical setting of a prison.

However, as time moved forward, blacks, Indians, and even white women would move well beyond the restrictive roles once assigned to them. They became doctors and lawyers, teachers and scientists. And psychologists and sociologists. By coincidence, perhaps, the influence of Euro-American chauvinism began to be challenged. Open and honest discussions became rather uncomfortable for some.

As progress was made in advancing society’s understanding of social pathologies, such as sexism and racism, certain words (or phrases) would come to take on specific meanings within the context of scholarly study. And, within that context, those definitions are correct. Yet, we have to understand and appreciate that those contexts are specific systems. Thus, the meanings applied within that system -- while correct -- are not necessarily the full, or only, correct definition.

Let’s consider an example. One of the ugliest aspects of a sexist society (re: system) is domestic abuse. And the majority, without question, of the cases of severe physical abuse in family systems is male against female. When I worked in human services, I was trained in what is known as the “Duluth Model,” which defines domestic abuse as exclusively male against female. And that’s fine, although it clearly excludes things such as domestic violence within lesbian couples.

Likewise, many social scientists define “racism” within the context of the US system, in which whites have the power to inflict damages to non-white peoples. Again, that is a good definition, and definitely has a few centuries of evidence to support it. Yet, the US is not the only system that we are part of. Indeed, we can think “larger,” in the context of globally -- and plenty of white racists despise non-white people around the planet, though they lack the power to damage them …..or we can look at a smaller example, such as any men’s or women’s prison in California, where the populations are primarily two or three non-white groups. Within such a system, there is racism; one could argue, of course, that it is still rich white folks who capitalize on that racism.

Racism, like sexism, is a pattern of thought. More, because people’s thinking tends to define their actions, racism and sexism poison human relationships, from the smallest of systems (the family) to the largest (global). Their potential for negative consequences -- especially violence -- increase when there is a power differential in play. This includes not only the ability to do harm, but the likelihood of consequences for inflicting that harm. The legal system, for example, has little ability to render justice, if the police, district attorney, and/or judge are racist or sexist. And our culture’s history with violence, from lynchings to domestic abuse, bears that out. Current events are further proof.

In order to get a healthy grip on the severe damage that these “-isms” do to our society, we are going to have a lot of those uncomfortable conversations. Because these pathologies are entrenched in all levels of society -- from family systems to the national system -- those conversations must likewise be held at every level, and become an active part of every system.

One of those systems is DU. It’s not a huge or tiny system, but even as a “medium-sized” system, we have numerous resources that can contribute to a meaningful discussion on the various “-isms” that pollute our larger culture. A lot of community members with a wide span of life experience and education. That translates into the potential for insights on “-isms” on every level of systems.

The only types of person who could inhibit such discussion would be those here simply to disrupt, and those who think they are right, and only they are right. Anyone and everyone else should be able to participate, add things of value, and be able to do so without engaging in the silly arguments we too often see here.

Peace,
H2O Man